Say Yes

“Apparently, someone pushed a lot of your paperwork through already,” she informed us, her eyebrow arching. “Must be nice to be able to have things catered to you like that.”

“Oh, it is,” Walker said dryly. “Just like that song—push it. Push it real good—”

I nudged him, snorting at the corny joke. The girl rolled her eyes and smacked her lips again.

“All you need to do is sign these,” she said, sliding one of the papers onto the counter. She put a pen between us. “I count as a witness.”

All the lightheartedness bled from my heart as I stared down at the paper and pen in front of me.

This it. The final plunge.

Unbidden, my mind thought back over the last two months. Seeing Walker for the first time again—how amazing and confusing and wonderful yet painful it all had been, wrapped up in one bubbling little bundle of confusion. We’d done well with each other though, hadn’t we? It was like no time at all had passed between when he’d left in high school and now. It was like we had always been…

And yet here we were, having gotten what we needed out of each other, signing away everything else.

It’s kind of ironic, really, I thought, as I stared down at that little piece of paper like it had personally offended me. Years ago I would have fought for this—for Walker. If he’d only given me a sign that there was a chance for us.

“Mackenzie?”

I looked up in a daze when Walker called my name. He sounded confused. To be fair, I’d be confused in his shoes, too. Wasn’t this what we’d both wanted? What we’d planned? My hand hovered over the paper, the pen caught between my shaking fingers. There was nothing in this world that I wanted less than to sign my name on that thick black line.

Actually… no. That was wrong.

There was something I was even more afraid of than signing my name, and that was having to watch Walker sign his first. Having to be the second in line to make the choice that would pull us apart. Always having to live with the knowledge that I was the one left behind in the dust while Walker Prince went on about his business as though there was nothing else in the world but himself, his business, and his money.

I couldn’t bear that. Maybe it was a strain of too-strong pride or self-preservation that I’d developed over the years, born of too many disappointments and the need to have a tougher-than-nails armor wrapped tight around my body.

“Macks—”

Rather than waiting for Walker to finish, rather than letting him say the words that would break my heart, rather than letting him put ink to paper first, I gripped the pen tightly and signed my name.

My hand shook as I did. My mouth went dry.

When I was done signing in a sloppy scrawl, I handed the pen over to Walker.

It was probably my reckless imagination and stupid heart playing tricks on me again, but I could’ve sworn he hesitated for a heartbeat before he pressed pen tip to paper and put his name to the page.

And… that was it.

It was done.

20

Walker

Movers walked in and out of the house, carting carefully packaged art pieces and boxes full of Mackenzie’s things out to the moving van parked out front. She had more art and art supplies than other things; it would have been an endearing quality, had it not been for the fact that every piece removed from my home left me feeling more and more empty.

I hung back as they worked. I didn’t want to interfere too much with the process. I didn’t want it to feel like I was hovering or trying to… I don’t know. Be too much in her space.

Bruno, however, had other ideas.

He darted between the movers, sniffing and barking. His nails clattered on the floor as he moved restlessly around the house, and whenever he could, he nosed at Mackenzie and whined. She patted him on the head, comforted him, but Bruno wasn’t buying it. He could tell something was up, and he didn’t like it.

Smart dog.

Bruno was doing what I wanted to. Protesting, whining, trying to prove that no, no, no, Mackenzie wasn’t supposed to leave the house. It was tempting to join him on the floor at her feet, to see if our combined efforts could make her stay, but… who the fuck was I kidding?

We had already signed away our relationship; Mackenzie had already cashed her check.