This one is for all of the romantics out there. We thank everyone for their feedback, both good and bad.
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Nearly a year later...
"I don't know how I let you talk me into this," Heather whispered to her sister as she fidgeted in the revealing red dress Cassie had talked her into wearing. It really wasn't that bad, the dress, but in the past year Heather had reverted back to dowdy clothing and little makeup, and it felt a little strange to be dressed so sexily again after so long.
She took a deep breath and glanced around the hotel ballroom that had been converted for tonight's Bachelor Auction and again wondered why she'd let her sister talk her into this. Cassie had said it would be fun, just to come and see what a real-live bachelor auction was like, and besides it was for chairty - Toys for Tots. That, more than anything, had won Heather over simply because she and Jake had once been heavily involved in the particular charity. Not that she expected to participate by bidding, of course. She'd paid fifty dollars for admission, which would be her contribution. Bidding on a man would be absurd in the circumstances, but Cassie had jokingly said in the car that she fully intended to buy herself a Valentine's date this year.
"And why not?" she'd added when Heather had looked at her as if she were crazy. "For once I can have a romantic date where he is obligated to do everything I say. How often does a chance like that come along?"
Heather glanced at her pretty sister now and smiled slightly, glad to see her older sister finally happy. Heather was glad that at least someone's dream had finally come true this past year. For years Cassie had slaved away at dead-end jobs just to help Heather get through school and then to save enough to start her own business. With Heather's help, she had finally done it. A few months ago, Cassie had finally opened her own floral business. Heather had agreed to do her sister's bookkeeping and had thrown a small investment into the pot, making them partners of a sort. They already had two part-time employees and several orders for Spring weddings to fill. Maybe the future wasn't as bleak as it had once seemed. She was getting her life back on track, finally doing something she was proud of again.
Still, after all this time, not a day went by that Heather didn't think of Jake. What a fool she had been. If she could only go back in time and change that one week...but she knew she couldn't. Somehow she had also learned to carry on with her life because there was a good chance that he would never want her again. And even if he did, she was a different person now.
When Heather had walked out on Jake that night, she'd gone through a myriad of emotions - hurt that they hadn't been able to work things out; a sense of desperation wanting him to come after her; anger at how much he'd degraded and humiliated her; and then finally acceptance that they were better off apart. A part of her still harbored a lot of anger towards him for what he'd done to her, yet at the same time, a part of her remembered the good, decent human being he'd been when they had married and wished he were still in her life.
If Jake were to walk up to her right now, she didn't know what she'd do or how she'd react to him. Slap him and walk away? Burst into tears and beg him to give her yet another chance? Maybe ask him just to sit down and talk so she could understand how such a wonderful man had allowed her to destroy his basic goodness? In her heart, she still hoped and she still dreamed of him - silly, fairytale dreams, of Jake riding into town and sweeping her off her feet because he'd finally realized he couldn't live without her. She'd pictured it a thousand times.
Jake would come back to town, tell her he'd decided to forgive her for what she'd done while begging her to forgive him. Of course there would have to be a few awkward moments at first, but finally Jake would declare, "I still love you, Heather," and pull her into his arms for a hug that would inevitably lead to a deep, soul-shattering kiss. Then he'd take her home and they'd make love to reaffirm their love...
But she knew it would never happen.
It was funny; she hadn't had sex since she'd left Jake. The only aspect of sex she missed at all was the feeling of intimacy she'd once shared with her husband...the feeling of being truly close to someone who loved you and who you trusted not to hurt you. At Cassie's urging, she had dated a couple of guys this past year, but neither had asked her out more than once. It was easy for anyone in her company for more than five minutes to see her heart just wasn't in it. She didn't want to get hurt again, and yes, she still felt a little guilty for even thinking about other men after the consequences of her affair. She needed to heal before getting involved with anyone again, and she wasn't quite there yet.
She'd even heard from Ty when she came back to town - he'd called to see how she was doing, said he still loved her and that she always had a place to stay if she needed one. Remembering what Jake had told her, she calmly asked, "I'm sorry...did you make that same offer to your partner's wife after you made her pregnant?" Not that she cared, or was jealous. She simply wasn't, so she added, "Please just don't call me anymore, Ty. I don't want a relationship with you. Please accept that and leave me alone."
She'd found out from Jessica that Ty's gym had folded and his finances had been left in pretty bad shape; Heather remembered that he'd put almost everything he had into the business, saying it had always been his dream and no expense was too great. She knew the knowledge might please Jake, but it just made her sad.
