The Marriage License For Me, The Boat For His Regret Chapter 09
The crowd dispersed. The newlyweds moved on to the next part of the celebration.
Kenna looked down at Nolan, still slumped on the ground.
She spoke softly. “Nolan, I knew Tessa was getting married today.”
He snapped his head up, eyes wide with disbelief. “That’s why you made me stay with you all week?”
Kenna nodded. “I wanted you to see the truth. She doesn’t love you.”
“I’ve loved you for so long. I’m a better match for you than Tessa ever was.”
“You love me too, don’t you?”
Nolan squeezed his eyes shut. His heart felt like it was being crushed by an invisible fist.
He thought Tessa would always wait.
Thought she was easy.
He actually believed a marriage license could erase all the ways he’d favored someone else, all the betrayals.
He was so stupid.
When he opened his eyes again, they were hard. “Kenna, I kept my promise to you. Seven days. I’m not going to be with you. You’ve always been like a sister to me.”
Kenna laughed. “Nolan. Who sleeps with his sister?”
He dropped his gaze, his voice raw. “I’m a piece of shit. Ask me for anything.”
“But the only person I want is Tess.”
He walked away, ignoring Kenna’s crying behind him.
…
Over the next two weeks, he built a new skiff from scratch.
Then he started looking for Tessa.
He called Brynn. She told him to get lost.
He showed up at her parents’ house. They wouldn’t even open the door.
So he did the only thing he could. He waited outside the Mitchell family’s company building. Every day.
Three months later, he finally saw her.
Tessa got out of a car, holding a thermos.
She was wearing a dark gray trench coat. Her hair was a little shorter. Her eyes had light in them. She looked even prettier.
He stepped in front of her, his throat tight. “Tess. Can we talk?”
She stepped back and looked at him like he was a stranger.
Nolan rushed to speak before she could leave. “I destroyed the skiff I gave Kenna.”
“I built a new one. So this is still my first skiff.”
“Tess, I don’t care about any of that. I was wrong. I thought you’d always wait…”
“I already picked out our wedding date.”
Tessa’s frown deepened. She finally cut him off.
“A date. That’s not a wedding.”
“It’s like how I used to plan on marrying you.”
Nolan’s face went white.
She smiled at his expression. “Like you said. I’m a spinster. I couldn’t wait anymore.”
“So I married someone else.”
“And like you can see, I’m really happy.”
“Now I need to bring my husband his soup. Goodbye.”
He reached out again, blocking her. His voice shook.
“Tess, I already fired Kenna. She’s gone.”
“I’ll never talk to her again. Can you just… trust me this once?”
Tessa paused. Like something just occurred to her.
She pulled out her phone and played a voicemail recording.
His voice. Kenna’s voice. That rainy night.
Nolan stood there, shaking.
Tessa raised an eyebrow. “Sound familiar? First time I heard it, I wanted to throw up.”
“If you hadn’t shown up today, I would’ve forgotten I even had this.”
She stopped the recording and hit delete.
“Okay. Can I go now?”