Page 73 of Married to the Frenemy

“I wrote to him every day. Even recruited one of my nurses to mail my letter without my parents finding out.”

“And?”

“He never wrote back. Once I was able to walk without assistance, I tried to visit him. He refused to see me every time.”

“It must have been hard on him,” Parker says in his defense.

This is one of the reasons I adore her so much. While she will always have my back, she also has no problem looking at all sides of an issue and calling a spade a spade when necessary.

“That’s what I kept telling myself. That maybe he just needed to get through his sentence and then everything would be okay. The letters were never returned to me. If he didn’t want them, he could have refused delivery. Throughout the next year, that’s what gave me hope, as well as the courage to finally stand up to my parents. I started applying for jobs that would give me the freedom I never thought possible. Luckily, I got hired by the airline.”

“It wasn’t luck. It was the universe giving you what you needed most.”

I playfully roll my eyes, but I can’t deny she might have a point.

“When I told my parents, they were pissed, threatened to cut me off financially if I followed through. I didn’t want their money anymore. Not when I knew the true price of their supposed love. The day before I was scheduled to leave for training was the day Beckham was released from prison.”

“Did you go see him?”

I nod slowly.

“And?”

“He didn’t even look at me, Parker,” I squeak out through the tightness in my throat, tears welling in my eyes. “Up until that moment, I managed to hold on to my hope. But that day, when he walked outside those prison gates and continued past me as if I didn’t even exist…it hurt. And then when I moved back here after having Maggie and he could barely look at me…” I shake my head. “I think a part of me will always worry he’ll remember everything he lost because of me and start to hate me all over again.”

“Have you ever asked him about it?”

I shrug. “Not yet. I mean, he did apologize last night. Not for this specifically, but for everything. For the way he treated me.”

“If you ask me, that’s a step in the right direction. You’ve both been through a lot. I actually think you’re being smart about whatever this is.” She waves her hand around.

“You do?”

“You’re both coming into this with a fuck ton of baggage. And guilt. If you jumped into something and went full steam ahead, you’d probably crash and burn. Taking it one day at a time is probably the best thing for you. Just promise me something.”

“What’s that?”

“That you don’t let this guilt you’ve been carrying for too long ruin what could be the best thing to ever happen to you. To both of you. I’ve seen the way you look at him. The way he looks at you. Despite what you may want to believe, this is the real deal. Don’t let it slip away because you don’t think you deserve to be happy. If there are any two people who do deserve to be happy, it’s the two of you. So just…trust the process.”

“I’ll do my best,” I assure her.

“That’s all any of us can do,” she retorts as a chiming cuts through.

Parker snaps her attention to her phone, her expression dropping. “Shit. I need to get back to the inn.”

“Go do what you need to do,” I reply, grateful for the interruption.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to feel like I’m abandoning you after you drop this huge bombshell. If you want me to stay and flesh this out more, I can. Or if you simply want to gush about your sexy times.”

“I’m fine.” I assure her, gesturing to my blank sketchpad. “I need to work on a concept for my latest cake request anyway.”

“Okay,” she draws out. “If you’re sure.”

“I am. Thanks for listening. And not judging.”

“My mama always said that when you judge others, what you’re really doing is judging yourself.” She pauses, allowing her words to sink in before brightening her expression. “Drinks soon?”

“Definitely.”

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