“Time heals all wounds.”
The words my mom said to me the day Gage left me echo through my mind.
That was five years ago.
I’ve held fast to the faith that those words are true, but if time heals all wounds, seeing an ex-fiancé rips them open until they’re gaping and raw.
“You know Gage?” Annalise shakes my arm as if that’s going to jerk me out of my daze.
It doesn’t work.
I stand and stare at the man I thought I’d build a lifetime of memories with.
I loved him for more than two years and I never saw him dressed like this.
His suit is dark blue. The tie around his neck is as white as his dress shirt.
Dr. Gage Burke.
That was his dream. Maybe, just maybe his dreams came true.
“It was forever ago,” I manage to say as I turn to look at her.
Is she his fiancée?
I drop my gaze to her left hand and the massive emerald cut diamond on her finger.
I rub the back of my ring finger with my thumb.
It’s bare. I took the silver band with the blue topaz stone off of my finger the day Gage called off our engagement.
I handed it back to him. He insisted I keep it. I suggested he go to hell.
“Katie.” His breath gusts over the back of my neck.
My hand moves to cover the skin that’s exposed. I gathered my long blonde hair up into a ponytail this morning after I brushed my teeth.
I put on my makeup, got dressed and came to work as if this would be a day like every other.
I couldn’t have known the earth would crack open and my past would come crawling out.
“You’re in New York,” Gage says from behind me.
I’ve thought about his voice endlessly. I replayed the last voicemail message he left me over and over until I deleted it before I stepped on the airplane the day I moved to Manhattan.
“Obviously.” Annalise rolls her eyes. “Her name is on the front of the store. Can you two catch up later? I need to find a dress so I can marry Myles.”
My traitorous heart leaps inside my chest.
Myles is her fiancé, not Gage.
“I’m Myles Sims.” The blond-haired man shoves a hand at me. “It’s good to meet you, Kate.”
With a tentative hand, I reach for his.
He holds it for a moment too long as if he knows. I look up into his blue eyes. They’re kind and understanding. Impatience doesn’t live there.
“Are you sure you have time for us today?” He holds my hand in his. “I booked the appointment myself with a woman named Natalie.”