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“Gavin has been trying to walk away from a past that would have destroyed any other man. He needs you, Kayla.”
I run my hand over Luna. I’m starting to think I should have sent a text to my mother and then had a heartfelt conversation with my dogs. “What if his need to hide his secrets consumes him?” I ask, speaking more to my Labrador than my mother. “I can’t marry a man who is obsessed with his image.”
My mother is quiet for a long time. “It’s not his image, Kayla. For Gavin, its self-preservation.”
She’s right.
I don’t say the words out loud, because I can’t quite bring myself to admit that mother saw what I couldn’t. I approached my relationship with Gavin through the lens of my failed marriage. And that wasn’t fair to him.
“I need to go, Mom. I have to call him.”
“I love you,” she says. “Send Gavin my love too.”
“I love you too,” I quickly add before ending the call. Then I lower the phone and stand up. The abrupt movement startles Luna. She gives a bark as if there might be a threat nearby. The other dogs respond to Luna, quickly surrounding me.
“I need to call Gavin while we head home,” I inform the dogs. “So don’t go chasing after deer or wild turkeys. This is a serious conversation.”
Ava cocks her head and barks. Then she trots to the trailhead.
“I mean it.” I’m looking at Luna now. Free from the cone, my Labrador wins the prize for Dog Most Likely to Chase a Turkey. I don’t want to scream “Leave the bird alone” while having a heart-to-heart with the man I love.
I glance at my phone and speed dial my number one contact. Gavin answers on the first ring.
“Kayla,” he says. “I can’t talk right now. Did you get my text?”
“What?” I stop walking and the dogs glance back at me. “No, I didn’t.”
“I’m doing it, Kayla. I’m walking on the set of Good Morning with Charlene right now. I’m going to tell the whole world my story.”
“Gavin.” My knees threaten to buckle, so I sink to the ground and sit smack in the center of the leaf-covered path. The dogs surround me.
He’s risking the freaking lifeboat he built to save himself.
I can’t let him go through with the interview. Sitting on the trail, surrounded by my dogs, I know who I am. I can love him without losing myself. I’m stronger than that now. And Gavin Black is nothing like my ex-husband.
“You don’t have to do this. I shouldn’t have made that demand. I’m sorry. I let my awful marriage distort everything.”
“Kayla—”
“You don’t have to do this, Gavin. Not for me. Not for anyone. It’s not a condition of my love, or my friendship,” I say quickly. I can hear his footsteps in the background. There are other voices too.
“Kayla, slow down,” he says. “Let me explain. Please.”
“Okay.”
“Can you give me a minute, Charlene?” he says.
I hear a sugar sweet voice give him an affirmative answer. As if she would make demands from Gavin Black when he’s willing to do her show over all of the others.
“Alexandra’s not going away, Kayla. I met with her last night. You were right. She wants revenge. I do too. But I want you more.”
“Gavin,” I whisper. It’s as if his words broke a damn inside me, the one holding back my feelings for this man. I’ve loved him for so long. And I’ve wanted him too. The fact that he’s willing to tell the world …
“You don’t have to do this,” I say again. “We can have a huge wedding. Everyone will stop talking about your crazy ex.”
“I’m doing this show,” he says. “And after I sit down with Charlene, I’m driving straight up to see you. I have a very big present for you named Diamond.”
“You didn’t,” I gasp, instantly picturing a diamond ring nestled in a box. I don’t need a traditional proposal. I’ve seen Gavin on one knee before. We don’t need to repeat that disaster. And I’ll probably lose the diamond ring. “You didn’t have to.”
