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Chapter Fourteen
Maggie stopped Joel before he could get away again, because she knew she’d seen him outside the dress shop. She had also caught glimpses of him around town the last couple of days.
“Joel.” God, he looked good in black jeans, a red polo stretched across his broad chest and shoulders, his light brown hair tousled by the breeze, and his warm brown eyes glued to her. “What are you doing here?” A strange flutter of anticipation washed through her.
“Oh, uh, hi, Maggie. How are you?” He seemed nervous. Jumpy even, though his gaze took all of her in and his eyes filled with a need she recognized from the past, because he’d always looked at her that way.
“I’m fine. But you didn’t answer my question.”
“Um.” He looked down the street, at the ground, then finally at her again. “I’m visiting my family. I had no idea you were in town, too.”
She’d known him long enough to know when he was lying.“Really? I saw you at the bridal shop. Your mom didn’t tell you I was getting married here this weekend?”
He looked down at the diamond engagement ring on her finger. “I did hear about that.”
She thought she detected some remorse in those words, but couldn’t be sure.
He met her gaze again. “Congratulations, Maggie. You deserve to be happy.” He took a tiny step closer. “Are you happy?”
“Yes,” she said automatically. “But I don’t understand why you’re here.”
He stared at her for a long moment, time spinning out, memories surfacing that made Maggie want to reach out and hug him. She longed to feel the love they’d once shared though they’d long ago said their good-bye.
“I—” Joel stopped, searching for something in her gaze.
She wished she knew what he was looking for, what he wanted to say.
“I... I hope you’ll be very happy.” Joel turned and rushed away, just like he’d done when she spotted him staring at her through the window.
She watched him disappear around the corner and stood there for another minute wishing he’d come back and say something entirely different. Something that would make her feel the way she felt every time she saw him. The way she felt when they were together.
“Oh, no.” She still loved him.
But loving him had never been the problem. Wanting different things had torn them apart.
And now she was about to marry a man who was willing to give her everything she wanted. So why didn’t it feel right to think that and believe it and see Joel? Couldn’t she have the love she had with him and the family she wanted with someone else?
She loved Marc.
But it wasn’t the same.
She’d had the once-in-a-lifetime kind of love and lost it.
Not everyone ends up with the one they want.
It didn’t mean you didn’t love again.
Her heart was big enough to love two men in different ways.
She and Marc would be happy together. They’d build a family, careers, and make memories together watching their kids grow and have children of their own. They’d be doting grandparents one day and look back on their life and know they’d had something good.
She couldn’t ask for more.
***
Rose’s heart broke for her best friend when Joel walked away. Maggie looked despondent and resigned. It was easy to see they both still loved each other. But sometimes that wasn’t enough. Maggie wanted more. If she and Joel stayed together and Maggie didn’t feel completely fulfilled, it would eventually tear them apart.
It had to be agony to love like that and not be together.
