by Fiona Rivers
Adalyn arrived home earlier than she anticipated. The gallery was on schedule to be done in a few days and she couldn’t wait to get everything set up for the storage room was already filling up quickly. Grabbing her phone and a bottle of water, she stepped out on her deck and called Luis.
“Hello, darling. How is life in the magnificent town of Harbor Falls?” his perky voice asked.
“It’s good. The gallery will be ready in a few days for me to set up and get everything ready for the opening.”
“Excellent news. You must be so excited.”
“I am. I can’t wait until it’s finally complete.”
“How’s my friend, Colin, the handsome bar owner doing?”
“He’s fine. In fact, he’ll be over in about an hour. My garbage disposal broke this morning and he’s going to put in a new one for me.”
“Ah. Nice. Do I sense a nice dinner afterwards?”
“If you must know, he’s bringing dinner with him. Remember that bed and breakfast I stayed at when I first came to Harbor Falls and I told you about how wonderful the owner Rosie and her husband Carl were?”
“Yes, I remember.”
“It turns out they’re Colin’s aunt and uncle. I just found out last night when Rosie invited me to dinner, and Colin and his twin sister, Katherine were there.”
“Oh. So you saw him last night too?”
“Yes. He asked me about my divorce. Well, not technically. He overheard Annie at the bar telling one of her friends that I was divorced, so he mentioned it.”
“Little Miss Annie needs to stop gossiping.”
“You gossip all the time, Luis.” Adalyn laughed.
“Yes. But not about you, darling.”
“Anyway, Colin told me that he was engaged a couple years ago, and his fiancée broke it off a week before the wedding and moved to Seattle.”
“That poor man. Sounds like the two of you have something in common, both betrayed by the ones you loved. Maybe the two of you can heal each other’s hearts.”
“Luis, I’m warning you.” Adalyn’s voice was stern.
“Just kidding, Addy. But seriously, don’t be afraid to get to know him. Not all guys are like your soul eating ex. Speaking of, I saw him at the café yesterday morning with some anorexic looking bimbo.”
“Hannah saw him too the other night. She didn’t know if she should tell me or not. Did he see you?”
“He sure did. He asked how I was doing, and I very nicely flipped him off and then walked out without saying a word.”
Adalyn let out a laugh.
“Thanks for that, Luis. Anyway, I just wanted to check in. I need to do a few things before Colin arrives.”
“Okie dokie, darling. Do me and yourself a favor tonight, please.”
“What?”
“Get to know him. You might be surprised what you find out and you may actually enjoy him. I know I would.”
Adalyn rolled her eyes as she said goodbye to Luis and ended the call. She thought about how frightened she was to tell people she was divorced. She never thought in a million years she would become a member of the divorce club. Believe it or not, nobody in her family had ever been divorced. She felt ashamed and embarrassed as she thought people would judge her. Anxiety was getting the best of her just thinking about it, so she picked up the phone and called her sister.
“Hey, sis. I was going to call you.”
“Hey. There’s no shame in being divorced, right?”
“What? No. Where is this coming from? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just didn’t want anyone to know and then I told Annie next door and she told her friends and Colin overheard.”
“Colin from the bar?”
“Yeah.”
“So what? Addy, you did nothing wrong and you have nothing to be ashamed of. Darren is the one who should be ashamed. You should take pride in the fact that you dumped him for what he did. You’re a strong and independent woman who walked away from a man who was an emotional manipulator. In fact, you need to shout it to the world. Don’t be afraid to tell your story. You have nothing to hide and people aren’t going to judge you. They’re going to applaud you for doing the right thing.”
Everything Hannah said to her rang true and she felt stronger after talking to her. Hannah always had a way with words and she always knew how to make Adalyn feel better. She ran upstairs to the bathroom and took a look at herself in the mirror, checking out her makeup and hair. Afterall, she did want to look presentable for when Colin arrived. After dusting a bit of powder on her face and running a brush through her long blonde hair, she heard the doorbell and the fluttering inside flared up again.
“Hi.” A wide grin crossed Adalyn’s face as she opened the door.
“Hi. Dinner is served.” Colin handed her a couple of brown paper bags. “And one new garbage disposal.” He picked up the box that sat beside him with a smile.
“Wow. What an exciting night.” Adalyn casually laughed.
14
Adalyn and Colin sat across from each other at the dining table eating lobster rolls, French fries and a side salad with a champagne vinaigrette which was the bar & grille’s house dressing and by far the most popular in Harbor Falls.
“Can I be honest with you about something?” Adalyn asked.
“Of course.”
“I have never had a lobster roll before I stepped into your bar.”
“Are you serious?” Colin laughed.
“Very serious.”
“And yet you took a chance on them. Why?”
