Page 119 of For the Love of Art

“You think I’m upset because I simply want you? Like you’re some kind of trinket I can pick up at a souvenir shop?” he asked, clearly upset.

“Nathan, I never—”

“Isla, I’m in love with you,” he confessed.

Nathan was the second man to confess their love for me today, and it was too much.

“I didn’t want to say it until you were truly divorced for this exact reason,” he continued.

“What reason is that?”

Nathan looked down. “Because a part of me worried you not signing the papers was because you were waiting for him to come back.”

I swallowed. In all our time together, I had worried that Nathan could never be serious about a relationship since he’d never been in one deeper than sex. I never once thought he would be worried that I was the one who couldn’t be in a relationship.

“Nathan–”

“Don’t. You do what you need to do, Isla,” he said solemnly. “I can’t stop you. I won’t. I’m not going to beg you to choose me. I just hope he’s worthy of you.”

My heart sank as he dismissed me from his office.

As I closed the door, I heard him pick up his phone. On the other side of me, the line to the main gallery rang.

Dori answered it happily. “Hi, Nathan.”

Through Nathan’s door, I heard him say, “I’m done for the week. If you need anything, bring it to Isla.”

“Sounds good!” Dori said from the other side.

“I’ll see you Monday.”

I finished closing the door silently and then ran to my office, where I fell back on the horrible yellow couch. I didn’t care that it hurt when I fell. All I cared about was Nathan telling me he loved me. He loved me, and I took it for granted. I didn’t know what Don would say tomorrow, but now it didn’t matter because the only person I wanted to talk to was gone.

The bell over the cheese shop chimed as I walked in. Both Lianne and Frankie looked up from behind the counter. Lianne looked worse for wear.

That was why I’d stopped by. I’d lost Nathan because I didn’t talk to him, and I couldn’t repeat the same things with my best friend. I had to tell her about Don, Andrew– everything.

“Hey, boo,” Frankie said.

Lianne gave an exhausted wave. “Hi.”

“Hey, guys.” I swallowed back a lump in my throat. “How are you, Li? I stopped by a couple of days ago, and you weren’t in.”

“Frankie filled me in. Sorry I haven’t returned your texts, I’m just–” She twisted her nose. She did it anytime she was avoiding crying. “I don’t think things between Andrew and I are going to work out how I want them to, and I don’t know what I did wrong.”

“Yeah, I can relate, kind of. I’m in the same boat with Nathan.”

Both Lianne and Frankie looked surprised. “Really?” they said together.

“Don stopped by.”

“Shut. Up!” Frankie squealed.

“What the fuck does that asshole want?” Lianne didn’t hide her disdain.

“Um.”

“The divorce papers?” Frankie asked.