“Why?” Colin asked. “You did nothing wrong.”
“My wedding vows to you. I already broke them. I ran from you instead of leaning into you, and I left you there to fend for yourself. I’m sorry. I’m really trying, I just—have to find my strength again, I guess.”
“Abby,” he said. “A promise like that takes work. It takes practice. And this lifestyle? It takes time to adjust. Are you sure you don’t want to sue the magazine? Because I’ll do anything as long as it doesn’t cost me you.”
“Colin, you’re not losing me,” I said.
I could see relief wash over his face and it made me feel terrible.
“I’m so sorry,” I said breathlessly. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like I’d leave you.”
“It’s my one biggest fear, and it always will be. You are important to me, Abby. The most important person to me. Okay?”
“Okay. I just—need to develop tough skin.”
“And again, that takes time. So long as you promise to work on what you know you need to do, and I will do the same. Together, we’ll be better and stronger for it. Both as individuals, and as a couple.”
I fell into Colin’s body and breathed in his comforting scent. I could still hear the growing horde of people gathered outside at my apartment complex. It made me angry and solidified the fact that my life was forever going to change. People would always want a story. They would always want details. They would stop at nothing to make sure they got a story about us that got them paid, no matter what it did to us.
I had to find my strength again.
I had to start healing myself.
“I don’t want to stay here tonight after all,” I said.
“Then you can come back with me.”
“But the paparazzi. Since I ran from them, they’re going to be on my like piranhas now. How do I fix this?” I asked.
“You call on your P.R. knowledge. If you were coaching someone through this situation in order to spin the story, what would you tell them?”
I took a step back from Colin as my eyes scanned the room. I drew in a deep breath as I centered my mind and stuffed away my emotional state. I locked it away for another time as the logical side of me emerged, and a grin tugged at my lips as I reached down for a box.
“You ready to take some of these boxes to your place?” I asked.
“Brilliant. We’ll make it look like we’re simply moving you out. How many trips do you want to make?”
“I don’t know, how many do you think would look good?” I asked.
“Let’s do this one, then make one more. The focus should be your clothes and toiletries. We can come back for the rest tomorrow, like we said originally.”
“Sounds good to me.” I put the box down and we headed for my room. We picked up suitcases and bags, then headed downstairs towards the crowds. The driver of our car was keeping the people back as they took pictures of us, and we quickly tossed my things in the trunk and headed back in for one more trip. Once we were done, we had all my clothes, shoes, and toiletries in the car and we were ready to head back to his place.
And as I slipped into the car beside my husband, I smiled as we left the paparazzi in the background. I loved that we came up with that plan on our own. Together, like a couple should have. It solidified the fact that we made a good team, and it solidified the fact that Colin would always have my back and that we could face obstacles together.
I slid my hand into his and held it tightly as the car took us to his penthouse apartment. Between us and the driver, we got all my things upstairs in one trip. The moment I emerged from the elevator, I dropped my load and breathed in deep. I could smell Colin’s cologne and the faint odor of lemon that permeated his apartment when it had been freshly cleaned. I smiled as I walked over to the couch, then dropped myself onto the cushions as I gazed out the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Home.
For the first time in almost a year, I felt like I was finally home.
Chapter 23
Colin
Today was the second biggest day of my life. The day had come for me to reaffirm my vows to my beautiful wife. All of the friends and family we had invited were going to be in attendance, and I was excited for my mother to finally meet the woman who had stolen my heart. In the space of one week, we had managed to pull off a romantic beach wedding, organize a renewal ceremony, wind down a cruise, throw a reception, and get ourselves back onto even footing.
Abby was even able to buy the dress of her dreams.
I had no idea what it looked like, but it was all Maggie could talk about. Ted was complaining to me about how she wouldn’t stop talking about it. He would come into my office just to get away from all the chatter, and I would chuckle every time he started in on his rant.
“Was a vow reaffirmation really necessary? I thought you said Abby wasn’t high maintenance? Couldn’t she have just gone to Target and gotten another sundress?”
I bit back my laughter as he sought solitude in my office. But it made me happy that everyone was so excited. Maggie had taken Abby and the girls from Human Resources out for drinks as a late bachelorette-type fiasco, so Ted took me to a bourbon and cigar lounge. As the evening continued on, I kept getting photos of all the girls clinking their glasses. Abby was wearing this crown of penises on her head, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as the girls egged her on in their antics.
Even though Abby looked thoroughly embarrassed and
