Page 110 of Finding Forever

A family. Her family.

Beth touched the edge of one photograph. “I’m sorry.”

The words escaped before she could stop them. Her throat tightened. What was she apologizing for?

For Dave? For being happy? For discovering that she could still want someone beside her?

Beth pressed a hand against her chest. Yesterday she’d stood with Dave at Kayla’s wedding and imagined other days with him. Breakfast together. Dinner at his house. Sitting beside him on cold winter evenings.

Growing older with him.

She’d allowed herself to picture all of it. And she’d loved what she’d seen.

That realization frightened her more than anything Rosalind had said. Because perhaps she wasn’t simply falling in love with Dave. Perhaps she already had.

Beth sank onto a kitchen chair. Tears spilled onto her cheeks. How could she love Dave when part of her still belonged so completely to Jessie?

And how could she ask Dave to accept that? He deserved someone who could give him everything. Not a woman who might spend the rest of their lives comparing anniversaries, remembering another man’s touch, wondering what Jessie would have thought whenever something important happened.

Her phone chimed on the counter. Beth wiped her face and picked it up.

Dave.

Morning, beautiful. How are you feeling after yesterday?

Her breath caught. Normally, those two words would have made her ridiculously happy. This morning, they hurt.

She typed a response.

Deleted it.

Tried again.

Tired. I think I’m going to have a quiet day at home.

His answer arrived quickly. Probably a good idea. I was going to come over later, but I’ll leave you to rest. Call me if you change your mind.

Beth stared at the message. She wanted him to come. That was the worst part.

She wanted to hear his truck pull into the driveway and hear him open her front door. Beth wanted his arms around her and his voice telling her she’d turned Rosalind’s careless comment into something it had never been intended to mean.

But Dave couldn’t answer the question that mattered. Only Beth could.

And she didn’t know the answer.

Her thumb hovered over his name. She could call him. Instead, she placed the phone face down on the table.

Maybe she’d mistaken loneliness for love. Maybe Dave had arrived when she was finally ready to have someone beside her again, and she’d confused companionship with something deeper.

Except her heart knew better. Her excuses hurt almost as much as the truth.

Beth covered her face with both hands. She loved Dave. And for the first time, instead of filling her with hope, the knowledge terrified her. Because loving him meant risking something she’d never believed could be threatened.

Her life with Jessie and his place in her heart and everything they’d been.

Beth lifted her head and looked at their family photographs. Then she looked at the phone lying silently on the table.

Her past was on one side, her future on the other.