Page 9 of One Night Diamond

“I don’t have a man.” I kick her under the table.

“Uh-huh. We’ll see about that.” Emily jumps out of her seat. “Husband!”

“Wifey!” Jake picks her off her feet and swings her around. “I missed you.”

“I missed you more.” She peppers his face with kisses.

Gage sits down across from me with liquid hate swimming in his eyes. “Nothing worse than a couple of lovesick newlyweds.” He mutters.

I stuff my hands under the table so he won’t see how badly they’re shaking. “Gage, should we talk?”

“Yes, we should.”

“Okay…”

He cuts his hand through the air to silence me. “But we won’t talk right now. I can’t have a conversation with you. Everything’s too raw. Too painful. So, I’ll do the talking. And you’re going to do the listening.”

I roll my lips in and nod. I owe him this.

“What you did is cruel, and the truth is, I know you probably have an explanation of some kind for it, but I don’t give a damn what it is. Lilah is innocent in this mess that you’ve created. She deserves two people…two parents…that will put her first no matter what. So, I will be as nice as pie when she’s around. I will not say an unkind word to or about you, and I expect the same courtesy in return. But I want you to hear me clearly, Darla…this does not mean I forgive you. I have no doubt you’ve been a loving mother. But…,” he takes a deep breath, “you kept my child from me. You robbed me of the right to be there for my child, to be a good father. I never got to hold her when she was a baby—never tucked her in at night. Never sang her a lullaby,” he gulps. “I never got to feed her, bathe her, hear her say her first word, or take her first step. You stole all of that from me…”

Tears run down my cheeks as his words hit home.

He’s right.

I took it all from him. And I took it from Lilah, too.

My heart flies into my throat. “I’m so sorry…”

He leans in close, gnashing his teeth together. “Don’t. The honest-to-God truth is I don’t know who I’m angrier with. Me? Or you? I thought I knew who you were, Darla Gray. Turns out I’ve been in love with a delusion for ten years.”

Been in love…what? No, no, no.

“I need to take a walk.” Gage gets to his feet. “But I will be back. I can’t look at you right now.”

My stomach lurches, and panic washes over me as the weight of the worst decision of my life crushes me. All this time, I have heralded myself as being benevolent and altruistic when the absolute truth is I am none of those things.

I am a thief.

I stole from Gage.

I stole from Lilah.

“I will make this right,” I whisper at his back. “I promise. I will make this right.”

Chapter Six - Gage

I stand to the side, watching Lilah chew her bottom lip with determination as she does her best to mirror the hula instructor.

“Put your feet slightly apart like this, bend your knees, and place your hands on your hips. Excellent. Now step 1, 2, 3, 4 to the left. Good. Now 1, 2, 3, 4 to the right. Feel the ocean roll through your hips as you sway. Perfect.” The instructor claps. “You’re doing the hula.”

Lilah looks up at me, smiling from ear to ear. “I’m doing it.”

“Indeed, you are.” It’s the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen. Her round eyes crinkle at the corners, and my heart skips a beat. My mother smiled the same way.

“Come on, try it with me.” Lilah reaches for my hand.

I have zero interest in doing the hula. But as Lilah’s tiny palm slides along mine and she looks up at me with shiny blue eyes full of wonder and hope, I melt. “I’m not a very good dancer.”

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