Page 293 of Taken Away

“And Anne killed her for it.”

Bennett did not answer.

There was nothing gentle enough to say.

Aubrey looked once more at the photograph.

Harold’s hands around her.

Her hands on his face.

That look.

That love.

“He loved me,” she whispered again.

This time it was not a question.

Bennett nodded.

“So did Mabel.”

Aubrey looked up at him.

He cupped her face carefully, giving her every chance to step back.

She didn’t.

He tilted her chin up with his thumb.

“And so do I.”

Aubrey went still.

Bennett’s voice was rough but steady.

“I love you, Aubrey Langford.”

Her lips parted.

“I don’t need you to answer me tonight. I don’t need you to know what to do with that. I just need you to hear it. After everything you heard today, after everything that was taken from you…” His thumb moved gently along her cheek. “I need you to know this too.”

Aubrey stared at him through tears.

His hand was warm against her face.

His ring was gone.

Her eyes dropped to his hand.

The bare place where grief had lived for so long.

“Bennett…”

“I’ll always love Claire,” he said softly. “That doesn’t go away. I don’t want it to. But loving her doesn’t mean I have to stop living. And it doesn’t mean I have to pretend I don’t love you.”

Aubrey’s face crumpled.