it was time to go introduce my wife to her dad’s old friends and hope that it isn’t too much after the morning she’d had.
GISELLE
I’m so hyped up I can barely sit still. I know had Rebecca not been here, I wouldn’t have been able to do half the things I’ve done in the last coupled of hours… “Wait, I just remembered. Did I hear your right? Did you say that we’re still married? How can that be? I signed the papers and left them.” Just saying the words brought back the pain of that day, and when Calen pulled me in so he could kiss my forehead, I almost broke into tears.
Rebecca had gone back to her own car and was headed back home while Calen and I were going to what was once my childhood home. “I never signed them.” I pulled back to read his expression, but my mind was too hazy, and my eyes too cloudy to see. Those words carried such meaning that I couldn’t find my own voice. Knowing the kind of man, he is I can only imagine his reasons for not signing.
“Why?” My voice came out in a hoarse whisper.
“Because I told you when I asked you to be my wife that it was forever. Have you ever known me to lie?” I ugly cried and buried my face in his chest, begging his forgiveness over and over. Why couldn’t I have been as brave two years ago as I was today? Why did I let my stupid fear rob me, rob us of our life together?
And now, knowing all that the monster had done, I feel even more upset with myself for letting her win. I said as much to Calen, who stopped me from my self-flagellation. “She didn’t win anything; she just postponed the inevitable. We still have the rest of our lives together while those two have nothing but misery and heartache ahead.”
“What’s going to happen to them now?”
“Nothing for you to worry about.”
“She’s right, you know, something like this might be bad for your business. It’s one of the reasons she was able to convince me to walk away.”
“That was stupid. For future reference, nothing and no one will ever mean more to me than you and my children. So the next time some idiot tries pulling a fast one over on you, try to remember that. You’re worth more to me than my name or my business, understood.”
Just hearing those words was like balm to my soul. “Does this mean that you forgive me?”
“I’m working on it. You did a real number on me, and after learning everything I now know about your mom and Dana, I guess I can understand a little why you did what you did, but it’s going to take some time for me to come to terms with all of it.”
“I still think you should’ve come to me, and I don’t exactly understand why you didn’t, why you didn’t trust me.”
“It’s not that; I promise it’s not.” I lifted my head from where he was holding it against his shoulder to look into his eyes, hoping that he could see the truth in mine. “I thought I was protecting you.”
“I couldn’t remember all of what she’d done, but I was sure that there was something there to fear, and as it turns out, I was right. She would’ve hurt you had I not left and not just the company, but you physically, she said as much.”
I felt brave enough to cup his cheek without fear of being rebuffed, rejected. And when he kissed my palm, my heart just melted, and for the first time since I came back, I truly felt like things were going to be okay between us. It was almost too much to take in at once, and I broke down in tears.
“Hey, what is it? Are you okay?” That knee jerk reaction, the way he was always there looking out for me, not wanting anything to touch me in any way if he could prevent it is one of the things I missed most about us. I’m still finding it hard to believe that we’re here like this now, even with all the trauma of the morning and reliving the horror of seeing my dad killed.
I tensed up at the memory, only now feeling the full effects of that long-ago horror. “You want to talk about it?” That’s something else I missed about him, the way he always