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“So what are you going to do?”
She blinked, torn in two by her emotions and the confusion bombarding her.She’d resigned herself to the divorce over a year ago, had processed as much of the pain as she could in order to finally wake up one day ready to see what came next.Then Nan had passed.She’d found Hershey and Bryson and…
“That’s why you’re really down here, isn’t it?To figure out if you want to reconcile?”
“You have to understand, Bryson.It’s hard to let go of so many years.”
“I do understand.But it’s simple.”
“Nothingabout this is simple,” she said.
“Hadley, at the end of the day, what do you want?”he asked.
His voice was so low she barely heard it because the wind threatened to carry away the words.She struggled to breathe, to focus and work through the emotional bombardment scattering her ability to concentrate.“At one point I would’ve done anything to make things work.”
“And now?”
Her pulse pounded loudly in her ears.“I don’t know.I really don’t.And I realize how awful that sounds,” she said, glancing at him quickly before looking away once more.“Kyle says he made a mistake, that it’s over between him and her.He wants to go to counseling…”
Bryson didn’t speak.She found his gaze on her, waiting.
“Again, not a surprise,” he said softly.“Hadley, any man would be blessed to call you his.So I’ll ask again—what do you want?”
“It’s not that easy.”
“It is.You make a choice and you pursue it until you see where it leads.”
“Even if I don’t know if it’s the right one?I just want my children to be happy.”
“Your children are grown and gone, Hadley.They have their own lives to live.This is about you.Your life.What doyouwant?”
“I want to be happy,” she said softly.
“Good.But what does that mean?”
“I don’t know.Why are you pressuring me?”she asked, her voice rising with the growing panic she felt.
“Because no man wants to be second choice and what you decide impacts me.”
“Bryson—” She broke off, opened her mouth again only to close it.Tried and failed to find the words to defuse the conversation and give herself time to think.“I’m sorry.You’re right but I need time to think about all of this.I can’t even catch my breath because this entire weekend has been surreal.”
“Sweetheart, look at me.”
She lifted her gaze to his and wanted to cry at what she saw.Maybe she’d only known him a few weeks, but in that time, she’d come to truly care for Bryson.Strong feelings that were more than simple friendship.
“You are an amazing woman.But if you’re having this much trouble making your decision, I’ll make it for you.”
“What do you mean?”
Hadley wiped a hand under her watery eyes as she waited for Bryson to clarify his words, her heart in her throat because she felt like she stood between the proverbial rock and hard place.
Pre-affair memories of love and security chipped away at her fear and doubts of an unknown future.But her time with Bryson had also made her realize what it felt like to be appreciated for being herself.
“I’m taking myself out of the equation.”
Hadley gasped, but having once begged a man to stay only to watch him walk away, she’d sworn to herself she’d never beg again.If it was so easy for Bryson to leave, well, so be it, she thought, hurt and anger sliding through her.
“Mom!Mom?”
