What To Read After FSOG: The Gemstone Collection Part Two Read Online Free Page B

cleansing breath, enjoying the moment. Jack was sitting up behind me, my back to his front, his hands clasped tightly around my waist in a possessive hold. We listened to the waves crash against the surf and watched the sun setting through an amazing bright orange and purple sky. It was the most beautiful sunset that I had ever seen and it felt so natural to be sitting in Jack’s arms watching it.
    “Why did you call off your engagement?”
    “Are you cashing in on question number one, Jack?” I dared him.
    “Yes, so let’s hear it. And remember, I’m using one of my precious chips here, so I want the full story.”
    I hadn’t really told many people the full story; it was still difficult to put into words. The people who really knew me just knew I was making the right decision. I wasn’t sure where to start, so I decided to start from the beginning. “I met Michael in high school. We went to the prom together. We were together for six years when he proposed. I said yes, and we planned a long engagement before the wedding.” I paused, contemplating before I continued.
    “I don’t think I ever considered not marrying him, it was just the normal progression in our long relationship and everyone expected it would happen. He would have preferred a shorter engagement, but I wasn’t ready yet so I dragged it out as long as I could get away with it. He treated me really well over the years—at least I thought he did. He was every parent’s dream for their daughter. He came from a good home, earned a good living as an attorney, and had nice manners. He seemed like every girl’s dream too. But as the wedding got closer, I grew more nervous. I started to wonder if I had made myself into who he wanted me to be instead of who I really was. I started picturing myself having 2.5 children with a white picket fence and lunches with PTA moms who wore sweater sets.
    “In the time we had been together, I had stopped singing with a band and went to school to get a music degree to teach. As my wedding date got closer, I was starting to question myself on why I had done that, when I really loved being in my band. Michael and Sienna didn’t get along, and he didn’t like me traveling at night to different clubs, so I eventually gave it up, even though he never actually asked me to.
    “One morning I woke up having a panic attack. I realized that something was missing in our relationship and that something was me. So I sat down one night to talk to Michael about what I was feeling and he completely flipped out. He blamed it all on my last visit to NY to visit Sienna and her filling my head with crazy unrealistic singing dreams. But the truth was, Sienna never said a word to me. She accepted me for whoever I was and didn’t try to change me.
    “I told him that I didn’t want to teach and wanted to join a local band again. He told me that his wife was not going to be a stupid band slut traveling around town with a bunch of men. We argued back and forth and then things got really heated when he realized that I had already made up my mind. The next day I felt badly about the way that we had left off, so I went to his office to talk to him and walked in on his secretary on her knees.” I stopped and thought for a moment and Jack tightened his grip around me.
    “I left and he tried to apologize again the next day. Eventually, when I wouldn’t accept his apology, he got mad again and spilled that he had been sleeping with his secretary for more than a year anyway. I moved all of his stuff to the front lawn by the time he came home from work that night, and had the locks changed.” I paused and regrouped from telling my sad tale. I forced a happier voice. “Everything happens for a reason. I quit my job teaching and started singing again last month. It’s just a job as a house singer at one of the Heston Hotels, but it’s a start on my trip back to me.”
    Jack was quiet and didn’t say anything for a moment. “You work at one