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“Hey?” Franc’s hand slipped around my waist, his warm, smoky blue gaze settling on me. Concern filled those beautiful eyes as he stared at me. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” I managed. “I’m fine.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I want to be strong.”
“You don’t have to be strong. Not when you have me.”
“But that’s not fair to you.”
“If I learned anything from my past, it’s that maybe if I listened to Rebecca before we got married, I would have saved myself a whole lot of pain and hurt. With her, we were never in sync. We were unbalanced. Me and you. We’re different. We’re a team. We’re strong together, and if one of us can’t handle it, the other steps up. I’m stepping up. I’m giving you permission to break. And I promise you, when you’re done, I will help you pick up every broken piece until you’re whole again. But you can’t fix what isn’t broken. And if you ignore it. The cracks will start. They will eat away at you. It’s better to have a controlled break than an earth-shattering disaster.”
I took a deep breath, building up the courage to let my thoughts run freely.
His thumb brushed against my knuckles, and I broke.
“I have no way to drive. My arm is in a sling for the next six weeks. How am I supposed to watch Gio and do all the things with him? I have no money. I mean, I have my savings and maybe I could cash out my 401k and take the tax hit. I can start over. I’m still young, but then retirement will be here before I know it and I haven’t been putting anything into it these last few months. I’m already worried about my parents having enough to retire and what if they need help from me and I can’t give it? And why am I thinking about money when I could have died today? Gio could have died. Oh god, I never would have been able to forgive myself if something happened to him. You never would have been able to forgive me. And that hurts more than anything. Knowing that I…” A sob rose up my throat, and I choked. “I failed you.”
“You didn’t fail me.” Franc took my cheeks into his capable hands, resting his forehead on mine. He breathed, once, twice, slow and steady like he did with Gio.
“I totaled not one, but two cars. I put your son in danger.”
“You didn’t put my son in danger. The drunk asshole who got behind the wheel of his damn car put my son in danger. Not you. Never you.”
I swallowed the rising tears. Whether we were together or not, I was still Gio’s nanny, and in my condition, I wasn’t sure how effective I’d be. “How am I supposed to take care of Gio with one arm? Even if I had a car, which I don’t, I can’t drive. I don’t want to let him down. We were supposed to go to the movies on Monday because it’s supposed to rain. Tuesday, we were going to go to the dog park and pet all the dogs. Wednesday we were going to go for a hike and look for bugs.”
Franc grabbed my chin, gently stroking my jawline. “Breathe.” He held my gaze. “Breathe.”
I inhaled deeply, not breaking eye contact, needing him to ground me. Needing him to hold together all my shattered pieces.
“We can still do all of that. I took the week off, and you’re not going anywhere. I’m going to take care of you.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You’re not letting me do anything. This is my call, and I already made it.” He kissed my forehead and the gentle gesture, the thing he did so much I looked forward to it, went right to my heart.
“I totaled your truck.”
“You didn’t total it.”
I let out a shaky exhale. “You don’t have a vehicle.”
“I have Laurent’s, and Sunday I’m going to the dealership.”
“I can give you what I have in my savings.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“This isn’t your problem, though. It’s mine.” Just because we were sleeping together didn’t mean he had to fix my mistakes.
“It’sourproblem because I love you, and I take care of those I love.”
The world slipped away from me, shock slamming into me and throwing me off balance. I stared at him, unsure I heard him right.
So much for calming breathing techniques.
A car pulled up, but Franc didn’t look away from me. I didn’t look away from him either, too shocked to move or speak.
