Page 175 of When Love Takes Root

“Don’t call me that right now.”

He went completely still.

The nickname disappeared between us like a door closing.

I wished he hadn’t listened. I wished he’d pushed so I could get mad and build a wall from it. Anger would’ve been easier than this man standing in front of me with hurt in his eyes and discipline in his hands.

I looked down at my fingers twisting against my sleeve. “Kayden isn’t ready.”

“Kayden doesn’t have to be ready tonight.”

“My kids come before me.”

“They should.”

“My peace comes before whatever this is becoming.”

“It should.”

I looked up at him, frustration cutting through the tears. “You’re making this harder.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“The truth is I can’t have you sitting at my table, being disrespected by my child, while I act like I know how to make this work.”

“You corrected him.”

“And it wasn’t enough.”

“For tonight, maybe it was.”

“No.” His eyes held mine. A hot wedge of anger and tears filled my throat, and I hated how much of it belonged to fear. “I think we need to stop.”

Josiah didn’t move.

His eyes lowered first. Then his chin. His hand flexed at his side, fingers opening and closing once before he made them still. For a few seconds, he looked toward the yard like he needed to put his hurt somewhere besides on me.

When he looked back, his eyes were red around the edges.

His voice stayed low. “Okay.”

That one word almost took my knees.

He nodded once, but it wasn’t agreement. It was him forcing respect to stand in front of whatever else he felt.

“I’m going to leave if you want me to leave, Celeste. I need you to know that.” My arms tightened around my stomach. He saw it. He didn’t come closer. “But before I go, I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with yourself, even if you don’t answer me out loud.”

My throat closed.

Josiah’s eyes held mine. “What did I do tonight that made you feel unsafe?”

I blinked.

The question sat between us.

He waited.

The porch light flickered above him. Somewhere inside, one of the girls laughed at the television, and the sound made this hurt worse because life kept moving while mine stood on the edge of something I was about to ruin.