The Ghost of You

by Tori Fox

“Yeah maybe when I was seventy.”

  He chuckles and I can feel it reverberate through my entire being. “I think it would have been sooner than that.”

  He looks into my eyes and I can see the love he has for me in them but he doesn’t say the words. And I don’t need him to say those words for me to be happy. I know he feels them. And I also know they are some of the hardest words for him to say. Just as hard as it is for me to say.

  Instead he kisses me with a reverence I have never felt from him before. And I know this is how he is telling me he loves me too.

  Jessica’s engagement party is exhausting. Nearly half the town is here and every last one of them is asking me every question in the book.

  Luckily, I have Noah by my side and he manages to field questions about Kyle and refocus the energy on my sister.

  I tell him I need to step outside for a minute to get fresh air. He is about to tell me he will come with when old Miss Betty sweeps him away.

  I laugh as I walk out of the country club and sit on the steps leading to the building. I breathe deep as I find the peace I never thought I would find from coming home.

  Everything that Kyle did falls away. Looking back, I see he wasn’t the one. He was never one hundred percent committed to us. The memories of all the fights we had while making music make me realize that it was never his future or his path.

  I can hate him all I want for cheating on me but it doesn’t change the fact he did. He ruined a good thing. But instead of wallowing in self-pity over it, I see it as a stepping-stone to the path I am on now.

  Because unlike Kyle, Noah supports me in everything. He encourages me to take chances. To be the woman I thought I could be. To live the dreams I’ve always had.

  I stand up and turn to go back inside when a voice stops me.

  “What is it about you?”

  I turn and look at Becca as she stands on the sidewalk. She looks tired, sallow. Like she hasn’t slept in years and the burden of family has weighed her down. Where she used to be the perfect girl, the desire of so many, with her perfect blonde hair and perfect body and perfect life. Now she looks rundown.

  “Becca. What are you doing here?” I take a step toward her to give her a hug but she steps back. “We haven’t seen each other in years! No hug?”

  “You weren’t supposed to come back here.”

  I scrunch my brows at her. “What do you mean?”

  “You never wanted to come back.” She hisses.

  “I changed my mind, Becs. I missed my parents, my sister. I had to be here for her. I finally found the courage to be here for her.”

  She snorts at me and mutters something about a perfect life.

  “I asked Jess why she didn’t invite you but she wouldn’t tell me. I thought it was strange she wouldn’t invite my best friend. But you are acting weird.”

  She walks up the steps, anger in her eyes. “I saw you in there. I saw you with your new boyfriend. Why Anna? Why do they all love you? What do you have that I don’t?”

  The anger in her eyes turns wild and I take a step backward out of fear. “What are you talking about?”

  “Everyone in there is so happy you are back. That you finally came home. But what makes you so special? You ran from this place. Everyone should hate you. But no, they still love you. Even as you come back here skinnier than you’ve ever been. Is that all it took? Losing a little bit of weight and you are no longer Fat Anna Banana?”

  “What the hell, Becca? What is wrong with you?” This isn’t my best friend. This is a parasite of the girl I knew.

  She laughs as she looks at me. “What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you? Do you really think he is going to love you forever? What about when you gain all that weight back? I doubt he will love you then. You are nothing special.”

  “What are you talking about Becca?” I am so confused. It almost sounds like she is jealous of me. But why? She has the perfect life with her perfect husband and her perfect family. And she has never spoken this way to me before.

  “You don’t get it.”

  I shake my head as I take another step back. “No, I don’t.”

  “You had it all and you threw it—”

  “Mom!” a little boy screeches as he runs down the sidewalk. “I know you told me to stay put at the park but these big kids came and I gots scared.”

  Becca turns and looks at her child as he walks up the stairs. She wraps an arm around him and coddles him.

  I can’t help but feel a familiarity from him. Becca has sent me a few photos of her kids, always awkward photos. Faces half covered or profiles. I know this is her oldest, her two others are girls. He was the result of a one-night stand and Becca was always ashamed of him but I know her husband took him on as his own. She was only a few months pregnant when they met.

  I am about to ask her when he turns toward me. “Who are you?”

  I stumble backward over the last step on the stairs, crashing to the ground.

  I don’t need Becca to explain.

  I don’t need any answers anymore.

  Because everything is as clear as day in that little boys shining copper eyes.

  “It was you.”

  Becca’s face falls. “Anna, let me explain.”

  “There is nothing you can say to make this better.”

  “But I—”

  I hold a hand up, stopping her. “Don’t.”

  “Anna, please.”

  But I don’t let her say a thing. There is nothing she can say to me. I find myself running down the steps of the country club. Across the town I grew up in. Away from everything I thought I knew.

  Because the greatest betrayal was standing there right in front of my eyes.

