Read InHap*pily Ever After (Incidental Happenstance) for Free Online Page B

about making new friends, and that she would
never again live in her own house. Saying it out loud made him realize just how
much she was going to have to give up to be with him. He was damn sure going to
make certain it was worth it. “Bloody hell,” he said, standing and pulling her
into his arms. “I feel horrible about the sacrifices you’re having to make—I
promise I’ll make it up to you, Tia.”
     
                Tia sighed and
took a long look around her little bedroom. She’d once planned to make a life here;
in this little slice of suburbia. It seemed like a lifetime ago now that she
stood in this room with Nick, the walls bare and white as they taped up color
swatches and planned out how they’d make a home; and someday a family; in this
little house. But this wasn’t her life anymore, and hadn’t been in quite some
time. She’d just been going through the motions of that simple existence—even
though she’d maintained the façade fairly well it was still just that—a cover
that masked the changes that had come into her life the minute she’d met Dylan.
                She leaned
into him and wrapped her arms around his neck. “This is just a building, Dyl,
not a life. My life is with you now, and any little sacrifices I have to make
now will be more than worth it in the end. It’s no big deal, really—just
something I have to get used to.”
                She looked
around again and realized that she meant every word she’d said. Aside from a
couple pictures on the walls, she really wasn’t attached to anything in the
house. Most of the furniture was hand-me-down, as she and Nick had planned to
furnish it after they’d gotten married. Tia hadn’t had a bridal shower before
Nick died, so she had no china or matching bath towels or anything else that
she felt she needed to take with her. They hadn’t lived in the house together;
planning instead to wait until after they’d married to move in, so they’d made
precious few memories here. It wouldn’t be so hard to walk away, especially now
that she had the promise of a new life with Dylan. “Really, it’s not a big
deal—don’t look so sad,” she said, smiling and pulling his arms around her.
“How can I be anything but happy when I have you?”
                The doorbell
rang, and Tia jumped, her eyes widening for a second before realizing it was
probably just the pizza delivery man. Here was something new too, she thought,
paranoia. She realized she’d be looking over her shoulder a lot more in the
coming days. Dylan pulled the curtain aside and peered onto the front porch.
“Oh good, food’s here,” he said. “Be sure to look through peepholes before you
open doors from now on.”
                “I don’t have
a peephole,” she said, looking over his shoulder at the man standing on the
porch holding a pizza box. She recognized him immediately and sucked in a
breath. “Dylan, that’s not a pizza delivery guy…it’s the limo driver who
brought us here…” She looked into the street, and saw the car parked there.
Footprints in the snow led from the car to her door.
                “He’s just
security, sweetheart,” Dylan said. When she turned to him, he continued.
“They’ve always been there, Tia. I usually keep them way in the background, but
at times they’re a necessity, and this is one of those times. Management gets
downright pissed when I go out without an entourage but most of the time,
people don’t spare much more than a second glance, especially when it’s out of
context.  When they see someone they think they recognize, they do a double
take and think, ‘that really looks like so-and-so,’ but they don’t really
believe it. When they do recognize you, sometimes they’re happy with a smile
and a wave. Some feel compelled to come up to you and tell you how they’ve
enjoyed your work, or even, in some cases, how you’ve changed their