Page 15 of Taking What's Ours

I stare at the road. “I don’t mean to sound like an insensitive jerk. I just know there’s no changing him. He is what he is. No one is more important to him than he is.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t see it.”

“Maybe you did, you just didn’t want to accept it. You wanted the fairytale. I can’t blame you for that.”

“I’m too old to believe in fairytales,” she murmurs.

“Hey.” When she turns, I tilt my head. “It’s not wrong to want those things. Lots of people get their happily-ever-after.”

“But not you, and not me. How is that fair?”

I huff a laugh. “Fair? That’s one thing life isn’t. But it doesn’t mean you should give up.” I wonder at my ability to give her advice I won’t take myself. I gave up on love and family a long time ago. We ride in silence for miles, until I gesture to a sign. “You want that exit onto 285 south.”

Once she makes the transition, we head toward the mountains in the distance. It’s only early October, but there’s already a few inches of snow on them.

“You ski?” I ask her, wanting to know more about her.

“I do. But I wasn’t raised here. I only moved to Denver for the job at your father’s company. I haven’t even been outside Denver.”

“Then where’s home?”

“Sacramento.”

“Why didn’t you have the wedding there? Isn’t that tradition? The bride’s hometown?”

She shrugs. “It was just easier to do it in Denver.”

“You gave in to Elliott,” I say, knowing without her admitting it. I huff out a long sigh.

She glances me way. “I guess I’m not one for confrontations. Is that so wrong?”

“Not at all. But it makes me angry to think he bulldozed you into something you didn’t want.”

“He didn’t bulldoze me.”

“You sure about that? Elliott likes to get his way.”

“I was happy with the wedding we’d planned. He let me have everything I wanted.”

“Don’t defend him to me.”

“I wasn’t. I—”

“You were,” I cut her off. “And I’m sure he didn’t let you have anything. Your father paid for all of it, didn’t he?”

She nods but won’t reply, so I let it drop. “Look, let’s not talk about my brother, okay?”

“Fine.” She bites the word out through her teeth, and I’m sorry I said anything. Then her tone softens. “The mountains are pretty. I should have taken the time to see the area.”

“I’m glad you get to see it with me. I can show you a few places along the way.”

An hour into the drive, we hit Conifer, and I look over at Elaina. “You want to hit up a coffee place?”

“God, that sounds fantastic.”

We turn off the highway and drive past a restaurant. “How about this place? I bet we could take Rosie out on the patio. You hungry?”

“Sure.”