Page 86 of If I Didn’t Have You

“Am I late?”

Ellie clenched her teeth, and I slid my hand over, taking hers in mine with a tight squeeze. “And then there are the women who act crazy, chasing a man they can never have.”

Bianca pursed her lips, taking a seat opposite us. “I see we already started the discussion. Frankly, I think the heroine in the story is strong and should be praised for not giving up on what she wants.”

Everyone looked to Ellie. “Well, I guess in this book it makes sense, since the hero actually wanted to be with her in the end. Not that the same can be said for every woman in romance novels.”

“Or life,” I added, feeling like I needed to lend some support to Ellie.

And while I actually agreed with Bianca about the book, I was one hundred percent on Ellie’s side right now. Bianca needed to make herself scarce. She wasn’t wanted in this town, and no matter how many times she tried to insert herself into Ryder’s life, he’d made it perfectly clear he wasn’t taking her back.

“Sometimes, a man just doesn’t know what he wants until he’s seen what else is out there,” Bianca countered.

“Exactly. And what he finds is so much better than what he had before,” Ellie smiled.

“Is it? I wonder, how long can a man truly be satisfied with what he has when he’s not actually…being satisfied.”

The whole room sucked in a breath at her blatant disregard for the sensitive topic that still rocked the town. Not a single woman left standing would argue that what Ellie had been through was something that would take time to heal.

And it was lucky for her that she had a man as understanding as Ryder. He loved her with his whole heart, and there wasn’t a woman alive blind enough to see that he would never leave Ellie. Not because of what she had been through, but because there was no one in the world who he could possibly love like her.

“I suppose if all a woman can offer is sex, then a man wouldn’t be satisfied in just any relationship,” Cassidy said, getting to her feet, facing Bianca. “Luckily for the women around here, our men are both strong and understanding. They know a good woman when they see one, and they would never let one go because of a traumatic incident that left one of us wounded.”

I shot to my feet, joining Cassidy in her stance against the English bitch. I never had any issue with her until she started going after Ellie. From that point on, she was dead to me.

One by one, all the ladies in the group got to their feet in support of Ellie. But what surprised us all was when Ellie also stood, standing tall in front of the woman who wanted to steal her man.

“Go ahead. Do your worst,” Ellie smirked. “He’ll never take you back, and the sooner you see that, the better. For you, of course. None of us ever give you a second thought.”

Bianca tried to look smug, but failed massively. As she got to her feet, she plastered the most confident look on her face, but we all saw through it. In that moment, she wavered—no longer sure that she could actually win Ryder back.

And now that she knew we all stood behind Ellie, she fled the bookstore with her tail between her legs.

The moment the door closed, Ellie let out a harsh breath and collapsed in her seat.

“Well, I think this calls for wine!” Cassidy cheered. “Good riddance to the wicked witch!”

“I’ll grab the glasses!” Josie said, scrambling to the backroom.

I sat down and squeezed Ellie’s hand, feeling her pulse racing at her wrist. “You did well.”

She huffed out a laugh, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “I felt like I was going to throw up.”

“She didn’t see that, and neither did anyone else.” I slid my arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to me so only she could hear me. “You’ll get there in time, and no hussie like that could ever tempt Ryder away from you. He knows what he has. Trust me, you’re all he’ll ever see.”

She rested her head on my shoulder for only a second before the wine came out. As I sat there drinking and watching my fellow ladies laughing about the woman we ran off, I wondered why I wasn’t taking my own advice. I was so worried about River that I hadn’t stopped to consider that I was enough.

I had just assumed that she was the problem.

The truth was, even with my confidence growing every day, I was still worried that I was too old, that my body was no longer attractive. But Ben was mine, and I couldn’t give him up without a fight. Instead of sitting back and watching my life slip away, I needed to fight for it.

Grabbing my things, I slipped out of the shop, followed quickly by Georgia.

“Where are you going?”

“Home! I have things to get ready for.”

“Things? What things?” she asked, chasing me down the street.