  25

  Noah

  I look for Anna but I can’t find her. I thought she stepped outside but no one has seen her. I check one more time in the back entrance and pause when I hear an argument.

  “Why the hell did you come here?”

  “I had to see her.”

  “Oh, you had to see her? You decided you were finally going to confess your sins?”

  I hear a sniffle. “Well, no, but what was I supposed to say?”

  “Nothing,” Jessica hisses. “You weren’t supposed to say a thing because I told you to stay away from her.”

  “I didn’t mean for her to find out this way.”

  “She never should have found out. You are a lying bitch and a worthless piece of trash. My sister did not deserve what you did to her.”

  The rage in Jessica’s voice is tangible. I step out and see her arguing with Becca. But that’s not what stops me in my tracks. It’s the little boy clinging to Becca’s leg. The boy with the copper eyes. Eyes I saw last night in a picture.

  “It was a mistake,” Becca pleads.

  I take that moment to make myself known. I step out behind the pillar on the building and face a woman I never met before.

  “Are those the words you want to tell your son one day?”

  Becca and Jessica turn their heads toward me.

  “Because I am sure he doesn’t want to be seen as a mistake.”

  “This isn’t your business,” Becca says as she pushes her son behind her.

  “Isn’t it? You ruined a marriage. A man died. A woman blamed herself for years. You sure this isn’t my business when I am the one that picked that woman up off the ground?”

  “I—she—”

  “I think you should leave, Becca,” I say with disgust in my voice.

  She looks at Jessica before looking back at me. Without a word, she grabs her son’s hand and walks away.

  “I didn’t want her to find out like this,” Jessica tells me.

  “You knew this whole time?”

  Jessica nods as tears fall down her face. “I just wanted to protect her. I didn’t want her heart to break all over again.”

  “Where did she go?”

  Jessica looks me in the eye, her face fallen. “I don’t know. I came out here just
after Becca showed up. All I saw was her running.”

  “Where the hell would she run to?”

  “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”

  I call her and she doesn’t answer. I get in my SUV and head back to the hotel, but she isn’t there. Her parents don’t know where she went or how she would have gotten anywhere. Her sister is just as lost as I am.

  She told me she would never do this.

  Never leave without an explanation.

  I call her over and over, hoping she will pick up.

  But I am not sure she ever will.

  * * *

  To be continued…

  * * *

  Anxious to find out what happens next with Noah and Anna? Pre-order The Fate of Us here.

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  Also by Tori Fox

  The White Creek Series

  Missing Pieces

  Broken Pieces

  Forgotten Pieces

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  The Broken Lyrics Duet

  The Ghost of You

  The Fate of Us

  (coming August 2020)

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  Other novels

  Desolation: A Salvation Society Novel

  (coming 2021)

  Burnout: An Everyday Heroes Novel

  (coming March 2021)

  Acknowledgments

  I got the idea for this story one day while I was driving to work, years ago. I never knew when I was going to write it or if I ever would write it. But once I read some notes I wrote about a heart broken, mysterious songwriter, I knew this had to be put to paper. And I fell in love with Anna’s story and her heartache. Then I knew I needed to write a strong male that would break through her barriers. I never thought he would end up with such a troubled past but it worked and I fell in love with Noah (and all his brothers). I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Anna and Noah’s epic love story and I can’t wait for you to read the conclusion in, The Fate of Us.

  This book wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Sondra telling me to go write more books constantly. Thank you for listening to me whenever I would go on a rant about a plot. Thank you for helping make my stories believable. And thank you for giving me your own story about your landlord!

  Thank you to my husband for putting up with my insane schedule and giving me the time to write. I love you.

  Ellie at My Brother’s Editor, thank you once again for polishing up my words and making sure my books don’t suck.

  Juliana at Jersey Girl Design, you seriously made the most amazing, beautiful book cover. I can’t wait for all our future covers because I know you will make them all insanely amazing.

  Amanda Walker, you make sure I don’t lose my mind. You have made my life so much easier and this is only just the beginning!

  Kiki and everyone at The Next Step PR, thank you for putting your heart and soul into my release. You all are amazing!

  To my readers, thank you for picking this book up. Thank you for taking a chance on a new author. Thank you for reading my words. I appreciate you all and I cannot wait for you to read more stories!

  About the Author

  Tori Fox is the author of contemporary romance with a little bit of angst and a whole lot of sexy. Besides writing you can find her curled up on the couch with her dog reading a book, yelling at the TV during a hockey game or at a karaoke bar singing her heart out. No matter where she is there will always be a bottle of champagne near. Tori lives above the clouds with her husband in the Rocky Mountains.

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  You can find Tori on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

  @ToriFoxBooks

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  For the latest news and releases visit

  torifoxbooks.com