Page 66 of Read With Your Heart

“It was only a push, but I fell and landed funny. The baby should have been protected. Everything I read said the baby was safe deep inside me, but something happened.”

I turn to Emily with tears I don’t feel falling from my eyes.

“That’s when I knew. That’s when I finally wised up. I left the hospital after losing the baby and went straight to my mother’s house.”

“When was this?” Emily asks softly.

“The beginning of June.”

“That was only five months ago,” she reminds me.

“And I was almost ten weeks along when it happened.” I’d have been having a baby in a few months if it had all worked out. “It wasn’t meant to be,” I add, repeating the words my mother had offered. She’d held my hand and encouraged me to believe that the baby wasn’t meant to be because it tied me to Trent, and I needed to get out.

“I’m so sorry,” Emily says beside me. “I didn’t know.”

“No one except my mother does,” I say, turning back to Lena. “Because smart girls don’t get into these situations, right? It’s the hashtag ‘me too’ era, and we know better, yet it still happens. We think we’re in love. We think ‘he’ll change for me.’ We think, he accepts me. Even when we see the signs and know all the stories of how it isn’t true for other women, it’s not going to happen to us. We’re too smart for this. Those are the lies we tell ourselves when we’re blinded because we want something so badly.”

So badly, I let my husband hurt me in hopes of getting that baby.

Lena’s tears freely fall, as do mine, and I’m certain the people at the next table wonder what the hell is happening at ours.

“Lena, I want you to do a few things for me,” I say, wiping the tears from my cheeks. “I want you to know this was not your fault. If you loved him, you made decisions with that love. Whatever his motive, whatever his thought process, that’s on him, not you. Learn the lessons I didn’t. Take care of you first. Accept help when it’s offered. Or hell, even ask for it.”

She stares at me, disbelief in her eyes. I had that same look myself. I was too afraid to tell others what happened to me and too embarrassed to ask for help to get me out of the situation with Trent.

“I want you to finish high school and apply to college. Promise me you’ll still go to college. Apply for scholarships or get loans. Do whatever it takes.” I reach for her hands again, and she lifts hers to mine. I squeeze her hands, remembering the pride in her voice when she’d said she would be the first in her family to attend a university. I don’t want her to lose that dream.

“I trust you to make the right decision for you, and I want you to trust me. I’m just a phone call away for anything you need.”

I’m still holding Lena’s hands while she faces me when I hear heavy boot steps behind me, and Lena’s eyes widen. Her expression hardens. His voice hits me like a sucker punch.

“Lena, what’s wrong? Why are you . . .?” His voice fades, but I don’t look up. I release his sister’s hands and slide my own under the table.

“Leon.” Emily states his name with disapproval.

“Emily?” Her name cracks in his throat. “Tricia?” I close my eyes, hoping they hide my tears. Fingers come to my chin, but I flinch away from his touch, looking up and spearing him with my glare.

“Don’t touch me,” I whisper, and his eyes widen in surprise. Those beautiful silver eyes express confusion, then shift to concern and eventually close off.

“What are you doing here?” He ignores the tears dried on my cheeks. My mascara must be a mess of streaks, but I don’t care. It’s time to leave.

“We were just finished,” I say, reaching for my purse and pushing back my seat, forcing Leon to step aside. I stand, and Lena follows my lead.

Leon reaches out for my arm, stopping my retreat, and I peer down at his fingers on my arm. “Just tell me what you’re doing here.”

My chest rises and falls in exaggerated, heavy breaths. I need air.

“I’ll pay for our drinks,” Emily says softly, and I tug my arm from Leon’s grasp.

“You’re wrong, Tricia.” Lena looks from her brother to me. “Men are the stupid ones. So stupid.” She glares at her brother.

“You—” Leon turns on his sister. “How did you get here?”

“I drove,” she admits, crossing her arms in defiance. He gives her a smirk, and she glares back at him. “Fix this.” Lena points back and forth between Leon and me, directing her demand at him. “Be smart for once.”

Leon doesn’t respond, and Lena steps closer to me, wrapping me in a hug me in the middle of the coffee shop. “Don’t let him go,” she whispers before pulling away. Too quickly, she’s pushing her way through the exit, and both Leon and I call her name. I turn to him, narrowing my eyes in disappointment, and then follow his sister outside. Once outside, I see Lena’s quickly made it down the sidewalk, and I call out her name again. She doesn’t turn but picks up her pace, running the remaining distance down the sidewalk to her old Jeep.

My arms flail out to my side and slap down on my thighs. Now what?