AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She is. She really is,” he said. His hands were shaking. “I usually keep tabs on her online, but I haven’t thought about it in a long time. Her last photo was taken at Poppy’s earlier today.”
“Oh,” I said. I touched Mason’s arm. “Well, maybe she’s just in town for Thanksgiving?”
“She and her mom have been on the outs since March, at least according to Traci. I’m so—fuck, I’m so afraid she’s moving back here.” Mason was shaking so much I nudged him toward a nearby bench, motioning for him to sit so he wouldn’t pass out. “How can I prevent Finley from seeing her if she’s here? Woodvale’s a small town. We’re going to run into her.”
I put my hand on his knee. “Just wait and see what she does. You don’t know that she’s going to stay.”
Mason shook his head, chewing on his bottom lip. “I’m so scared she’s going to reach out. Make contact. But at the same time, half of me is pissed that she’s here, she’s so close, and she doesn’t care about her daughter. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“You’re right, it doesn’t.” I didn’t know what else to say other than validate his feelings.
Both of Mason’s knees were bouncing rapidly. “What do I do if she asks for a visit?”
I wasn’t the right person to answer that. “I don’t know.”
“I can’t keep the girl from her mom. Can I? Who am I to deny her of that? Here I’ve been trying to practically erase Whitney from that kid’s memory, never expecting her to show up here again. I should have known better. I’ve fucked my kid up.”
I took Mason by the hand and gave him a squeeze. “No you haven’t. That girl is thriving. Look at how happy she is tonight.”
His bottom lip quivered, and he began to rapidly blink. “But what’s going to happen if Whitney wants to see her? Then what? Do I let her hurt my kid all over again? It’s just one hard decision after another—it never stops. And I never know if I’m making the right one. It’s too much, Kendall.”
I slid my arm around Mason’s back.
“It’s too much,” he repeated, trembling.
With my other hand, I cradled Mason’s head, pulling him against my chest. I expected some resistance, but he collapsed against me, breathing shakily as he clung to my body. I wished I could absorb every ounce of his pain and worry, but for now, holding him while he cried was the best I could do. My heart shattered for him. For Finley. I hated a woman I’d never even met for causing so much havoc in their lives.
“I’m sorry,” Mason said, his words muffled by the fabric of my dress. “I just—I just can’t do this alone anymore.”
I pulled away, placing my palms on either side of his face to make him look at me. And with unwavering sincerity, I said, “You’re not.”
Mason took another deep, shaky breath. And then, with an exhale, he finally spoke the words I knew he’d been aching to say for some time. “I love you.”
It felt like my heart stopped and the entire world froze in place. I knew that couldn’t be true, though—I was still alive, after all, and Dua Lipa’s voice still boomed from the reception hall. But right there in that dim and abandoned hallway, time seemed to stand still.
I’d never felt more undeserving of those words. We were only supposed to have a one-night stand, and now I’d gone and entangled myself in his and his daughter’s lives. I made him fall in love—or at least think that he had.
Mason was too sweet. Too… pure. And he and Finley deserved so much better than anything I could offer either of them.
I opened my mouth to begin to explain this when another couple burst through the double doors into the hallway, clinging to each other and laughing.
It was Daya and Abigail.
I slid away from Mason on the bench just as the two of them pulled apart, having spotted us at the same time. “Oh—oops,” Abigail said, looking from me to Daya. And just as I’d witnessed her almost kissing my sister’s ex a second ago, she had undoubtedly seen Mason and me embracing.
Daya clutched her chest as though she were just coming to her senses. “Oh my god. I am so not myself tonight.”
“Um,” Abigail said, playing with the locket around her neck. “I’m going to go back in there and get a drink. Maybe see what… Heath is up to.”
She disappeared back into the reception hall just as quickly as she’d sprung through the doors. Daya stood still before us, shaking her head at herself. “Kendall, I think I need to go home. Now.”
“Oh, okay,” I said, springing to my feet. I turned to Mason, who was staring down at the floor with his hands folded between his knees. “I need to take her.”
“It’s okay,” Mason said with a shrug. “Go. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I think I got it all out of my system,” he said with an embarrassed chuckle. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
