Chapter Thirty
“No, I’m sorry, but I won’t. I can’t.” Ellen said, still not turning from the window.
“Ah. I see. Er, why not?”
“I… I simply don’t think it would work… with you. I love you, Richard, but not… not in the way a wife should love her husband,” she admitted, finally turning around to face him.
He gave her a little smile. “We grew up together. It’s not surprising you don’t feel that way about me.”
“Do you?” she couldn’t help but ask.
He gave a little shrug of one shoulder. “I’ve always loved you. I’ve always been mildly attracted to you, but… no. I think… I think I might... well, hopefully, someday I will find someone with whom I am madly, passionately in love. If not, I think I will be just as happy on my own.”
“You were always happy on your own,” she agreed.
“And I’ve al
