Page 83 of Love Everlasting

“Dear God, what have I done?” he whispered, crumpling over the banister at the top of the steps.

But he already knew.

He had single-handedly destroyed the truest love he’d ever known.

A groan scraped through his lips as he slowly slumped to the floor with his head in his hands, confirming once and for all what he’d been told all of his life.

He didn’t deserve love at all.

Chapter Forty-Five

Tess stirred from deep slumber, the still of the house not quite right. Mind hazy from sleep, she listened, but all she heard was Ben’s soft snores beside her and the deep bong of the grandfather clock downstairs chiming the hour of five. Glancing out the window, she peered into the night, the predawn sky as dim and dark as her soul suddenly felt. Which made no sense at all because since she’d married Ben, she’d never been happier.

A loud snort escalated Ben’s snores to chainsaw level, and she couldn’t help but smile as she shook her head, giving him a gentle nudge to make him stop. Her smile grew to a grin when he emitted several growls before rolling onto his side, hooking her into the spooning position she so desperately loved. His soft moan in his sleep feathered her ear, and tears immediately pricked at the back of her eyes. “Thank you, God, for the love of this man in my life,” she whispered, never believing her future could hold such joy. Ben shifted against her with another contented moan, and the press of his body reminded her of just one of the many ways that love was manifested, quickly spiking her pulse. Releasing a contented sigh, she closed her eyes to attempt more sleep, but something unknown still stood in the way.

Restless, she carefully tugged from Ben’s hold and padded to the bathroom, slaking her uneasiness with a quick glass of water. She headed toward bed again, sleep calling her back, but when her feet detoured to her bedroom door, she eased it open with the utmost care.

And then she heard it—muffled and barely there—but the sound of weeping all the same, and instantly she was awake, a mother in tune with a child’s pain. Pulse pounding, she tiptoed to the end of the hall where grief seeped beneath Shannon’s door and inching her hand forward, she felt her stomach twist along with the knob. Instantly her rib cage shrank, the sight of Shannon weeping while curled beneath the covers shivering Tess’s soul as much as her daughter’s heaves shivered her bed.

“Shannon?” Tess rushed to lay down beside her, cocooning her in comfort and love like when Shan was small, a tender twin too fragile for life’s injustice. “Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, M-Mom …” Voice breaking on a loud sob, Shannon turned and clung to her mother, her anguish wracking both of their bodies. “It … h-happened a-again …”

Tess’s blood chilled in her veins. “What happened, darling?” she whispered, her head tucked to Shannon’s while she clutched her with all of her might.

“S-Sam … h-he hurt me …”

“What?” Tess whirled, turning on the nightstand lamp to the dimmest level before holding Shannon at bay, searching her tear-stained face and swollen eyes. “How?”

Shannon sat up with a soggy tissue in hand, heaves quivering her body so hard, Tess was tempted to turn on the heat. “He f-found out the f-full story about Eric b-before I could tell him and he—”

Tess’s body deflated with a silent groan just as Cat’s groggy voice drifted from the open door. “Hey, what’s going—” Her sleepy eyes widened when she saw Shannon’s swollen face. “Shan?” She bolted to the bed and squatted before her, grazing a hand to Shannon’s leg. “Why are you crying?”

“Sam,” Tess said in a terse tone far too hoarse, quickly swallowing her shock that Shannon hadn’t told him everything about her past. Sweeping Shannon’s hair over her shoulder, she handed her the tissue box, noticing for the first time the profusion of crumpled tissues littering the floor and bed. “So, who told him, sweetheart?”

Shannon shook her head, sending more rivulets of tears down her mottled cheeks. “I don’t know, Mom, maybe the fraternity brothers he m-met with last night, but he treated me terrible, m-making me feel so dirty again …”

“What a slime bucket.” Cat’s blue eyes snapped, all sleep apparently forgotten.

Tess laid a hand on Cat’s arm, pretty sure the fire in her daughter’s eyes matched hers to a sizzle. “Cat, would you mind fixing Shan some Sleepytime tea with lots of cream and just a touch of sugar like she prefers? It looks like she hasn’t gotten much sleep, and she’ll need her rest.”

Cat rose. “Sure, Mom, but first I want to hear what that creep did to her.”

Dabbing her eyes, Shannon sniffed, more tears welling. “He came by last night, drunk out of his mind, and I couldn’t let him drive like that, so I drove him home.”

Cat strolled to the window, mouth twisting in a dangerous smile. “Oh, good, his car is still here so I can initial it for him.”

Tess fought the squirm of a smile. “Catherine Marie, as tempting as it may be to key that young man’s car right now, that’s not the response of a Christian woman.”

“Wanna bet?” Shannon blew her nose, her snide remark coaxing a grateful smile to Tess’s mouth.

Cat waltzed back over, hands on her hips. “Just give me the word, Shan, and I’ll put a little sugar in his gas tank along with your tea.”

For once, Tess was thankful for Cat’s irreverent humor, relieved when she spied a ghost of a smile on Shannon’s face. “Actually, Cat, I prefer honey,” she said in a nasal tone, “both in my tea and on his prized pearlized paint job.” She snatched several more tissues from the box, putting them to good use. “And if you have enough to fill the pockets of that expensive jacket he left in his car, that would definitely sweeten the deal.”

A wicked grin slid across Cat’s face. “Oh, you bet. Even if I have to drive all the way to Kroger to get it.”

“So, what happened after you took him home?” Tess asked, anxious to get to the heart of the matter. “And I sure hope you railed on him for driving and drinking.”