Page 108 of Over the Line

She sighed. When Vanessa broke it down like that, he didn’t sound so horrible.

“The bastard didn’t demand you marry him. Did he?”

“No.” At least not yet.

“Or demand that you stop working and wait on him—and his buddies—and his selfish whims?”

“Oh hell no.” If that had happened, she’d be counting her blessings that she’d fled before she’d gotten in deeper, and she might actually be on the deck of a cruise ship this very moment. “But still, V… He wanted more than I was willing to give.”

“Isn’t a relationship about compromise?”

She leveled a skeptical look at her friend.

“What?” Vanessa took a bite of her scone. “I’ve been listening to this expert on a podcast. I know way more about how to successfully tolerate someone else’s shit now.”

They both laughed, and Sydney appreciated her friend’s humor. “Does that mean you’d be willing to share your space now?”

“Excuse me.” Vanessa cleared her throat. “We’re examining your life, not mine.”

“Uh-huh.” Vanessa was nothing if not predictable.

Despite having inherited plenty of money from her grandparents, Vanessa lived off the salary from her job.

She’d been engaged and only found out she was with a gold digger when her father had insisted she get a prenup. Now, she went by her middle name and kept her family’s wealth a secret.

“What are you afraid of, really?”

“I don’t need to tell you, do I?” Sydney asked. After all, no one knew her better.

Still, Vanessa waited.

“Losing my freedom. Getting in so deep that I can’t find my way back.”

“But, honey, when you left Lewis, you blazed a path out of hell. You’ve already survived the worst life can throw at you. Haven’t you?”

Vanessa’s wisdom resonated deep inside.

After a few more seconds, Vanessa softly asked, “So what are you going to do about the situation?” Then she shrugged. “I mean, besides mope. That is your right. But it’s not your usual MO.”

“I’m not…” She allowed her protest to trail off. Vanessa had a point. Sydney had been moving from the couch to her bed, a shadow of the person she’d been even a few weeks ago.

But worse than that, she was adrift.

Even though they hadn’t been together for very long, Master Michael, and his ranch, had become an anchor in her life, a place of refuge to regroup and rest.

“You may have to give a little,” Vanessa said, sounding wise, and no doubt parroting words from the podcast. “Make choices from your possibilities instead of your fears.”

“At some point, I’ll repeat those words back to you.”

Vanessa smiled radiantly. “At which point I will stick my fingers in my ears and go, la, la, la, la, la.”

Sydney laughed.

“Seriously, you should call him.”

“Vanessa, I told you. He gave me an ultimatum.”

“Oh, honey, ultimatums are merely a place to start a negotiation.”