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She yawned, stretched, and rolled over to face him. “I’ll read them in a bit. Think I’ll sleep a little more. Stay with me?”
Stretching out beside her, he kissed the top of her head. “Nowhere else I’d rather be, my love.”
“I used to dream of this, you know. When you were gone, I’d imagine you were beside me in bed. That we were whispering to each other the way we used to, right before we dropped off to sleep.”
“Those are some of my best memories. And I promise I’ll never let you go to sleep again without hearing me whisper ‘I love you’ in your ear.”
“I believe you. I trust you. I love you, Sean Donavan.”
No words could have impacted him like those three short sentences. He had broken her trust. Broken her heart. Abandoned her, not only in their marriage but when she’d been Kingsley’s prisoner. Her reassurance that she loved and trusted him was everything.
“Thank you, Serena. You’ll never have reason to doubt me again.”
When she didn’t answer, he pulled back slightly and saw that she’d fallen asleep again. This time, she looked peaceful, with a small curve to her mouth. Pulling her closer, he breathed in her delicate scent and sent his thanks above for this second chance. Whether he had one more second left in this life or fifty years, he vowed that he would do everything within his power to ensure that this beautiful, precious woman would never be harmed again.
Chapter Forty-Four
“Hmm.” Holding a giant strawberry to Serena’s mouth, Sean said, “Taste this. Think it’s too ripe?”
Doing what he asked, she took a bite of the berry, the fruity flavor exploding on her tongue. “Tastes just right to me.”
“Really? Maybe my taste buds are off. Take a bite of this cantaloupe and see if it’s still good.”
Hiding a grin, she took a small bite, swallowed the sweetness, and said, “Yes, it’s perfect as well.”
Before he could pick up another piece of fruit, she grabbed his hand and said, “I know what you’re doing.”
“What?”
“You’re trying to get me to eat more.”
He shrugged, not denying it. “Your appetite seems off.”
“My appetite shrank while I was away.”
“Think you’ll ever get it back?”
She had no trouble reading between the lines. It wasn’t just her appetite that concerned him. The optimism, the easy smile, the sheer joy of living weren’t a part of her right now. Would they ever return? She didn’t know.
“I don’t know. I hope so. I want to be whole again. I loved the old Serena.” Without an ounce of arrogance or pride, she meant those words. She had loved herself. She had liked who she was, what she did, what she stood for. But she was still numb, still reeling from her experience.
“I love every version of Serena Donavan,” Sean said quietly.
“I know you do.”
He had been so patient with her. Never asking, never pushing. He’d listened when she’d felt like talking and sat in silence when the words just weren’t there. He hadn’t judged her.
“So…how do you think Thursday night will go?”
There was a small smile playing around his mouth, telling her he was trying to be humorous, but the seriousness of his eyes told a different tale. He was worried about the family dinner. Every Thursday, without fail, her family gathered for a community dinner. Sean had attended many of them and had always been treated as a treasured member of the family. But that was before all their troubles had begun. Before he’d walked away. Since this was the first one that Sean would attend in over a year, he was understandably apprehensive. There was no need.
She leaned forward and grabbed his hand. “My family is your family, Sean. Even before we married, they accepted you as one of their own. That hasn’t changed.”
“But I left.”
She shook her head. “You can’t leave family. At least, not this family. Once they welcome you into the fold, you’re one of them…one of us. Forever. You think you’re the only one who’s ever left? Others have gone away, but when they come back, it’s like they never left. A part of them remained here.” She squeezed his hand. “Wherever you go, no matter how far away or where you’ve been, you are here with us.”
His voice gruff with emotion, he said, “I never signed and filed the divorce papers, you know. I couldn’t.”
