"You're sleeping with him?" Colin asked in disbelief as soon as Layla shut the door to her room.

She whirled around to face him, temper flaring at the audacity. How could he have the gall to sound so offended, as if he hadn't been betraying her for nearly a year? "Yes, Colin, I am. I'm also dating him, and I don't think you have any right to be upset when you've been sneaking around with the girl who runs the juice bar for months now."

"You could have confronted me about that directly, instead of sending your parents at my throat," he snapped, leaning against the tall dresser where various pieces of jewelry and makeup products were scattered. If he noticed that her engagement ring was among the golds and silvers, he didn't seem to care. "Of everyone to get even with, you chose that asshole. Could've cheated on me with... I don't know. One of my friends. That lawyer who wouldn't get his hands off you at the Christmas party last year. Hell, even one of the trainers at the gym, I'd understand." He shook his head, raising a hand to his forehead. "A fucking farmer."

"First of all, he's not a—"

"I know, I know. A fucking... orchardist. I'm not even sure that's a real word." He looked so different than the collected, permanently-relaxed man she remembered. On the surface, he seemed as poised as ever: neat hair, expensive clothes, nothing out of place. But she could see the irritation in his brow, his taught shoulders, the fire in his narrowed eyes. "It doesn't matter. What I'm saying is that you're out of your element here, Layla. You know as well as I do that you don't belong here. You don't fit."

"What the hell does it matter to you?" She shook her head, pacing in front of him. "It's not as if we care about each other." The absurdness of it all hit her like a brick, nearly had her wanting to laugh. "Is this really how you want to live your life? Married to me, running off to sleep with other women and hoping you don't get caught by someone whose opinion matters?" On a shrug, she stilled, meeting his eyes. "Maybe you can be happy that way, but I can't. I need more. I need friends, I need love."

He straightened, letting out a sharp, annoyed breath. "Before you left, I assumed we were on the same page. That none of this had anything to do with love."

"Of course it doesn't, and I knew that. But everything it does have to do with—the business, the money, the approval—it's just not enough for me anymore. I don't want to be told what to do for the rest of my life."

"So, what?" Colin let his hands flail in an aimless gesture. "You're just gonna stay here? Screw around with the apple picker, maybe pop out a few kids and call it a life?"

"If that's what I want to do, yes." She had to collect herself, had to stop that liquid anger from pouring out of her. "I'm going to start my own business, my own gym in Red View. A place where for once, I get to make my own decisions."

He rolled his eyes, scoffing. "You have no idea what you're doing. You'd realize that if you thought about it rationally for one fucking second."

"I've been in business my entire life, Colin. I think I'll manage."

"Yeah, a business your parents started. One that was already miles off the ground years before you ever got involved. You have no experience starting something from the ground up. None." His voice was a poison that seeped slowly into Layla's confidence.

"I have people here who will help me," she argued. She had Marshall's property expertise. Jack and Lillie Mae ran their own businesses, and she knew they'd be kind enough to give pointers. Most importantly, she had the support of her friends. She had Dawson. "I'm not doing it all on my own."

"And neither are most of the other thousands of hopeful business owners who fail within a years time. Just get your head out of the clouds for a second and use it, would you? Your parents and mine are getting damn close to retirement. We stick this out, we inherit everything as co-owners. Equals. We can integrate Bride and Groom Boot Camp and whatever the hell else you want when the time comes."

"It's not enough," she mumbled, swallowing over the lump in her throat. God, it would be the smart thing to do. But she'd be back in the city, far away from Red View and everyone in it. Far away from the life she wanted to badly, that somehow seemed so close and yet so impossible.

"There's no good reason for you to leave the business. You're gonna throw away everything you have, and for what? Because you think you're in love with this guy? He could kick you to the curb in a week, for all you know."

She reared back, the words worse than a slap to the face. The fears about business escaped her at once, replaced by all the doubts about their relationship she'd tried so hard to bury. "You don't know anything about us."

And yet he was right, wasn't he? She'd thought of it herself, especially after Marshall's question about what would happen if she and Dawson broke up. Her talk with him outside the café had convinced her she was being irrational. But hearing it from someone else made the idea seem less abstract, less unlikely. It could happen at any time. She was risking everything for something that might end tomorrow. 

"Christ," he laughed sourly, "So that really is what this is about. You and I both know you'll be sorry, because this infatuation he's got for you could wear off real fast, Layla—especially once all that city sparkle dulls out. Trying to start a business... you'll run through your savings before you know it, and what then? No more fancy clothes, expensive makeup, city hairstylists. There won't be anything left of you for him to like."

She never knew Colin was so good at twisting the knife right where it hurt. She'd seen him be cold with employees, calculating with business, but had no idea he could be so vicious.

Dawson had told her before that his interest wasn't in her status. He wasn't dating her for her money, or her job. But without those things... Colin was right that some things would have to change in her lifestyle. She wouldn't get to be the carefree Layla who always had security to fall back on. No doubt, this new chapter would morph her, and likely send her scrambling for a while to figure out how to navigate it.

What if Dawson didn't like the person she became? The traces of glamor would be gone for good once she delved into uncharted territory. There would be embarrassments, stress, and a long road of hard work ahead of her. Did he know what he was signing up for, asking to hold her hand down that road?

"Just answer one question for me, total honesty," Colin broke the silence. "And if the answers yes, I'll drop it. I'll go back to New York and tell your parents that you're not coming home."

She knew the question. He was going to ask if she loved him. And she would say yes, because there was no point in lying. She would say yes, even though the idea of Colin walking out that door, leaving her behind to figure out all the consequences of her decision, had her scared senseless.

"Does he love you?"

Her guard was down enough that the words made her flinch. She'd been so prepared to answer, so ready to tell someone the truth. Now she fumbled, stuttered, "I... what?"

Colin offered a small smile, one that was off-puttingly sympathetic, and nodded. "That's answer enough."

The embarrassment that washed over her made her stomach roll. Her feelings weren't what was important here. It would have meant something, even to Colin, if Dawson loved her. It would have meant she had a reason to stay.

"But you love him, or at least you think you do. And you wonder if you stay, if you just give it enough time, maybe he'll love you back. You really want to risk everything over the off chance that he might? And that if he does, it doesn't end after a few months? A year, even two?"

"It isn't just about Dawson," she managed, throat tight.

"Maybe. But I'd bet every cent I have that he's your biggest reason."

And she couldn't deny that, could she? She'd even said it right to Dawson's face; he was the most important pro. And at the end of the day, no matter how many other reasons she could list, he was the main one.

The last time she'd been willing to risk everything for love... if she'd have gone through with it, her life would have fallen apart. Maybe she'd been too blinded, too caught up in love to realize this was the same thing. That she might be about to make the same mistake, about to lose everything to love a man who didn't love her back.

Leave, or risk getting left, she remembered. It seemed like it was finally time to decide.