Next to Heather now, Cassie eyed her little sister and frowned. Since returning from Las Vegas, the light had faded from Heather's clear, blue eyes. Hell, Heather had been going downhill ever since Jake had left her to begin with, but this time it was different. Before she'd gone to Vegas, Cassie had feared for Heather's sanity and her health - Heather had lost so much weight and hadn't taken care of herself the way she should have. But then her phone calls from Vegas had always been so positive, so happy, that Cassie had stopped worrying. That is, until Heather had shown up on her doorstep at three in the morning one day, looking defeated and helpless...and numb.
Sure, Heather took care of herself now. She had gained back the weight she'd lost and, to the outside world, probably appeared happy and carefree. But Cassie knew her little sister, and she knew Heather wasn't the same. She was becoming too emotionally detached from everything and everyone. She refused to speak about what had happened in Vegas, or about Jake, period. She'd even severed all ties with his family. But Cassie knew Heather still thought about him a lot. She often caught her sister staring wistfully at old photos of Jake when she thought Cassie wasn't around.
Clearing her throat, Cassie raised the auction program they'd been given at the door and urged Heather to glance at it. How else would this plan work if Heather didn't wake up and pay attention to what was happening?
"Would you look at this? There's over twenty guys up for grabs tonight. How much money have you got?" she asked, hoping Heather would look at the names of the guys on the bill.
Heather decided to humor her older, obviously much hornier sister and took a glance at the auction program. She had read where most of the guys tonight were going to be local Marines or former Marines. Again it made her think of Jake, and she distantly wondered if she would know any of the guys on the program. Maybe she could find one of his old friends and see if they'd heard from him lately, see how he was doing. Despite her conflicted feelings, she still worried about him, knowing the path he'd been headed on before she'd left him. She hoped he'd gotten the help he'd needed and was able to regain some of himself in the process.
As soon as the thought entered her mind, Heather felt her heart stop dead in her chest. Was that really Jake's name on the program, right there under the BACHELORS heading? He was one of the bachelors up for grabs? Oh god, she didn't know how she felt about that. She quickly glanced around the room. There were a lot of women here tonight. Beautiful women. Beautiful, probably rich women. One of them would be taking Heather's ex-husband home with her. Oh god. And she would be here to see it.
She shot a horrified look at Cassie. "You knew about this, didn't you?"
"Sorry, sis."
Heather opened her mouth to say what a mistake it was, Cassie playing God with her life, when a man stepped into her line of view and made a throat-clearing sound to get their attention.
The truth was, she almost didn't recognize the man standing in front of her, dressed handsomely in a tuxedo. His hair was slightly longer than she remembered it, and back to its soft, sandy brown color. He was very tan and looked like he had spent all of his time since she'd last seen him working out. In short, he looked fine, damn fine. In that tuxedo, he even reminded her of their wedding day, so long ago...
Jake nodded politely and said, "Hello, Heather. You look very beautiful tonight."
She swallowed, forced herself to smile and say awkwardly, "You too, Jake."
For seconds, neither of them spoke. Heather felt her heart skip a few beats, stupidly fantasizing that Jake had finally come back to claim her and set things right, but reality had taught her a harsh, cold lesson and she couldn't easily dismiss the counter-thought that Jake had only come over here to further hurt and humilate her. This reminder caused her spine to stiffen as she pointed out, "I didn't know you would be here tonight. I swear I didn't. I don't want you to think--"
"Don't worry about it, Heather," he gently interrupted with a smile and a soft, calming touch on her arm. He sent a nod of greeting toward Cassie. "I'm glad you both came. It's nice to see a familiar face or two in this crowd."
"Oh yeah? How does it feel to be a hot hunk up for grabs, Jake?" Cassie teased with her old familiarity.
With a self-conscious laugh, Jake turned a little red and tugged at his collar. "Absolutely terrifying, if you want the truth." He stepped closer. "I heard you two had started your own business. Congratulations."
"Thank you. It's mostly Cassie's." Heather started to say more, but held her tongue. After a long pause, Jake cleared his throat again.
"Well, I'd better get going. We're supposed to mingle with any prospective bidders to stir up donations," he explained. "As it is, I think I'm being stalked by a little old lady waving a hundred dollar bill." He and Cassie laughed at the joke, and he added, "It was good to see you."
Heather was confused by his casual attitude. She'd have expected more drama, more...something...after the way they'd ended things this last time. All he wanted to do was act as if they were nothing more than old friends? Fine. She could handle that. She just nodded and said, "Good luck."
