Chapter 4
Four days later, I opened the pub’s livestream as extra time ended and the final whistle blew.
Spain had beaten Argentina and won the World Cup.
On my screen, The King’s Hound erupted.
People climbed onto tables. Beer sprayed across the room. Strangers hugged, cried, and shouted until the walls seemed to shake.
On the livestream, Bianca jumped into Harrison’s arms again.
This time, he caught her but immediately looked toward the entrance.
He was searching for me.
All evening, Harrison had kept an empty seat beside him.
My red-and-gold scarf was draped across the back of it.
He still believed I would come.
He believed I would wait until the match ended, accept another apology, and let him explain why Bianca always came first.
But I wasn’t going to the pub.
I was sitting in the back of a taxi on my way to Heathrow Airport.
My suitcase was in the trunk.
My passport was in my handbag.
And my wedding ring was inside my jewelry case.
The architecture firm in Copenhagen had sent my new employment contract an hour earlier.
I signed it before the final whistle.
For the first time in six years, I had made a decision without asking Harrison how it would affect him.
My phone vibrated.
A message from him appeared.
We won.
A second message followed.
I wish you were here.
Then:
Come to the pub. We can fix everything tonight.
I read the messages without answering.
Outside the taxi window, London was celebrating. Cars sounded their horns. People waved flags in the streets.
Everyone seemed to be moving toward someone they loved.
I was finally moving away from the man who had never chosen me.
On the livestream, Bianca raised a glass.
“To Spain!”
The crowd roared.
“And to the man who saved my pub!”
She pulled Harrison closer.
Before she could kiss him, a stranger stepped between them.
He wore a dark coat and carried a large white envelope.
“Mr. Harrison Cole?”
Harrison frowned.
“Yes?”
“I was asked to deliver this to you personally.”
The man held out the envelope.
Harrison didn’t take it immediately.
“Who sent it?”
“I believe the answer is inside.”
Bianca leaned over his shoulder.
“Maybe it’s from a sponsor.”
Harrison finally accepted it.
My handwriting was on the front.
His expression changed the moment he recognized it.
He called me.
My phone rang as the taxi stopped outside the airport terminal.
I declined the call.
He tried again.
I silenced his calls and returned to the livestream.
Then I stepped out of the taxi and took my suitcase from the driver.
Behind the glass doors, the departure board showed my flight to Copenhagen.
Through the shaking livestream, the celebration continued around Harrison.
He stared at the sealed envelope while Bianca urged him to open it.
He slid one finger beneath the flap.
And began to tear it open.