up at the altar. But the other part of him—the part filled with too much pride to belittle himself after she’d made it clear she didn’t care about him—kept him rooted to the spot.
Melanie finished hurriedly putting the items into her purse, not even dusting off the sand first, then threw another nervous glance in his direction, as though she feared he was approaching her at that very second. And that was what got to Lawrence. The idea that she was afraid of him. Even when she had broken his heart, she hadn’t needed to fear him. All he had wanted were answers, and even though she hadn’t given them to him, he hadn’t lost his mind and hounded her. He had simply let her be.
He watched as Melanie rebuffed a hotel worker’s help in getting to her feet. She quickly stood, then turned in the opposite direction from the path where he was standing, and hustled out of the bar area toward the beach.
And that’s when he made the impromptu decision to follow her. He had initially come to the bar to pick up a couple beers for him and his buddy, Shemar, but that would have to wait.
Nine months had passed and, yes, his relationship with Melanie was over. But still, he had to know.
She looked over her shoulder once more as she tried to flee, and her eyes widened when she realized he was coming after her. The reaction irked him. She had known him—known his heart—yet she had let every insecurity come between them and prevent them from getting married. Now, she was looking at him as though she thought he would rush her and throttle her.
Lawrence picked up his pace, jogging. Nearing the water now, Melanie suddenly stopped. She wanted to get away from him, but she wasn’t about to dive into the ocean to make her escape by swimming. Not the Melanie he knew, anyway.
She quickly scanned the area to the left. Endless beach. Then the right. Same thing. He caught up to her in time to hear her whimper.
She took a step to her left, but Lawrence put his hand on her shoulder, stopping her. “Hey,” he said softly. “You’re seriously not even going to say hi to me?”
Turning, Melanie looked up at him, and he could see the trepidation in her eyes.
“For God’s sake, Mel. Why are you looking at me like I’m some sort of crazy stalker? If there’s one thing you knew about me, it was that you didn’t have to be afraid of me. Yet the look on your face would make a person think you’re scared I’ll hurt you.”
To emphasize his point, he looked toward a couple a short distance away. Indeed, both the man and the woman were staring in their direction, clearly a little too curious about Lawrence’s interaction with Melanie.
“Oh,” Melanie said, following his line of sight to the couple in question.
“Yeah,” Lawrence said, unable to hide his irritation. “After everything, I figure the very least you can do is say hello when you see me, not run scared. I don’t deserve to be treated like I’m the one who hurt you.”
There. He’d gotten that off his chest. Because if anyone should be running scared, it was him. Melanie was the one who had trampled all over his heart.
He sure as heck hoped that she hadn’t avoided him because of an unfounded fear that he would become some sort of nutcase. She owed him a conversation, an explanation, and that was all he had wanted. If she’d been able to tell him that she didn’t love him and didn’t want to marry him, as much as it would have hurt, he would have wished her well and moved on.
But she hadn’t told him anything, and that had him stuck emotionally. Unable to truly move on.
“I—I—I’m sorry,” Melanie stuttered. “It’s just—I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“That makes two of us.”
“I’m here for Richelle’s wedding,” she explained.
“Ah. So Richelle’s getting married again?” Lawrence processed the information. He remembered all too well that it was Richelle’s own failed engagement that had led to Melanie’s doubts about whether or not any marriage could be successful. That and the fact that her father had never been able to stay faithful to her mother.
“Not again,” Melanie clarified. “This will be her first marriage. Since her wedding to Vern last year didn’t actually happen.”
“Yeah, I know what that’s like,” Lawrence couldn’t help saying. When Melanie’s lips tightened, he asked, “She getting married to Roy? The football player?”
“Yep,” Melanie answered, not looking at him. Instead, she was searching the beach. “And, ah, there they are. They told me to meet them, so, uh, I’ll see you around.”
Lawrence’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll see me around?”
“What do you want me to say?” Melanie asked, sounding exasperated.
“I want to know why,” Lawrence said. “That’s what I want to hear from you. Tell me why you left me.”
Melanie withered beneath his hard stare. But Lawrence didn’t avert his gaze, because she deserved to wither. She deserved to feel even a morsel of the pain she had caused him to feel.
“This isn’t the time,” she said.
“Then when is the time?” Lawrence asked. “Let’s set a date. Mark me in on your calendar and put it in that phone of yours so you won’t forget. We’re in Fiji, where you can’t hide behind your work. Maybe now I can get some answers.”
“Lawrence, stop.”
“Stop?” he countered. “So that’s just it? You break my heart, you humiliate me in front of my family and friends, and I don’t have a right to know why?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, you didn’t say anything. You just stood me up and never even gave me a courtesy call to say you were sorry, at the least.”
Melanie’s bottom lip trembled. And once again, there was the look of fear in her eyes. But he could see now that it wasn’t the kind of fear that said she was afraid he would hurt her. Rather, it was the kind of fear that came when you were caught in an uncomfortable situation you didn’t want to be in.
But dammit, she owed him closure. She owed him answers, and then he could forget her forever.
“We were supposed to get married,” Lawrence went on. “We were supposed to be husband and wife. Only you didn’t show up. You made an executive decision to change the plans we had for our life together. Fine—maybe you’re not sorry about how you handled the situation, about how you hurt me. But at the very least, don’t you think you owe me an explanation as to why?”
“I—I can’t do this. Richelle...she’s waving me over.”
“Richelle isn’t going anywhere. We’re on island time.”
Melanie was shaking her head. “I—I’m sorry, Lawrence. I—I am. I know I never told you, and, yes, you deserved an apology, so I’m telling you now. I’m sorry. Just know that.”
And before he could say another word, she quickly turned, desperate to be able to escape him, and all but sprinted