“Because you suggested it.” The corners of Adalyn’s mouth curved upward. “And you were convincing enough they were the best.”
The one thing Adalyn noticed more tonight than any other time, was how comfortable she felt talking to him. Colin was an easy-going guy and very relaxed. Something Darren wasn’t and never had been.
“I gave a lot of thought to what you said last night about not being ashamed about my divorce. The truth is I am, or I was. I never dreamed that I would one day be a divorced woman. When I married Darren, I thought we’d be together forever, and I thought I knew him. But it turns out, I didn’t know who he was at all. I spent six years with that man, from the time I met him, and we were married, and I never knew him at all. How is that possible?”
“I guess no one ever truly knows anyone,” Colin said.
“That’s sad. Don’t you think?” Adalyn knitted her brows.
“It is. I think when two people are together and in love, there needs to be real open and raw honesty. I certainly never thought Olivia would break off our wedding and move to Seattle.”
“And I never thought Darren would have a vasectomy and never tell me.” The words just fell out of Adalyn’s mouth. A shocked expression overtook her face when she realized what she had said.
“What?” Colin asked with surprise.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—” She stopped mid-sentence as she stared at Colin from across the table. “NO! You know what? I’m not sorry.” Her voice grew stern. “He had a vasectomy three days after I had a miscarriage and never told me. For a year and a half after, I tried to get pregnant and he knew I never would. All that time he kept telling me to be patient and it would happen, knowing it never would. And that’s why I divorced him.” Tears filled her eyes. “And that is the reason I moved to Harbor Falls because I couldn’t even stand to be in the same city as him. I gave him everything because I wanted nothing that reminded me of him or our time together. The only thing I asked for was my fair share of the money so I could buy this house and open up an art gallery. He owed me that much after what he put me through.”
As Colin sat there and listened to the pain in her voice, all he wanted to do was take it all away. He wondered how a man could be so cunning and cruel to anyone, but more importantly, to the woman he loved: his wife. He reached his hand across the table and grabbed a hold of Adalyn’s, giving it a tight squeeze. Her teary eyes stared into his as his sympathetic
look soothed her.
“I am so incredibly sorry he did that to you. I can’t even grasp how he could do what he did. Did he ever explain to you the reason why he did it?”
“He said he likes his life the way it is, and he didn’t want to be responsible for another human being. You know what the sad part is?” Adalyn spoke as she got up from the table and took her plate to the counter. “I blame myself for being so stupid not to see the signs.”
“Adalyn, there’s no way you could have known,” Colin spoke as he stood from his seat, walked over to her and grasped her shoulders from behind.
Adalyn froze for a moment and slowly closed her eyes. Colin knew he might have been crossing the line, but he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was trying to soothe Adalyn’s aching heart.
“His life revolved around his work. When I needed him, most of the time he was too busy. He worked late most nights and on the rare occasion he was home, he’d be in his study working. He deprived me of a lot of things. I wanted to open up an art gallery in New York and he told me it was either a baby or an art gallery and that I couldn’t do both. It wouldn’t be fair to our child. But he knew I would never get pregnant as long as we were together.”
The grip on Adalyn’s shoulders tightened.
“You do realize you’re better off without him in your life, right?” Colin spoke.
Adalyn turned to face him, breaking his grip on her shoulders.
“I know that. I hate that man, and I have never hated anyone in my life.”
“I don’t blame you. I hate the man too and I’ve never met him. What he did is incomprehensible. How can anyone with a conscious do what he did?”
“Obviously, he doesn’t have one,” Adalyn said as she walked over to the table and started cleaning up. “I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to leave after my little rant.”
“Why would I want to? You can’t get rid of me that easily.”
She turned and gave him a small smile as she noticed him smiling back. To her, there was something comforting about his smile. It was warm and genuine. The way his eyes crinkled when he grinned was adorable to her. Colin’s smile was completely different from Darren’s. Adalyn never paid too much attention to Darren’s smile, which to her meant it wasn’t striking enough for her to notice.
“I’m going to get working on the garbage disposal,” Colin spoke as he picked up the box from the floor.
“Do you need any help?”
“Thanks for asking, but I got it.” He genuinely smiled.
He grabbed some tools from his toolbox and got down under the sink. Adalyn couldn’t help but stare at him. He was incredibly handsome as it was, but when he was fixing something, he was on a whole other level. Unlike Darren who couldn’t fix a thing.
“Why bother when you can hire someone to do it for you.” He’d say when anything broke.
After the new garbage disposal was installed, Colin threw his tools in the toolbox and washed his hands clean.
“All set,” he said.
“Thank you. I appreciate all your help,” Adalyn spoke.
“Don’t mention it. It was my pleasure.”
