Page 92 of Love Expert

“That serious, huh?” He releases my face and takes a step back, lowering his hands and glancing over his shoulder as his front door opens and Jeremy steps out. “Don’t choose hastily just because you’re in a rush, Magnolia.” He stops beside the folded chairs, sweeping them up with fast, violent snaps of his hands. “Don’t settle just because you think a clock is ticking and your deadline is coming.” He backs up and crosses into his yard, his eyes flittering to Stuart’s car and the door that closes with a slam. “Text me the details for my date with Luciana.” He bundles both chairs in one hand and uses the other to scratch his jaw. “I’d hate to represent Magnolia Sava poorly by turning up late. Or worse,” he grits out. “Not turning up at all.”

“Maggie?” Stuart waits by his car, long legs covered in jeans, and his broad, muscular shoulders wrapped beneath a dark brown leather jacket. He hovers on the edge of my driveway, his six-and-a-half-foot frame unsure if he’s coming or going. “Did I come at a bad time, or…?”

“No.” I squeeze my eyes shut and take a single moment—two, three—to calm my racing heart. But when I open them again and peek into Billy’s yard, he’s already moving, tossing the chairs to the base of his porch, then he grabs Jeremy’s hand and ushers the boy inside.

Gone. Just like that.

Drawing a deep breath, I fill my lungs and paste on my most convincing smile, then I spin on my heels and pretend to be the professional I’m really not. “Sorry. That was my neighbor. Come on in.”

I cross my yard as fast as my cramping stomach allows, my heart thundering in my chest, which only makes everything down below feel so much worse. Still, I meet him at the bottom of my stairs and start up.

Please don’t be an axe murderer. Please don’t kill me. Please don’t be the reason Billy and Jeremy lose another woman to death.

“So, you’ve booked a restaurant and gotten everything ready for the big day?”

Chuckling under his breath, Stuart follows me through my front door and pulls it shut behind him. “This Friday, actually. Assuming things go well between you and me.”

“Of course.” I lead him into my kitchen and snag the little blue box from my counter. Turning, I open it for his perusal and grin as his eyes grow wider. “This was my grandmother’s ring. It’s a vintage oval-shaped trilogy. Eighteen-karat yellow gold band, and three-carat diamonds. My late grandfather gave this to her about fifty years ago.”

He digs a hand into his pocket and comes back out again with a tiny magnifying glass-type contraption. “And you have the certification for it, right?”

“Yes. I took it in for valuation recently and had them sign authenticity certificates.”

Concerned, he lowers his hands just an inch and meets my eyes. “Do you have the original certificates, too?”

I set the box back on the counter and fold my hands together. “Yes, I have the original certificates, too. This ring is currently valued at almost sixty thousand dollars.”

And I found it… inside a teapot.

“Your soon-to-be fiancée will absolutely love it.”

“Why are you selling it?” He goes back to studying the diamond. “Shouldn’t you want to keep it in the family? Give it to your daughter someday?”

“I don’t have a daughter.” I swallow the croak in my throat. “And I’m doing everything I can to hold on to my grandmother’s house. Selling her ring seems like the better choice.”

“Yeah, well…” His lips curl into a wide grin. “Respectfully, Ms. Sava, your loss is my gain.” He offers the ring back and watches intently as I place it in its box. “There’s no way my girl would say no tothatring. It’s magnificent.”

ROUND THIRTY-FOUR

BILLY

I don’t text Maggie about tie colors anymore, and I don’t ask her opinion of my jeans, since I don’t actually give a fuck what anyone else thinks. The only reason I used to ask was so she would talk to me. So she would pay attention to me for a minute.

I don’t have her call me anymore, and when Jeremy stands in the yard screeching her name, I don’t go out to watch them together.

Missing her feels like my entire fucking body is on fire. But watching them together,knowinghow perfect they look when he crawls onto her lap and snuggles in, hurts infinitely more.

He’s allowed to have a relationship with Magnolia Sava without me. Allowing them to love each other without my bullshit tainting something so beautiful is the least I could do.

“I think you’re making a mistake,” Ollie rumbles, his voice coming through my phone speakers. “I think you’re both acting on hurt feelings right now, and I’m telling you, that shit never ends well.”

“I think she already fucking told me she was done.” I work on my tie, knotting the material and grunting at its tight grip on my throat. “She doesn’t want me, Ol, and she deserves way better than the bullshit emotional torture my existence offers.”

“She does want you!” Rose exclaims. Because of course she’s part of this call, too. “I didn’t even know you two when you were kids, not like everyone else knew you, and I still know you’re meant to be together. Jesus, Billy. Stop letting your trauma run your life.”

“Ollie…”

“I won’t tell her to shut up,” he inserts. “She’s right, and we both know it. And even if she wasn’t, I’d rather hold on to her, wrong opinions and all, than win a dumb fuckin’ argument. It seems you haven’t quite learned that lesson yet.”