Walk On The Wild Side Read Free Page A

She shook her head as though she could erase the last ten minutes of her life from existence.
    “Well it hasn’t been working for me for a long time,” he said quietly. “I thought you would figure it out. I guess I should have been more clear.”
    “Marrying someone else makes it pretty clear.”
    “I’m sorry, Molly,” he said and reached for her hand which she promptly snatched away. “I know I should have been more direct, told you what was going on with me, but I didn’t want to hurt your feelings with the truth.”
    “And what is that? What’s the truth?”
    He shook his head, his mouth opening, then closing a few times as he struggled for the right words.
    “If you’re worried about hurting me, don’t,” she said. “Whatever you can say, it can’t possibly hurt me more than I’m feeling at this second.”
    “I don’t love you anymore.”
    Oof. It was a punch in the gut, but one she was subconsciously prepared for. After all, how could he love her and do want he did.
    “I haven’t for a long time.”
    That one she took to the ribs, as her heart slammed against them so hard she was surprised they didn’t crack from the inside.
    “You’re a great girl, Molly, but when it comes to what I want in a wife, in a life together… I feel like I outgrew you a long time ago.”
    And that was the kicker, the killing blow that sent her heart exploding out of her chest to land with a fleshy plop on the bricks. Not that he didn’t love her. Not that he didn’t want to be with her.
    But that she had been clinging, so hard, for so long, not realizing that the man she clung to no longer wanted her.
    Hadn’t for a long time.
    “Okay,” she said and turned to step off of his porch, feeling like she was going to step into an abyss.
    “We’ll both be happier, you’ll see,” he offered lamely. “Once you have a little time to think about it, you’ll see that it’s time to move on.”
    Move on? She thought as she made the less than one mile drive home on auto pilot. Move on? She thought as she unlocked to door to her emptier than usual feeling house.
    Since she’d been a junior in high school, her life had revolved around Josh. Josh, and her dreams of her quiet, secure life in Big Timber. No drama, no heartaches, just marrying her high school sweetheart, having a couple of kids, then spending their golden years holding hands and teasing each other about what hot stuff they used to be. That was all she ever wanted. All she ever dreamed of. All she ever planned on.
    Now all that had been upended like a table flipped by one of those crazy women on the Real Housewives.
    How the hell was she ever supposed to move on?!

Chapter 1
     
     
    Three weeks later
     
    It was nearly eight PM when Brady McManus turned his truck down Big Timber’s main street. Most of the windows of the shops and small businesses lining the street were dark at this hour. One of the few exceptions was his destination, Adele’s Cafe.
    As he pulled into the parking lot, he joined only a handful of cars, evidence of how much dinner business slowed down during the off months.
    It was early October, but there was already the cold nip of frost in the mountain air. A stark contrast to the warm gust that greeted him when he pushed open the door to the restaurant.
    “Brady!”
    He felt his lips tug in a smile as several people said his name like he was Norm from Cheers or something. One of those people was his best friend and co-owner of Adele’s, Damon, who was busy washing glasses behind the bar while his fiancée, Ellie, served a glass of wine to an older woman he recognized as one of the people who worked at a financial planning office down the block.
    The bar and all the tables, he noticed, were decorated with miniature pumpkins and little ears of dried corn. Ellie’s doing, no doubt. Since she’d returned to work at the restaurant, she was always switching up the centerpieces to reflect the seasons.
    Damon came out behind the bar to