AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Okay.” Joanna picks up her bag, and the two of them go through to the spare room and close the door behind them.
I watch them go, then turn to face Huxley. He’s slid his hands into his pockets, and he’s watching me cautiously. His face is pale—this has come as quite a shock to him.
Nymph lies down and puts her snout on her paws, as if she can feel the tension in the room.
“Are you mad at me?” he asks softly.
I shake my head, and he exhales with relief.
We look at each other for a moment. It feels as if there’s so much to say, I don’t know where to start.
Eventually I swallow hard. “Brandy said that you and she… that you never slept together.”
“Nope. There’s never been anything romantic between us.”
“It never made sense to me,” I whisper. “You and she had this connection that I knew would always be bigger than anything we could have, but you never had any chemistry.”
He gives a small smile. “She’s not my type.” He tips his head to the side. “You know who is my type?”
Emotion rushes through me. I don’t know why, but the fact that he’s never slept with Brandy fills me with joy.
“I can’t believe you did that,” I say. “You took on your brother’s child, even though you knew everyone would look down on you for getting Brandy pregnant. Oh my God, Hux, the way your father ripped into you.” I’ve witnessed several of Peter’s explosions toward his son.
“Yeah.” He looks at his feet. “That’s been tough at times.” He looks back up at me. “I wanted to tell you. So many times. But I promised Brandy I’d never tell anyone, and I didn’t want to jeopardize Joanna’s safety and happiness.”
“What about Mack and Victoria? Both of them told me that what happened back then wasn’t what I thought.”
“I’ve never discussed it with them. They must have guessed.”
Again, I feel a swell of pleasure. He didn’t tell everyone else but keep it from me. I haven’t been excluded from his confidence.
“I’m so sorry,” he says, moving a few feet closer to me before stopping. “When I came across Brandy sitting outside Guy’s old house, crying, I felt a sense of duty to provide for her.”
“Of course you did.” Anyone else might have offered to look after her financially without making the incredible lifetime commitment, but the honorable, principled Huxley would have done everything in his power to protect the vulnerable pregnant girl.
“I was nineteen,” he says. “I thought about it for weeks, and I thought I’d gone through everything and planned for every eventuality. I decided I’d wait until the baby was six months old, because that seemed a decent amount of time, and then I’d ask you out again, and we’d start over, and everything would be fine. I was incredibly naïve. I honestly didn’t expect you to say no. It completely floored me.”
“But you still didn’t tell me.”
“I promised her. I’d made that commitment, and I knew I’d never be able to go back on it.”
“Oh, Hux…” I press my fingers to my mouth.
He sighs, closes the distance between us, puts his arms around me, and I bury my face in his T-shirt.
“I’ve made all the three women in my life cry this morning,” he says. “Wow, I’m doing well.”
I move back, wiping my face, and look up at him. “I’m so sorry.”
He cups my face and smiles as he wipes away my tears with his thumbs. “You’ve nothing to be sorry about.”
“I am, though, for saying no to you. All these years I’ve convinced myself you were a playboy. And you’re not. You’re the best man I know.”
He brushes his thumb over my lips. “I lost you, though,” he murmurs, his voice so low I can barely hear it. “I love Joanna with all my heart, but if I had my time again…” His voice breaks, and he pulls me into his arms.
We stand there like that for a while, both fighting with our emotion. I bury my nose in his T-shirt. He smells so familiar, and his strong arms are holding me so tightly it’s as if he never wants to let me go.
I clear my throat, put my hands on his chest, and move back. “You should spend some time with Brandy and your daughter,” I say softly.
