She let him take her hand as he helped her walk up the steps to the art gallery.

“I can’t believe you own this place,” Heather said as he held the door open for her.

“Why not?” Simon stepped inside after her.

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “I guess I never saw you as a guy who appreciated pretentious modern art.”

There were inside one of Seattle’s most prestigious art galleries. The place was closed at this hour, which is why Simon had suggested they meet here to talk after work. It was probably one of the few private places they would have away from the press, since few people seemed to know Simon owned the place.

Heather wasn’t very knowledgeable about things like art, but she liked learning about another facet of Simon’s life that seemed hidden from everyone else. Being here made her feel oddly special. Like he was sharing a secret with her and only her.

He laughed. “I bought the gallery because I liked the type of art they display. Most of the art installations are a combination of design and technology.” Simon pointed to one of the installations on their left, a giant oblong-shaped chrome monstrosity that lit up with neon blue lights.

“What is that thing?” She tilted her head, trying to figure out what on earth she was looking at.

“I’m not sure.” His brow furrowed as he thought for a second. “Some kind of giant magnet?”

“It looks like a space ship,” she said.

“Well, whatever it is, it’s worth a quarter of a million dollars,” he said.

Her mouth fell open. “Wow.”

“Hey, Dover’s technology helped make that thing,” he pointed out. “It’s only fair that it’s on sale for such a hefty price.”

The gallery curator suddenly appeared to greet them and offer them small cups of coffee. With the coffee in their hands the curator disappeared back into her office, leaving them alone in the gallery.

Cradling the cup in her hand, Heather followed Simon to a seating area in one of the gallery rooms. She took a seat beside him and took a sip of the strong brew.

“Guess we should talk now,” she said softly, staring at the dark liquid in her cup.

“We have a lot to talk about,” he said.

“This might be the first real talk we’ve ever had.” Her heart squeezed. Even though she was here beside him, she was still getting pulled back into the past. Back to when they were kids and she had no idea how easy it was going to be to lose him for so long.

“What do you mean? We used to talk all the time back in high school.”

She shook her head. “Things were easier back then. We were always in sync. We started off as friends. Then I realized I liked you and I finally told you. Then you asked me out. It was so much simpler then, Simon.”

“I suppose it was.”

“Then, after you broke up with me, everything changed,” she breathed.

He frowned. “Our breakup was more a mutual decision, if I remember correctly.”

His obliviousness was starting to rub her the wrong way. It was like he had gone off to Stanford to start an amazing life and she had been left behind, stuck with a heartbreak that almost ruined her life. Even now he couldn’t see how hard it was for her to even consider having a relationship with any man, because her heart was still so fragile. So fragile after he had so callously broken it without a backward glance.

“Simon, you dumped me,” she said. “You weren’t cruel about it, but it definitely wasn’t mutual.”

“That can’t be right.” He sipped his coffee. “I had just graduated, and you encouraged me go to Stanford. To follow my dreams of working with technology.”

“I did say that but, weeks before, I thought we’d agreed to stay together in a long-distance relationship.” She sighed. “Then, you dumped me out of the blue and went off to California.”

“Heather, I was trying to free you,” he said, confused and yet remembering how it felt for him. “I know it must’ve hurt, but I thought it was what you wanted. Your last year of high school should’ve been spent having fun. Not obsessing over someone thousands of miles away.”

That was the last thing she’d expected to hear. Him pinning his decision on her was too much. Frustration welled up inside her. For years she had carried the heavy weight of her pain on her shoulders. Carried the weight she’d never been able to put down. Even now her shoulders were sagging underneath the strain of so much pent-up tension.

In anger she jumped to her feet and whirled around to face him. “How dare you try to blame your decision on me.”

“What? I’m not blaming you.” He held up his hands. “Look, you’re obviously upset from something that happened a long time ago. Why don’t you take a deep breath and—”

“No,” she said forcefully. “After years of nothing from you, now you want to try to pretend like you didn’t practically run away from me the minute you got the chance?”

“I didn’t run away,” he insisted.

“Then why didn’t you ever call me?” she demanded. “Why didn’t you send me an e-mail? You must’ve heard about my wedding, because I’m pretty sure my mother told your mother about it. We were best friends for over ten years and you just bailed on me.” She snapped her fingers. “Poof. You were gone, enjoying your university crushes and parties, while I was left to remember everything about you everywhere I looked.

He reached his hand out to her and she stepped back. Away from him trying to comfort her or placate her. She had kept her hurt and anger to herself for so long that now she was just lashing out. Unleashing her heartbreak so that he could finally see how much he had hurt her.

“I...” He paused to clear his throat. “I didn’t call, because while I was in college I put Seattle behind me. I was so focused on getting my degree. I put my head down and worked. I didn’t party or—”

“But you came back to Seattle,” she said.