They both stood there for moment in awkward silence until Adalyn suggested they have a drink out on the deck before he left for the night.
“Before you leave, how about one last drink out on the deck? It’s a beautiful night.”
“I’d like that.”
Adalyn grabbed two beers from the refrigerator and handed him one.
“I saw you drinking this at Rosie’s, so I thought I’d keep some in the fridge in case you come over to fix anything else.” She grinned.
“Has anyone ever told you that you are one awesome friend?” He grinned.
“I may have been told that a few times.” Adalyn let out a light laugh.
They stepped out the sliding door, took a seat on the chairs and stared out at the water that glistened from the light of the moon. The slightly cool night air was perfect as were the sounds of the waves that moved back and forth against the shore.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of this scenery,” Adalyn spoke as she brought the beer bottle up to her lips.
“I’ve lived here my whole life and every day I feel like I’m seeing it for the first time.” Colin smiled as he glanced over at her.
“I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so much peace as I have since I moved here. Don’t get me wrong, I love New York. It’s where I grew up. But it’s noisy, busy and everyone is always in a rush. Did I mention how crowded it is?” She smirked.
“I’ve never been to New York,” Colin said.
“What? Never?”
“Nope. I really never had any desire to go there because of how you just described it. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not opposed to visiting it someday. I guess I just never had a reason to.”
“New York isn’t for everyone,” Adalyn said. “But who knows, maybe you’ll enjoy it if you get there someday. You could see a show on Broadway, walk around Times Square, see the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, the museums. The list goes on and on. Oh and I forgot to mention Central Park.” The corners of her mouth curved upward.
“Well then, maybe one day we can go, and you can be my tour guide.”
Adalyn’s heart began to race when she heard what Colin said and her skin instantly started to heat up.
“Are you okay?” Colin asked her.
“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s been a long day. I guess I’m a little sleepy.”
“Then I should go. I need to run by the bar and make sure my staff didn’t burn it down.”
They both stepped into the house and Colin grabbed his toolbox.
“Thank you again for dinner and putting in the garbage disposal.”
“You’re welcome, Adalyn. I had a really nice time tonight.”
“Me too.”
“Get some rest and I’ll talk to you soon.” He gave her a small smile as he headed towards the door.
“You too. Have a good night, Colin.”
The moment the door closed, Adalyn locked it and then slid down until her butt hit the ground. Her heart was still racing, and she couldn’t get it to calm down. She realized at that moment it had nothing to do with Colin Young. It had to do with fear. She was frightened of the fact that he might be interested in her. As handsome and nice as he was, she couldn’t let herself get involved with another man. There were too many issues she was dealing with. One of them being trust. Plus, she made the decision to find herself and her happiness on her own. Getting involved with another man was out of the question and she wasn’t sure how he would take it if and when the time came for her to tell him.
15
A few days had passed, and Colin couldn’t stop thinking about what Adalyn had told him about her ex-husband. His heart ached for her because she didn’t deserve such betrayal. Nobody did. She was a kind and beautiful woman and he found himself wanting to be around her more and more. He thought about her day and night. Just like a teenager with a crush. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d thought about anyone so much, not even Olivia. Of course, he loved Olivia once, but she wasn’t on his mind 24/7 like Adalyn seemed to be.
As he was putting away the clean glasses behind the bar, Katherine walked over.
“You look like you’re in another world.” She smirked. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with Adalyn, would it?”
He needed to talk to someone about what Adalyn’s ex did to her and her knew he could trust his sister with any secret he told her.
“Adalyn told me why she got divorced.”
“Really? Why? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“Her and her husband had been trying to have a baby and her husband went out and got a vasectomy and never told her.”
“What?!” Katherine exclaimed.
“Yeah. Can you believe that? Apparently, she had a miscarriage and he did it three days after. Then, they tried for a year and a half when he knew it would never happen.”
“That is disgusting. Who does that?”
“I know. Adalyn hates him and I don’t blame her. I do too. The way he hurt her makes me sick.”
“Sounds to me like you have a lot of feelings for her.” Katherine gave him a light smile.
“I do. And honestly, I think she’s so hurt and broken by what he’d done, I don’t stand a chance.”
“If you want my advice, just take things really slow. Don’t push and don’t rush. She’s not going anywhere. Just be her friend and let nature take its course.”
“That’s what I plan on doing. I like her, Katherine. I like her a lot and I want to get to know her even more.”
“Then you know what to do.” Katherine placed her hand on her brother’s arm. “Just follow your heart.”
That was exactly what Colin had planned on doing. Since the night after he left Adalyn’s house, he sent her a text message every day to say good morning and to have a great day. She would reply the same with a thank you and told him to have a great day as well. It was a start. A small start to solidify their friendship.
