It was Valentine’s Day and it should have been the day of Ava’s wedding.

Instead, Rona had come over with Tori to help her clear up her apartment. Ava knew neither her mother nor her sister had wanted her to spend the day alone.
What Rona didn’t know was that Ava had been busy packing for her solo honeymoon.

Ever since her break up with Connor, Ava had busied herself with wedding preparations once more, except that this time she cancelled everything. All the suppliers, dressmakers, caterers, and party planners had been informed and all the money had been refunded, minus the cancellation costs.

When Rona had come over this morning, Ava had just returned from her five-mile run. It always cleared her head. The time was right to tell Rona of her decision.

“You’re doing what?” Baby Tori was spitting drool all over her shoulder as Rona faced Ava with the baby on one hip, performing a fine balancing act in the process.

“I’m going on my honeymoon,” countered Ava. She sauntered around the room in her tracksuit pants. Her hair was untidily thrown up into a high ponytail.

“But you cancelled everything!”

“No. You cancelled the hotel, the caterers and everything else. I’ve been dealing with the honeymoon and bridesmaids’ and wedding dresses.”

“And you didn’t cancel the honeymoon?” Rona stared at her younger sister in utter bewilderment. “Let me guess. Mom knows about this too, right?”

Ava nodded, unable to stop herself as she burst out laughing. The look of horror on her sister’s face was priceless.

“So let me get this straight,” said Rona, drool stained her yellow T-shirt as she walked around with a white muslin square in her hand. “Mom’s happy for you to go?”

Ava nodded. “She thinks it’s a great idea.” Ava sat on the floor and untied her shoelaces. She remembered her mother’s reaction when she told her what she was planning on doing.

“Go, Ava, go and enjoy yourself and forget all about this mess here. Sometimes things look bleak just before you hit the peaks. Go.”

Her mother had been instrumental in helping Ava get over the shock of what Connor had done. Yet she’d always had a feeling that her mother wasn’t really too fond of Connor anyway. Ava sighed, letting the big smile on her face grow wider as she looked up at her sister. It was obvious Rona didn’t like the idea one bit.

“Let me get this straight. We’ve been cancelling all things wedding related for the past month, right?” asked Rona, wiping Tori’s face.

Ava nodded.

“And now you tell me that everything’s done, cancelled, finished, ended, except for the honeymoon?” The muslin square dangled furiously in her hand as she gesticulated at full speed.

Ava nodded again.

“But you have this insane idea of going to Italy anyway? Alone?” The muslin square came to a complete standstill.

Ava nodded.

“Does Connor know?”

Ava’s insides hardened. “Why should he? He’s not in my life anymore. He dumped me, remember?”

“Right.” Rona backed off. Ava could tell that her sister clearly thought she was crazy.

She pulled off her sneakers and sat with her back flat against the wall. Her morning run had done its usual wonders for her mind and body. When she ran, the blood flushed through her veins, her lungs fought for air, and her muscles strained to go the distance. All of these things made her feel alive and free.
It was also on her runs that she thought about Connor and tried to sift through the debris of their relationship. She tried to recall their time together so that she could figure out when everything had started to go wrong.

She’d loved him.
And she still did.

A piece of her shredded heart found it hard to let go of him completely.
It wasn’t just that he had dumped her so cruelly, but admitting that he had slept with a woman at the convention had given her sleepless nights, too.

He’d been away so often and to so many law seminars and courses this past year that she was now starting to wonder if he’d been cheating on her a lot longer than he’d owned up to.

For Ava, Connor had been everything. But he’d crushed her to pieces and she now found herself examining every area of their life together in order to sift through what was real and what was not.
Trust and loyalty were a huge part of who she was. She had never so much as looked at another man, even though many of her friends’ boyfriends had always been too eager to strike up a conversation with her whenever she’d met them.
Connor had been part of her world; a comfortable and constant little world in which she worked on her copywriting projects during the day and slaved over her online store until the early hours of the morning.

Now as surely as he’d thrown a grenade between them, he had blasted their relationship, and in the process, her life, to pieces.
She would never trust him again.

She didn’t think she’d ever be able to trust any man again.
Two years from thirty, she now had to face facts. It was time to move on. She had to make something of her life instead of wallowing in self-pity.

After all, Connor seemed to be moving forward with his life with no regard for her.

Growing her online store was the new big goal in her life this year.

“When are you going?”

“Tomorrow,” she replied calmly and waited for her sister’s outburst.

“Tomorrow?” Rona shrieked. “And you waited until the last minute to tell me?”

Ava nodded apologetically. “I didn’t mean to hold out on you, but if I’d told you any sooner, you would’ve tried to talk me out of it.”

“What exactly do you propose to do out there all on your own?” asked Rona, not without a touch of malice in her voice as she placed Tori on the floor. She carefully wiped the drool from her mouth.

“Enjoy myself?” replied Ava cheekily. “You know, Rona, maybe I don’t need to have a man around me to feel validated.” She rubbed her aching feet with her slender fingers.

“That may be, but this man who validated you,” Rona mimicked Ava’s words, “was with you for three years.” There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice before she softened her tone a little. “Look, I’m glad he’s out of your life. I’m glad that the one decent thing he did after he ditched you was to tell you about that whore he slept with.”

“She wasn’t a whore. She was a woman from another firm.”

“Right.” The sarcasm was hard to miss. Rona walked around, picking Tori’s things up off the floor. “And now she’s your best friend all of a sudden.”

“She might not have known that he was engaged.”

