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Except so many of their talks seemed to end with fights and her despairing at ever being able to find a happy medium with Daniel. She loved him—more than should have been possible—but if love was enough, things wouldn’t have fallen out the way they did all those years ago. No, they needed a plan and the ability to hold down a conversation about the future without resorting to yelling.
Unfortunately, both those things felt nearly impossible.
She implored Daniel with her eyes. “Please. One more night?”
“We have to talk about Dallas, Hope. I know you were planning on going back tomorrow.”
Her chest compressed, and she forced a smile. “Then we’ll talk in the morning. First thing, I promise.”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
Tomorrow would come soon enough.Chapter FifteenDaniel gave in to Hope’s request without arguing, and he wasn’t sorry about it. They’d had a really nice dinner and then made love again, the whole experience just cementing his determination to make this the best it could be. And that meant he had to start at the beginning. He shifted, pulling her closer against him. “I want to push that talk by about twelve hours.”
“What? Why?”
“I’m going to see your parents tomorrow.”
She tensed. “Why am I just hearing about it now?”
“You didn’t want to talk, remember? I wouldn’t have said anything at all, but I couldn’t get out there today and I want you to push your plans to go back to Dallas one more day.”
“I can’t keep postponing leaving. I know I didn’t want to talk today, but eventually we do have to come up with something resembling a realistic plan.” Hope lifted her head and frowned. “I really think you visiting them is a mistake. They’ve been calling nonstop all day, and I haven’t even talked to them.”
“I know.” And he also recognized how her mouth tightened every time she pushed ignore on her phone. She had always been close with her parents—especially her mother—and being on the outs with them was taking its toll. There were so many things in their life right now that he couldn’t control, but he could take the first step in making this right. “Darling, their problem isn’t with the fact that you’re pregnant—it’s that you’re pregnant with my baby. There’s nothing you can say that will affect their opinion—but maybe I can.” He had his doubts, but the only alternative was to cut them out of his and Hope’s life, and that wasn’t right. They were good parents, and they’d be good grandparents. It wasn’t their fault that they weren’t thrilled that their son’s killer was shacking up with their daughter.
He couldn’t be the reason Hope lost what remained of her family.
“You don’t have to do this.”
“I know that, too.” He guided her head back to his shoulder and smoothed his hand over her hair. “It’s just one conversation. I’ll be gone and back before you know it.”
She sighed. “I guess my girls can hold down the fort for one more day. But that’s it. No matter what happens with us, I do have to go back to Dallas. I know you’re not going to change your mind about going to San Antonio, so do what you feel is necessary.”
He hated how defeated she sounded, but her doubts were unfounded. This was going to go a long way toward fixing things. Hope might not see that because she was wrapped up in guilt over disappointing her parents and worry over the future, but he knew he was right. Daniel drifted off to sleep with that thought centered in the forefront of his mind.
He woke up alone. He blinked and stretched, his hand encountering paper. For half a second, he was convinced that Hope had slipped out of his bed and his life in the middle of the night like a thief, but then his half-awake brain processed the words she’d written.
Went for a walk before it got too hot. If you’re gone before I’m back, just know I love you.
A smile fixed itself on his face and stayed there all the way through showering, dressing, and grabbing a bite to eat before he hit the road. Hope still wasn’t back, so he scrawled a quick response to her on the same note and left it propped up in the kitchen next to the coffeemaker he started on his way out the door. If the last week was any indication, she’d have a single cup and then switch to decaffeinated tea, but he figured she wouldn’t want to wait. And it made him feel good to know he was meeting her need before she even thought to ask.
Maybe that made him the caveman she often accused him of being, but he was okay with it.
The drive to San Antonio passed in a blur. He kept the radio cranked up and the windows cracked, but the noise didn’t quite drown out the little voice inside him whispering that this was a mistake—that there wasn’t an option where this encounter ended positively. He ignored it just like he had from the moment it start popping up.
