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“She’s crazy,” Damon mumbles.
My head snaps back to him. “No, she’s not, but you definitely are. What are you doing here? Isn’t Ivy due any minute now?”
“Probably.”
“You left her and came here? Why would you do that?”
He hangs his head. “Because I love you. I want you. I’ve always wanted you. She was a distraction. A stress reliever. A silly fling that didn’t mean anything,” he blurts out.
“The fuck?” Erin mutters.
I laugh. “Translation: she is hot, fun, and young, and she was convenient until she ended up pregnant, and now, it’s not so fun, right?” I spit.
“Taeli, baby.” His voice cracks with emotion.
“Don’t do that. Don’t think you can show up here and shed tears and make it all better. Just because you want me doesn’t mean you value me, I need to be valued, Damon.”
“This is about him, isn’t it?” he asks.
“Who?”
“Graham Tuttle. Of course you come to Balsam Ridge and link up with one of the Tuttles. What? Were you in search of a bigger, better deal?” He hurls the accusation.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Dead serious. You’re sleeping with him, aren’t you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“You’re my wife!”
“That didn’t matter to you when you were screwing your assistant, now did it?”
“Damn. I’m calling Jena and telling her to bring some popcorn,” Erin says before pulling her phone from her back pocket.
“You want the truth? You’re right. He is part of it. I like him. I like him a hell of a lot. I might even love him.”
His eyes fill with rage. “And you think you can trust him? You barely know him.”
“I know I can,” I insist.
“Yeah, well, you trusted me once too. So, maybe you aren’t the best judge of character.”
“Did you really just say that, dude?” Erin asks.
He ignores her.
“You don’t get to question me. You broke us. You broke me. I don’t owe you any apologies for what it took to heal what you crushed. So stop with the guilt. I can move on with whomever I choose,” I retort.
“I don’t want you to make another mistake. We can fix this,” he insists.
“You just called me out for being stupid for trusting you and called yourself a mistake,” I say.
“You’re twisting my words.”
“No, I’m pointing out how ridiculous you sound right now.”
“You can’t love him,” he states matter-of-factly.
“Yes, I can. It’s a different kind of love. It’s grown-up love, and it fucking rocks.”
“Oh, snap,” Erin says.
The words hit him like physical blows.
“Taeli,” he pleads.
“You don’t get it. You ruined us and now it’s like the ground split open and we’re standing on opposite sides of this great abyss that neither can cross. Go home, Damon. There is no path back to us.”
He sniffles as I watch the fight leave him.
“I don’t like who I am without you,” he utters.
“Too bad because I love who I am without you.”
He takes a step back, and then he sits on the top step. He honestly thought I’d run into his arms.
“Go home, Damon, and maybe this time around, you can fix all the mistakes we made. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“I made a mistake, okay? A stupid mistake. We can get past this.”
I take a seat beside him just as Jena pulls up and Erin hurries to her passenger side and gets in.
“No. A mistake I could forgive. You made a choice. A choice to fuck up our family. And if I’m being honest, I’m glad you did. You released me from the Stepford nightmare I was living in.”
“I know I fucked up, but you’re the one who left.”
