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Being a nanny for over ten years, she knew how it felt to have a child tell her they loved her, how they never wanted her to leave. Then circumstances changed. They got old enough. No tears were shed. Just a simple goodbye, and your services were no longer required. No one had ever wanted to keep her for longer than was necessary.
Being in Drew’s arms, she felt at peace and whole.
He wanted her, just as she wanted him. They were safe together, united.
At that moment, she knew she loved this man. Her past bully had somehow turned into the love of her life.
Chapter Twelve
The following day, Drew took Callie and Meghan back home. He wasn’t going to hide from his past or the woman who’d made his life hell. Being at Tilly’s mercy for so long and finally breaking free by speaking the truth, he’d come to see he wasn’t wrong for being hit. No, Tilly was wrong for hurting him.
He wasn’t weak.
He was strong.
There was no way he was ever going to allow that woman to push him around anymore, or for him to risk his happiness because of her fucking whims. Not now. Not ever again. Marrying Tilly was his mistake and he would pick up the pieces, no doubt about it.
His parents had been right from the start and now, he needed to go and see them.
Parking his car outside of his parents’ house, he saw both of his parents on their knees, weeding an overly grown patch.
His parents had never seen the aftermath of Tilly’s hard work. This time, he didn’t hide from them.
His father spotted him first and got up from his knees. “Son, is everything okay?”
He didn’t look at his father. Instead, he looked at his mother. “This here is because of you.”
“Drew?” Killian asked.
Jane got to her feet and walked closer.
“For someone who claimed to hate her, why did you call her?” Drew asked.
“Look, son, I don’t exactly know what’s going on here, but I don’t like your accusations here. We don’t like Tilly and there’s no way we would have made that call.”
“You didn’t,” Drew said. “She did. You know you were both right about Tilly. I couldn’t bring myself to admit it. I didn’t want to agree with you how I messed up my life. For the first time ever, I’m thinking clearly and I’m not ashamed to admit that my life with that woman was hell. I never raised my fist to her, but this, this was a regular feature.” He pointed at his eye. “Sure, it wasn’t always the eye. Sometimes it was my ribs, legs, even my dick. She’d punch me, slap me. Some left bruises. I had to defend myself once as she came at me with a saucepan, a skillet. For a year, I was away from her. I found someone else. I found Callie. The girl I bullied back in high school is the one person who has the ability to put a smile on my face. I wake up next to her and I know what real happiness is. I know why Dad is so possessive of you. He loves you. He can’t imagine life without you.” He stopped. “I guess that means I love Callie.”
He chuckled. “I haven’t told her yet. I will.” He looked at his mother. “Why did you call her here?”
His mother had tears running down her face.
“Tell me this isn’t true, Jane,” Killian said.
“I didn’t know she hurt you, son. I would never do anything to harm you. You have to believe that.”
“You called her?” Killian asked.
“I saw the way Drew looked at Callie. That girl is a sweetheart and I didn’t want that bitch to mess it up. I thought if she came to town, she’d see she was hurting my son. I thought she’d do the right thing. I had no idea this would happen.”
“Tilly doesn’t have a nice or decent bone in her body. She doesn’t know how to be good. She may try to take Meghan from me. If it wasn’t for Callum, she may have even had the power to destroy me. Not anymore. I don’t want you to come near me.”
“Drew, I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
He held his hand up, not wanting to hear any more. His mother, no matter her intentions, had caused him pain and now, he didn’t want to be part of them. He needed time to recover, to accept, to forgive.
His father shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”
Drew turned on his heel and left. He got back into his car and drove all the way home. Callum had insisted he not go into work that day and stay with Callie and Meghan. His daughter had a nightmare the previous night, and he ended up sleeping beside her. Callie had come with him though. Right now, her support was everything he needed. When it came to his parents, he had to take care of this himself.
