AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I glanced at the painting once more. The little girl’s golden hair and dark eyes invoked Lucy just enough for it to feel like a mirror to life.
“I feel foolish saying I was hoping it wouldn’t be that tough.”
“Oh, Wesley…you shouldn’t feel foolish for that.” I could’ve benefited from my own advice. I held myself accountable for every hope I’d ever had in my life. From the success of the daycare to my unclear relationship with Wesley. But hearing him judge himself for it hurt my heart.
He shook his head. “I just knew better than to let her in like that. And then Lucy was so hurt, I…”
“Youdidn’t hurt Lucy. And Lucy isn’t thinking that. Lisbeth hurt her. Not you.”
Wesley paused, taking in the painting once more, before speaking. “Cara, I know you’re very young.”
My chest tightened. Was he about to school me on the ways of the world I wasn’t yet privy to? Be condescending to me? Make me feel like an immature girl? I wasn’t sure I could handle that.
“So this might sound…scary.” Wesley breathed in deeply and then turned to me so our bodies were facing one another. He grabbed my hands, as if we were standing before an altar. “I think that Lucy deserves a woman like you in her life. I never thought I’d find someone who I could see fitting into her life that wasn’t her real mother. Never that I ever expected Lisbeth to actually step up or change her mind or…”
Wesley went silent, emotion overcoming his ability to speak.
I touched his cheek. He lifted his eyes to mine, big and brown. And for the first time, fearful. “Don’t hide from me anymore, Wesley.”
His eyes searched my face in a panic. “I know I’ve broken your trust once before. But if you’d give me another chance, so that I can give Lucy a chance, too. That’d mean the world to me.”
I ghosted my thumb over his cheekbone. “I’d like nothing more.”
A look of relief washed over his face. “Really?”
“Really.”
Wesley brought his lips close to mine with the intent to kiss me but stopped just short. “You’ve taken me by surprise, Cara.”
“Trust me, no one is more surprised than me that the stranger who saved me from an oncoming car turned out to be…”A man I’d fall in love with.
“Turn out to be what?”
He’d already been so vulnerable. It simply wasn’t the moment to tell him. We’d have to work up to it again. But I still felt it through my entire body.I love you.“That you’d turn out to be so wonderful.”
Wesley’s lips settled into a smile before he kissed me.
And as his lips teased mine, I thought what I wanted to say over and over.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
Chapter24
Wesley
After our first date, Cara and I were even closer than we’d been before.
We didn’t sleep together that night. I was determined to be respectful and make her truly understand I wanted her for more than just her body.
It was hard. No pun intended. But I managed.
I didn’t manage the same restraint the next time I saw her. Or the time after that. Between long workdays and time with Lucy, Cara and I squeezed in as much time together as possible. Except this time, she was not my secret that I saved only for my bed. I took her on dates and showed her off to the world that she was mine. The only person still left in the dark was Lucy.
This was Cara’s idea. It was clear she was still unsure about trusting me. I didn’t blame her. I was the one who’d turned the tables so suddenly, pulling away after drawing her so close.
“I just don’t want her to get hurt. I’m a grown woman, I can handle it. But Lucy doesn’t deserve any more of that.”
She was right, again astonishing me with a maturity beyond her twenty-four years.
