Page 94 of The Golden Hour

“I’m not,” Honey whispers, shaking her head. “Not anymore.”

“You are,” Mason insists, his voice gentle but brooking no argument. “You always will be.”

It’s right on the tip of her tongue.

I wasn’t for nine months! When I was pregnant and sick and scared! In fact I ranked pretty low on your responsibilities!

It is only a miracle and the hard pressure of her teeth against her tongue that keeps the words from escaping, because beating him over the head with his failures is just wasted energy. It is not going to solve anything besides making him feel bad and then he’ll give her another apology that is not going to change much.

He knows what he did was wrong.

She knows that he’s sorry and that it’s tearing him apart.

So, what now?

What can she do with that?

“I’m healing. You are…” Honey takes a deep breath. “You are helping me heal, Mason.”

Mason’s eyes light up with hope.

“Physically. But inside… that’s not something that’s going to be fixed in two weeks. Probably not even two months,” Honey then mutters. “Maybe not even two years.”

The light in his eyes dims, but only barely.

There is still so much hope and determination in his expression as he meets Honey’s gaze. She does not look away, and neither does he. The air in her bedroom is so charged that she feels the hair on her arms standing on end.

“I’m hurt, Mason,” Honey says, proud when her voice stays steady. Mason’s right eye twitches at her words, almost a flinch, like he can feel the pain inside of her. Maybe he can. “I’m still so hurt and angry with you. And I’m going to be for a while. I don’t know how long, but I know that I need to feel it.”

Honey swallows and looks away from him.

“I need to… work through it.”

Silence stretches after her words.

When she looks back at Mason, his brows are pinched, his eyes squeezing closed for a long moment, a flicker of emotion crosses his face before it just goes carefully blank.

He opens his eyes and meets Honey’s.

“I know, Honey,” he says quietly. “I know I hurt you, and I betrayed you. I neglected you. I chose the hospital over you, and for that I’m—” he stumbles over his words, and she realizes he was going to apologize again.

Instead, he frowns, shakes his head, and corrects.

“I am going to do everything that I can to mend that hurt, to fix what I broke, to support you in every single way. I know saying it doesn’t mean much, and I hope that I am starting to show you.” Mason swallows hard. “Wounds need time to heal. I know that. So I will give you all the time in the world. Forever if you need it. But please don’t ask me to not take care of you. Because that’s probably the only thing I’d ever refuse if you asked it of me…”

Honey’s mouth feels dry, and she almost hates the warmth spreading through her body at his words, at the look on his handsome face, the love shining in his eyes.

“Let’s see when you go back to work in two days,” Honey murmurs, glancing away from him because it’s all too overwhelming.

Mason blinks at her words, and his expression is almost surprised.

“Did you forget?” she asks, almost bemused.

He huffs a laugh.

“You know, I kind of did.”

Honey’s frown deepens at that.