AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t burden you with it. I only told you what happened because I thought it would help us. Obviously I was wrong.”
She’d yet to open her eyes. I needed her to see I wasn’t going anywhere, but she wouldn’t fucking look at me.
“You weren’t wrong. We’ve just got to keep at it.”
“I don’t know if I want to.” Her words knocked me back. “I was doing okay. Hadn’t had any vivid thoughts about this in a long time. Now I can’t get it off my mind. I’d rather go back to managing.”
A thickness formed in my throat. She believed she was better off without me. Of all the things that could hurt me, nothing was worse than that.
“Hang with me, darlin’.” I cupped her cheek. “The thing about storms is they don’t last forever.”
“Mine won’t be over until I die.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Muriella
I slipped outof bed well before the sun came up. Yet another night had passed without sleep. Still shaken from the vividness of the flashback and its remnants, I crept down the hall toward Stone’s room.
His sleeping form was beautiful. I would mourn his absence when he wasn’t here anymore. My rejection of his offer to stay in my room had hurt him, and though I needed him, I couldn’t tolerate even his touch right now. Everything was still too raw.
I didn’t doubt he meant what he said about his feelings for me, but having a wife as troubled as I was would grow tiresome. Wife. When had I started thinking of myself in those terms? Probably somewhere around the time I’d let the idea of being a mother creep into my head.
Though he wasn’t very good at doing it himself, Daniel had taught me it was okay to rely on others sometimes. I really needed to remember that. I found my tablet, plugged my earbuds in to it, and closed myself in my study. The pictures of all our Christmases since Vivian had come into our lives lined my desk. They never failed to bring a smile to my face, even when I was at my worst.
I dialed Vivian without thinking of the time difference. Daniel’s face was the one that appeared. He held up a finger, and I saw Vivian’s sleeping form in the bed behind him.
“Is it late there?” I asked once he’d settled on the back deck of their home in New Zealand. It was light, though I couldn’t tell if it was nearer to dusk or dawn.
“She’s just tired.” He smirked, apparently satisfied with wearing out his new wife.
“I don’t want to hear about why.” I covered one ear with my hand.
“I’m not the one who’s so open about those things,” he reminded me.
“Fair enough.”
“It’s barely five there.”
I shifted in my chair. I’d wanted Vivian, though I hadn’t really planned on what I would say.
“Want me to wake her?” he offered.
I shook my head. “I told Stone about…”
Daniel’s face tightened when I trailed off. “Did he leave you?”
I blinked at him. “No. Why would you think that?”
“I seem to automatically assume the worst.” He rubbed his temples. “It was completely unfair of me. Stone’s a decent man.”
I slumped down. “Which is going to be a problem.”
“How so?”
“Are you sure you want to talk about this? Now’s about the time you usually find a way to change the subject or leave the room.”
He paled and looked away. Immediately I regretted pointing it out, even if it was the truth.
