line in Niall’s loopy scrawl. The date of it—twenty-four hours before Niall told Carrie about the bribe. Two days before she tracked him down and confronted Dylan, nursing the worst hangover of his life. Three days before Dylan packed up his meager belongings and left behind Magnolia and the girl who’d captured his heart.
For good he’d thought at the time.
“I didn’t lie. I took the check.”
“Dylan.” The way she said his name, like an exasperated teacher trying to rein in a recalcitrant student made his lips quirk. He continued to be shocked at how much he liked her displays of inner resolve. He’d always known she had that strength inside her. “You never cashed it.”
“I planned to,” he lied and the way her eyes narrowed told him he wasn’t fooling her for a minute. “I would have if I’d ever needed the money.”
“You needed the money.”
Yeah. He had. He’d made it to Boston and his uncle’s doorstep with literally pennies to his name. “It wasn’t about the money,” he said honestly.
“No,” she agreed. “It was about finding a way to break it off with me.”
“Because you deserved better.”
“Enough with that tired line.” She ripped the check in half and then ripped it again and again and tossed the tiny scraps of paper toward him. “Do you think this makes it better? You let me believe for all these years that you’d been bribed by my father. At least I could take solace in knowing the money he gave you would have set you up in a new life.”
Dylan muttered a curse. “I can’t believe you made that statement. I allowed myself to be bought off by your dirtbag father and you rationalize things by telling yourself that I needed the money?”
Her eyes blazed. “It’s an easier pill to swallow than knowing you were so hell-bent on getting away from me that the check was just a lousy excuse.”
He shook his head, wishing he could shake her until she understood what it had done to him to walk away from her. She’d been the only good thing in his life, and he’d crushed his own heart in order to save her from him.
“I would have let you go. If you didn’t love me, I wouldn’t have wanted to hold on to you.” Her voice cracked and she drew in a shuddery breath. “You didn’t have to lie.”
“I loved you more than anyone or anything I’d ever known.” He stepped closer to her, studied the freckles sprinkled across the bridge of her nose. So many aspects of both of them—who they were and who they’d become—had changed in the intervening years. Somehow, the small physical reminder of the girl she’d been gave him a huge measure of comfort.
“You shouldn’t have left me that way,” she said, her tone firm.
“You’re right.”
She sucked in a breath as if his agreement defused her anger in a way that surprised her. He wished he could explain it or promise her that he wouldn’t hurt her again.
If he believed that about himself, he’d take her in his arms right now and never let her go.
Instead, he forced himself to look away from her. Her paintings surrounded them—the passion she’d put into each one evident. What if he ruined things again? What if he found a way to hurt them both?
“This is who you are,” he told her. “An artist. You deserve to explore your gifts, to figure out what you want from your life away from your father’s shadow.”
“Possibly away from Magnolia.” She gave voice to the truth he didn’t want to hear.
“Yes.” He traced one finger along the curve of her cheek. “I know you had dreams that didn’t involve this town, Carrie. I remember everything, each little detail you shared. You wanted to travel. To go to Europe and see the Eiffel Tower, to walk along the Seine and spend the afternoon at a small café.”
Her eyes drifted closed as she pressed into him. “It seems ridiculous now that I stayed. I was such a coward.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why not? It’s true. My mom left. You left. I can tell myself and everyone else that I stayed because Dad needed me, but I needed him just as much. I wanted an excuse not to face the world and risk failing.” She swallowed, looked away. “To risk knowing whether my father was right about my lack of talent.”
“You’re talented.” Unable to help himself, Dylan reached for her, pulled her close.
For a weighted breath she remained stiff in