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“None of us have,” I remark, wondering what she’s holding onto.
“I had trouble accepting his death.”
“Rightly so.”
“Well, it concerned his mother, sister, and my mother. So much so that they decided to commit me to a mental health facility because I was experiencing an emotional breakdown because of my grief.”
Fuckers! And she was right all along?
“Is that why you refuse to do drugs?”
She nods. “They had me heavily medicated during my time there. When I was finally released, I started my life over. I moved out of the house we’d shared, changed my number, and his mother and sister cut me out of their lives, so I thought it was time to start over fresh.”
“Which was why you came to Alta?”
Shaking her head, she says, “No. I wasn’t ready to move on like that. Not yet. I’d started focusing all my attention on the foundation and working constantly. I had no private life, and Mom didn’t think it was healthy. I wasn’t letting anyone in, so Mom eventually put Stacey on me as a last resort.”
“Self-centered, Stacey?”
She laughs and nods. “Yes, one and the same. Surprisingly, though, she did care enough to extend the invitation to me to Alta. She thought it would do me some good to be in the company of new people.”
“Does she know what happened to you?”
“She does, but she never judged me about that time. Mom had everyone believing that I was on a two-month vacation to Europe, and Stacey was too consumed with her own life to be caught up with what was happening with me. I’m not even sure if she remembers what was happening with me, but...maybe she doesn’t want me to feel uncomfortable about talking about it.”
“So, your husband?”
Nodding, she tugs at the hem of her short dress and then smooths her hands over it.
“I finally decided to open up to someone and move on with my life. Cade, I enjoyed our time together in Alta and on the yacht. It was the best time I’d had in such a long time. You made me feel free and open again; I wanted that feeling to last.
“When we showed up here, I never expected to see Nicky standing outside my door. I think a part of me always knew that he wasn’t dead. Even after I was released from the hospital, I didn’t discuss it with anyone, but I couldn’t put it to rest that Nicky was gone. Seeing him again like that shocked my system but not really. I know you were hurt or disappointed that night, and I owed you an explanation, but....”
“You needed answers for yourself and to figure out your life.”
“Exactly!” she says enthusiastically. “The floor had opened up beneath me, and the world as I knew it was tilting sideways and then upside down on its axis.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t give you a chance to explain the night at the ball.”
“It’s not your fault. I didn’t really have a chance to after Nicky showed up. Cade, I’m sorry that I hurt you. That was never my intention, and you have to believe me.”
“I do. It’s why I’m here now.”
Shaking her head, she asks, “What changed your mind? Made you decide to give me a chance after all this time when you were so angry and shut off from anything?”
“Time away. I took a while to get my head together before I stepped in to take over Dad’s position. With everything I’d been through with you and the pressures that I know are inherent with the CEO position, I just needed some time to figure out my life.”
“What did you do?”
“Travel. Relax.”
“And how did that land you at my door?”
I don’t want to tell her the truth about Mom’s intel gathering because I’d be betraying Mom. I also don’t want to lie to her. So, I go with a half-truth.
“I had some soul-searching to do, and I had to let go of some things. Letting go meant admitting to myself that I failed you. Not once had I given you a chance to explain what happened. And I want to apologize for my hateful words at the ball that night.”
“I know that you were speaking from a place of hurt.”