Rona rolled her eyes in disbelief. “Like that would have made any difference.”

“She might have done me a favor,” said Ava hotly, her face was glowing and she needed to take a shower. In actual fact, she needed Rona out of her apartment because she needed time alone to think.

“How’s that?” Rona stopped and waited for an answer with a baby rattle in her hand.

“Maybe things between us wouldn’t have worked out in the end. Maybe I got too carried away with the wedding and it scared him. I feel as though we’d been walking different paths lately anyway. Maybe him ending up with her was his way of bailing out of us.”

“Maybe he could have told you instead of sleeping with her. Maybe, maybe, maybe.” Rona shook her head in annoyance. “You should listen to yourself sometimes.”

Ava ignored her. “Connor wasn’t ready and I was up to my eyeballs in pink organza wedding favors. Maybe it was all my fault. I should have been less pushy about the wedding instead of being so obsessed by it all.” She pulled her knees up and hugged her arms around them. “What if Connor didn’t really love me at all?”
Rona slid down on the floor next to Ava and tapped her on the knee with the baby rattle. “I don’t know what went on in that man’s head, so I can’t tell you the answer to that. But, like you said, maybe this holiday will do you some good. Take time out and clear your head.” Rona leaned her head against Ava’s and they sat quietly for a few moments while Tori gurgled happily on the floor. “I still think it’s a stupid idea though.”

There was only one thing left to do and Ava didn’t want to do it.
She didn’t want to face Connor now. Especially not just before she was going away.

Soon after the split she had hoped that they could have met and talked things through. But he’d only ever called her once and texted her a couple of times and that had been nearly three weeks after the split. She had desperately wanted to know what it was that put him off her; so that she would know how to change herself for next time. He’d made no moves to meet up. Hadn’t seemed remotely interested. It was odd, strange behavior and she was at a loss. They hadn’t seen each other since he’d left her, ill at home on New Year’s Eve, while he went to a friend’s party.

Most definitely, the time for talking had long gone. The way she saw things, she was setting off on a new adventure in her life. It was a chance to look forward, not back. It was her opportunity to forge an independent future for herself. And being her own boss was a big part of that.

Romance was not a part of this new future. She had a lot to learn about men, and beginning to trust them was like taking a huge step into the unknown. It was something she wasn’t ready for now, and she wasn’t sure she would be, ever.

“Just be careful. And promise me one thing?”

Ava shrugged and wondered what her sister was going to make her promise. Rona got up and gathered all of the baby’s toys into her baby bag. “If you insist on taking this trip, don’t go around feeling sad and hopeless ‘cause of all the shit you’ve just  been through.”

Ava scowled at her sister.

Rona carried on regardless. “I’ve heard that in Italy the men are hot blooded. You with your long dark hair and dazzling gray eyes are going to attract a lot of attention, especially going alone and all that. I know what you’re like; you’ll get there and have no thought for your own safety. Promise me that you’ll at least wear your wedding band.”

“I don’t have a wedding band. Remember? We didn’t quite make it to the altar.”

“Take one of mine. It’s not my wedding ring, but it’ll do. It’s the least you can do for me.” Rona twisted off one of the many rings she wore on her fingers and handed Ava a plain one. “Here. It’ll keep you safe from the men who’ll hassle you if they think you’re single. And don’t go flying into the arms of any tall, dark and handsome Italians either. Don’t tell them your sob story.”

“You must think I was born yesterday. Give me a break, Rona. I’m not stupid.” She got up off the floor and faced Rona with her hands on her hips. “Anyway, how’s wearing this ring going to help?” She squinted at it suspiciously.

“They’ll think you’re married and leave you alone.”

Ava stifled a laugh. “Are you serious?”

“Of course. Someone has to be.”

Ava shook her head. “You’re impossible. And impossibly silly, too.”

“I love you and I want you to be safe.”

“I’m going to have a ball on this trip.” Ava walked over to her bag and extracted something from her purse. “I’ll wear your fake wedding ring if you promise me that you’ll hand deliver this to Connor.” She held out the 1.2-carat engagement ring he had given her.

“Can’t I just wear this for a few weeks first?” Rona’s eyes widened when she slipped the ring onto her finger and flashed her hand around, admiring the way the light glinted off its facets as it sparkled brilliantly.

“Do what you want with it.” Ava had no interest in the thing. She picked up the baby and hugged her to her chest, then swung around with her. Tori gurgled, enjoying the motion.

“Look after your crazy mom for me will you, Tori? And make sure she returns that ring after I’ve left. And don’t tell Connor where I’ve gone either.” She handed Tori back to Rona.

“I’ll return it to him, once you’re safely on your way to Italy, I promise. But don’t you think you should at least meet once face-to-face?”

“He hadn’t shown any interest in meeting me. He texted once to ask if I was okay. I replied, asking if he wanted to talk things through. He never got back to me. Connor doesn’t care about me.”

Rona shook her head, gave Ava an apologetic look. “I didn’t realize he was such a jackass.”

“He wasn’t always like this,” said Ava in a quiet voice. But she had nothing else to say.

Rona gave her sister a big hug. “You take care of you, okay?”

Ava managed a weak smile. After her sister left, she started packing her suitcase. She would travel light. She packed a couple of dresses but mainly jeans and tops. She closed her small suitcase, got her hand luggage ready, and prepared for an early night. She had said her goodbyes to her family earlier in the day.

Tomorrow she would be setting off on her little adventure and leaving Denver for Rome.