Page 75 of A Vineyard for Two

‘Harper.’

‘Hmm,’ she said, staring past him at nothing in particular other than a shadow on the wall.

‘Has this happened before?’

‘Yes.’

‘Back in the city?’

She shook her head. ‘No, before I left. Here.’

‘You never said anything.’

‘It was for the best.’

‘For who? For you? It sure as hell wasn’t for anyone you left behind.’

She could have argued that point, but it was too late now. Rehashing the details wasn’t going to change over the past six years. She did it for her family; she did it for him.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘You left, without a word you just packed your bags and left.’

‘I didn’t have a choice.’ She wasn’t sure she believed that anymore.

‘Bullshit. There is always a choice. You chose to go.’

‘That’s right. I wanted to go. I wanted to live, to try something else.’ She’d used it as the catalyst for her decision.

‘I wasn’t enough.’

‘It’s not all about you.’

‘Seems nothing was.’

’You had everything planned out for us, from start to finish. It was suffocating.’

‘And that scared you?’

‘It scared the hell out of me.’

‘You couldn’t have just talked about it.’

‘I…’

‘Come on, use your words, Harper.’

She hesitated, but what good did keeping quiet do her. ‘I wanted more. I wanted something beyond this place.’

‘You could have told me.’

‘You would have never left.’

‘You don’t know that,’ he said running his hands through his hair. ‘I loved you. I love you. For crying out loud, Harper. I wanted to marry you.’

‘I know.’ She didn’t look him in the eye knowing the fresh heart ache it must cause him.

‘You knew?’