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Tessa leaned forward and poured Cheryl another glass while Rayna Jo dropped in a few ice cubes.
“What on earth happened in there?”Rayna Jo asked.
“Why do you feel like you owe us?”Mary Elizabeth softly questioned.
Cheryl downed—literally chugged—the drink and wiped her mouth in a most unladylike fashion.
“I’ve lived a lie,” Cheryl said.“All of this time, I’ve kept a secret and pretended—and all I’ve done is hurt the people I love the most.Jerry and Hadley, all of you.”
“What secret?”Adaline asked.
Mary Elizabeth glanced out the paned windows to see Hadley being led to a chair by Bryson, his thickly muscled arm wrapped protectively around her shoulders.
“I thought,” Cheryl said softly, “if I tried hard enough, I could erase something horrible I did in the past.But all I did was make my daughter put up with a man who isn’t worthy of her, all to keep up appearances.”
Mary Elizabeth leaned forward, taking one of Cheryl’s hands in her own.“You know my secret.Cheryl, what happened?”
Hadley had thoughtnothing could embarrass her more than that day when she’d arrived for Nan’s funeral alone.That just went to prove how silly someone’s thoughts and beliefs could be.
But as Bryson steered her toward a swing in Mary Elizabeth’s beautiful backyard, all Hadley could think about was how the blinders she’d worn for far too long had been ripped away completely and the sun…it burned.“Can you ever forgive me?”she asked Bryson, voice thick.“I know I have no right to ask but I hope—”
“There’s nothing to forgive, Hadley.”
“There’severything to forgive.All I can say is that for a very brief, very weird moment, I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“I know.”
“I was weak,” she added.
“You were human.”
“I wasstupid.I let sentimentality and pressure from family override what I’d already learned the hard way.What I’dlivedand didn’t want to go through again.But I fell right back into that pattern because I-I felt I owed them.The kids and my parents and…even Kyle, because we’d been together so long.”She shoved her fingers into her hair and clenched them, the pain clearing the fuzziness of tears and anxiety and regret.“I’m sorry, Bryson.”
Bryson gently turned her and pushed her into the swing before he sat beside her.
She leaned her head against his shoulder and slowly slid her fingers into his palm, hoping he wouldn’t reject her and yet fearing the possibility.
His calloused fingers curled around hers, and she blinked away the hot flood of relief mixed with gratitude.
“Hadley…one of the first things I learned about you is that you wear your heart on your sleeve.You look at people and see the best, no matter the issues in the past.I would be surprised if you didn’t have misgivings about your ex.It’s who you are.Because you’re so sweet and loving.”
“You are kind for saying that, but we both know I was seriously wrong.And just so we’re clear, I didn’t follow my heart.”She lifted her head and stared into Bryson’s steady green-eyed gaze.“Because if I’d actually donethat”—she paused, heart racing—“I would’ve never allowed Kyle to worm his way between us.”
Bryson’s gaze flared a bit, his lips parting as he drew in a breath.“Go on.”
Revealing her feelings took more courage than she’d imagined, mostly because of screwing up before this.“Bryson, you encouraged me to follow my dreams.You helped me to find…myself.The person I was—am—before everything got so mixed up.”
“Hadley, emotional abuse doesn’t happen overnight.Like you said, it builds over time, with little things you make excuses for because your mind is desperate to protect itself.All I did was treat you as you should be treated.”
He drew back so he could reach out and gently cup her cheek, his thumb lightly brushing her skin with its raspy roughness.
“I wanted to kill him for hurting you.”
She leaned toward him, her fingers wrapping around his wrist to steady herself as she pressed her lips to his and kissed the man who’d made her realize the difference between manipulation and love.Self-centeredness and care.Fake and real.
Bryson lifted his head, his gaze blazing hot.
It was then she realized she’d whispered the love words aloud.But she didn’t regret it.And she wouldn’t take them back.Not when she meant every word.
