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Dani notices. “I want to tell you something that’s none of my business.”
“Go ahead. I could use some honesty right about now.”
“As long as I’ve known you, Tess, you were never as happy as you were with him. And I’ve never seen you as miserable as you’ve been without him the last two months. As for Micah, he’s a brother to me and I know he battles his demons. But while he was with you he was different. He was happy too. You’re good for each other.”
Dorothy Ann Gallagher Silvestro.There’s always been an uncommon decency about her. Dani grasps the enigmas of the human heart better than anyone I’ve ever known.
That’s why I don’t hesitate to whisper a secret. “Dani, I love him so much it hurts.”
“Tell him.” She kisses my cheek.
Yes, I should have told him already. Life looks colorless without Micah.
Dani is trying to make me understand something I’m only just learning.
Don’t be afraid of love. Don’t bury it. Ignore it. Hide it. Run from it.
Be proud that you know how to love at all.
I am proud. And I’m going after what I want.
Chapter22
Tess
Micah sees me heading in his direction and he straightens his spine. He remains on the edge of the chair, a black funeral tie hanging loose around his collar, his shirt unbuttoned at the throat and rolled up to his elbows, enough to show the ink covering his skin.
My wild boy.
He watches, unmoving, allowing me to come to him.
This may not be the proper time for this.
So what?
I’m following my instincts anyway. The same instincts that led me to reach for him in the first place.
Micah is capable of the most fixed stare I’ve ever seen. I’m not even sure he blinks as he watches me cross the trimmed grass. I keep my eyes on him, away from the side yard oleanders where my stepmother inflicted her final act of revenge.
But Olivia can’t haunt us if we don’t let her.
He’s still seated when I stop only two feet away from him. He stares up at me, stock still, those blue eyes unwavering.
“Micah.” For so many years his name was uttered with exasperation and a sneer. Now it kickstarts my heart. No one else will ever be able to compare to him.
He waits.
A soft breeze tickles my skin, somewhere between warm and cool. Not at all unpleasant.
A gentle ghost.
There are eyes on us. I’m aware that my father’s eyes are among them, that he’s judging, angry. That won’t stop me, not ever again.
I tuck my hair behind my ears, determined not to let this moment go by. “There’s something I have to say to you. I could say it in private but I don’t really care who hears. Maybe I even want everyone to hear.”
Micah remains stoic. Unmoving.
I’m about to bare my soul. It’s possible that I’ll be refused, which would be crushing. This should be a moment of extreme anxiety, yet I’ve never felt more sure of myself.
