Chapter 1

The speech Luke used to thank another woman was the one I'd written for him.

I sat beneath the warm lights of the ballroom, listening as he delivered every line we'd practiced at our kitchen table.

He paused where I'd told him to pause. He smiled at the joke I'd added. When he spoke about twelve years of struggle, his eyes moved across the room and passed right over me.

Then he folded the speech and slipped it into his pocket.

"There's one person I need to thank in my own words," he said.

My hands went still in my lap.

Luke looked toward the table beside ours. "Elise Vaughn. The woman who believed in me when I had nothing and kept me standing when I wanted to quit."

Applause filled the ballroom.

Elise rose in a silver dress and walked toward the stage as if she'd been waiting for her cue. Luke held out his hand. When she reached him, he drew her close and kissed her forehead.

Someone at my table whispered, "How sweet."

I couldn't breathe.

For twelve years, I'd tasted every failed dish, listened to every doubt, and sat awake with Luke after every rejection. I'd written the words that had just brought half the room to tears.

Yet he had handed our history to Elise.

She leaned into the microphone. "I always knew you'd make it."

Luke smiled at her in a way he hadn't smiled at me in years.

When they came down from the stage, the photographer waved me over. "Mara, get in with them."

I stood, but Luke caught my elbow before I reached the backdrop.

"Please don't make this awkward," he murmured.

"I'm making it awkward?"

"Elise is emotional. Let her have this moment."

The clasp of the bracelet on my wrist caught against his cuff. It was the bracelet he'd given me on our tenth anniversary. The clasp sprang open.

I pressed it into his palm. "Hold this for me."

He shoved it into the inside pocket of his jacket without looking.

Elise called his name, and he turned away from me.

I went to the restroom because I refused to cry where people could watch.

Elise followed me.

She checked her lipstick in the mirror while I gripped the edge of the sink. "You shouldn't look so surprised."

"Get out."

"Luke wanted tonight to be honest." She met my eyes in the mirror. "That speech made it sound as if he'd done everything alone. I told him he should thank the person who was actually there for him."

"I wrote that speech."

Her smile widened. "I know."

The cruelty of it landed harder than the applause.

I turned toward her. "How long have you known he planned to do this?"

"We went over it last night."

"At the restaurant?"

"In my hotel room." She dabbed one corner of her mouth with a tissue. "It was after two when he left. You must've been asleep."

Elise's phone buzzed. She glanced at the screen.

"Luke's waiting outside."

I followed her into the hallway. Luke stood beside the restroom door, his face tight with irritation.

"Elise, the photographer's waiting."

"She followed me in here," I said.

Elise lowered her eyes. "I only wanted to explain."

Luke stepped between us. "Mara, enough. This is the biggest night of my life. Can't you put your jealousy aside for one hour?"

"You thanked her with my words."

"Because she deserved to be thanked."

Elise touched his sleeve. "Luke, don't fight with her because of me."

He covered her hand with his. "This isn't your fault."

I looked at their joined hands and felt something inside me go quiet.

"You're right," I said. "It isn't."

Luke relaxed, mistaking my calm for surrender.

I picked up my purse and walked out.

In the lobby, I opened a message Gabriel Stone had sent that morning.

The guest-chef place at Cedar Bay is still yours if you want it. I need an answer by midnight. Arrival is Friday.

I'd turned him down because Luke had said this award season was too important for me to leave.

It was 11:47 p.m.

I typed one word.

Yes.

Gabriel replied almost immediately.

Are you sure? The train leaves Friday at eight. If you come, Mara, come because you're ready to choose yourself.

I stared at the message until my vision blurred.

"Why is Gabriel texting you?"

Luke's voice came from directly behind me.