Page 90 of Only Ever You

I nod slowly. “She said she had some Christmas shopping to do.”

“Yeah, she did. She had a couple of gifts she wanted to get you, and afterward we went to a cafe for lunch. Your mother turned up, uninvited, and sat at our table.”

My stomach sinks.

“She said she’d heard you and Pippa were serious, and she tried to stick her nose into your business. Pippa told her where to go.”

Shit.

I wince.

“What’s funny is Elise didn’t even look at me. She turned your whole world upside down and barely acknowledged my presence. And it seemed to me like she had a new man, or rather boy, to run around after her.” He huffs out a breath. “I don’t know how there were photos—maybe he took them—but we didn’t ask her to join us.”

He raises his right hand and stabs me in the chest with his index finger.

“You broke her, Deacon. She’s been a mess ever since you left. You must know she quit her job and moved into Mum and Dad’s beach house.”

I shake my head. “I knew she’d quit.”

“I’m not sure she’ll ever be the same again. She won’t talk about it other than asking if she wasn’t good enough, and she’s not taking care of herself—not in the way she should be. Mum and Dad are so worried about her, but she won’t see a therapist.”

I did that.

My beautiful Pippa. My carefree, always smiling Pippa.

“I’m such an arsehole.” I let out a groan.

Lucas holds up his palms. “You’ll get no argument from me.”

“I was so angry.” I swallow, but there’s a lump in my throat and all I can taste is bile. “Oh, God, Lucas. What the hell did I do?”

“She was humiliated and heartbroken. And those Instagram photos?”

Fuck.

“She saw them all. I’m so worried about her.”

My head spins. I grip the arm of the couch, unable to meet Lucas’s gaze. I’m such a fool. I knew Mum was angry that Dad left and I chose to follow him. But I was old enough to make up my own mind and not want anything to do with her.

Why the hell did I fall so easily into her trap?

Pippa never gave me any reason to doubt her. I let my mother get in my head and broke my beautiful girl’s heart.

“I could have come in here and laid you out. God knows I’ve wanted to punch you repeatedly this past month. But Pippa’s far more important to me than risking an assault charge, and I needed you to know the full story.”

My whole body shudders. I swore I’d never hurt her, and that’s exactly what I did. For no reason. When I should have gone to talk to her—confronted her with what I had—I ran instead.

“How … how do I fix this?”

He shrugs. “I’m not sure you can. If you’re going to fuck with her again, you need to stay away and give her time to heal. You know she’s been in love with you since she was a kid, right?”

Numbness spreads up my neck, but I nod.

“Those damn photos. There’s not been anyone else. I just made it look like that because I wanted to hurt her the way I was hurting. What the hell is wrong with me?”

“The only person who can answer that is you.” He sets his jaw. “I’m going to talk to the police about your mother. Who knows if anything can be done, but if she did that to me then she’s capable of doing it to someone else. And her new man does look awfully young.”

My stomach rolls. “I had no idea.”

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