“I did.” He heaved out a loud sigh. “But by then I found out you had moved on with your life. I don’t remember getting any concrete details about you, but I knew enough to know that you probably had your own life and were over me.”

“I never got over you.” Her breath hitched. “I’m so stupid. We broke up years ago, but I’m still not over it. Still not over wondering what would have happened if we had stayed together. What would my life be like if I had ended up with you and not Gary?”

“Is that why you never got over things? Because Gary was a bad husband?”

Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. It felt like there was a knot in her chest and she had to force air into her lungs. Remind herself to breathe. “I started dating Gary so that I could get over you.”

A deafening silence filled the room. Now the truth was out. Everything she had held back from him was now out in the open. There was no taking it back now.

“You’re blaming me for the fact that you chose to be with Gary?” His eyes narrowed. “You literally just accused me of blaming you for my choice to break up with you. But I’m the one being blamed for your bad marriage?”

She brushed her tears aside in anger. “I’m not doing this.” Heart racing, she headed towards the gallery entrance, ready to walk away from him for good. It was obvious that she had let the past affect her too much. She’d held on to the pain and the shock for so long it had become a part of her.

“Don’t walk away from me, Heather.” Simon’s footsteps sounded behind her, but she didn’t dare turn around to face him.

She had to get out of here. Had to get away before she said something else that she couldn’t take back. Coming here to talk had been a mistake. That was obvious now.

With the gallery entrance in sight Simon appeared in front of her, his eyes blazing with anger, his body rigid. “You promised that we were going to talk. When I said that I was going to hold you to that promise, I meant it.”

“Get out of my way,” she snapped. “You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“I’m not trying to tell you what to do.” He ran his hands through his dark hair in frustration. “I’m just trying to understand.”

“You dumped me and left,” she said bitterly. “It broke my heart, so I ended up getting knocked up. What else is there to understand?”

“Is that why you married Gary?” Simon demanded. “Because he got you pregnant?”

She couldn’t bring herself to admit it. The shame of her mistake with Gary, combined with the embarrassment she felt at her outburst, made a lump form in her throat. All she could do was nod her head. A tear rolled down her cheek.

His fingers curled around her shoulders and he gazed at her. His eyes were burning with something she could barely describe. There was rage and sadness flashing in his blue eyes. “I never meant to hurt you.”

“Hurt me?” Her breath caught in her throat, and her chest tightened so much it felt like her insides were on fire. “Simon, you broke my heart.”

“How could you have ended up with a man like Gary? Why did you throw your life away on him?” he demanded. “I wasn’t worth it.”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” she asked in a small voice. “Simon, you were worth it to me because I loved you.”

~~*~~

LOVE WAS AN ABSURD emotion. A trick of the brain. Chemicals combining to make a person do crazy, irrational things.

But Heather wasn’t a crazy, irrational person. He might not know if she was a liar and a spy, but he knew that much.

He released her and crossed his arms. “You couldn’t have.”

“I could, and I did.” Her face was streaked with tears and her lower lip was trembling.

This wasn’t an act. Heather wasn’t putting on a performance. She really had been heartbroken over the way he’d left things.

Simon had always guessed that their breakup had been difficult for her. But he’d never anticipated something like this. He never could have guessed the depth of her feelings for him.

Obviously, whatever love she once had for him had given way to bitterness and anger. That much was undeniable.

“I’m sorry,” he said, hoping she heard the sincerity in his tone.

“Keep your apology,” she said. “We can’t change the past now. Besides, my marriage to Gary wasn’t a complete disaster. I got Finn out of it. And my son is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I’ve made a lot of bad decisions in my life, but having Finn isn’t one of them.”

“You can’t go home like this,” he said. “You can’t drive all the way home in this state. Let me drop you off.”

She threw her shoulders back in defiance. “I can. I’ve survived this long without you, Simon. I don’t need you to drive me home.”

“Okay,” he said. “It’s obvious we both need to cool off. We can wait and try talking again.”

“I don’t think you’ve heard me at all.”

“You don’t mean that,” he insisted.

Her lips thinned. “I do.”

“We’re not going back to the way things were,” he warned. “We’re not going back to pretending that things haven’t been said. You’re not going to hold me at arm’s length anymore.”

“You held me at arm’s length for ten years.” Without another word she set her coffee cup down on the front desk and marched out of the gallery, leaving him behind.

Part of him wanted to go after her, but everything was too raw right now. Going after her with tensions this high wasn’t going to solve anything. In fact, it would probably make things worse.

But at least now he could finally understand why Heather might want to spy on him to help a rival company. Now after their heated argument, he knew something that he hadn’t known before. Heather was a woman scorned. Which meant that she had a motive. The oldest reason of all. Revenge.