the same job, when there was nothing holding him back any longer?
The thoughts spun in his head. “I don’t know,” he finally said. “Each time I saw Avery, I freaked out a bit. In some ways, I thought she was too good to be true, and then I worried if I fell hard for her, that I’d get hurt. Like Dad.”
“How so?” she asked.
Knowing he was in tricky territory, he tried to navigate his answer in a way she could understand. “Do you remember what you said about Dad at your wedding? That you worried his heart had given out because he didn’t want to live without Mom? What if you were right? What if he just gave up on his body and left his children because he was too weak to be alone?”
His sister shuddered out a breath, then took a while to answer. She looked deep in thought. “I always suspected that was the case,” she finally said. “It was too soon after Mom’s death to be a coincidence. I actually read plenty of articles on soul mates who let their body stop working because they couldn’t bear a world without their spouse. But, Carter, you can’t compare yourself to Dad. You’re the strongest person I know. We were orphans too young, and you had to grow up so fast. You could have chosen not to do it. You could have walked away and put me in foster care. Do you understand that you chose love over selfishness?”
He shook his head, trying to figure it out. “It wasn’t a choice. I’d never leave you behind, Ally-Cat. I love you too much.”
“Exactly. Love makes you strong, Carter, not weak. Maybe Dad gave up, maybe it was coincidence—we’ll never know. But if he did choose to give up, I know in my heart and soul you’d never do that.” She touched her finger to the screen. “Love is the ultimate freedom. It pushes you to be the best, challenges your worst, and tests your strength. It gives the most reward because you risk the most. It’s not exotic adventures and distant lands that you’ve been missing. It’s love.”
A shiver shot down his spine. He nodded, his throat tight.
“Do you love Avery?”
The question slammed through him. His sister stared at him with a piercing gaze, still touching the screen. He grabbed for excuses and his normal rationalizations, but a faint whisper rose up inside him that made him still.
Yes.
He’d known it all along. He just hadn’t wanted to deal with the consequences. But his sister’s words had given him a freedom he’d never had before—the realization that his constant comparisons to his father had been a way to protect himself. All this time, he’d been a coward.
His tat seemed to throb and burn on his skin as a reminder of the boy he’d once been, and the man he’d chosen to grow into. Ally was no longer his responsibility. It was time for him to make a life for himself free from the past.
He just hoped he could do it.
“Yes,” he said. “I love her.”
Ally nodded. “Good. I can only imagine the horrific things you said to her, so you probably have a long way to dig yourself out of the doghouse.”
He winced. “Yeah, it was bad.”
“She’ll give you another chance, but it may take a while. You know what you need to do to get her back, right?”
“Quit my job and move to Cape May?”
She grinned. “It’s a start. But if you want your own happily ever after, you have to go all in, Carter. Do you understand?”
He nodded, throat choked with emotion. “Yeah.”
“Good. Now get to work. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Ally-Cat. Thanks.”
The screen went dark.
His sister was right. He couldn’t fix this overnight, but he could damn well begin the process. Avery deserved more than the man he’d shown her. It was time to show her he had the balls to leap.
He opened up his internet search and began typing.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Avery walked into Sunshine Bridal in a bad mood.
Gabe had called in, citing an emergency, sticking her with a vendor appointment amid all her regular meetings. Bella had disappeared and wasn’t answering her phone for backup, and Taylor had texted that she was in AC for her sacred day off and wished her luck. And to top everything off, Jessie, their receptionist, had called in sick, so she now had to spend the next hour going through messages to make sure they didn’t miss anything important.
She hated today.
Muttering