Page 74 of Burden to Bear

I wanted to lean into it, to tell him the truth, but this moment was all wrong. And I didn’t know if I was reading too much into that look on his face.

But my chest squeezed at the sight of the agony in his expression, and I breathed, “Brock.”

His eyes shifted between the ring and my face several times before he begged, “Don’t do it.”

I blinked in surprise, feeling caught off guard by that response. “What?”

“Don’t accept his proposal. Don’t marry him.” The sound of his voice made my heart squeeze. He sounded like he was in pain, desperate to stop me from making what he believed would be a huge mistake.

“I don’t think that’s your call, man,” Todd chimed in, evidently very annoyed.

Brock’s eyes narrowed and cut to Todd’s. “No shit. Why the fuck do you think I’m talking to her, attempting to convince her?”

Disbelief moved through me, my lips parting slightly. As soft and tender as his voice had been when he was speaking to me, it was clear Brock had no patience or understanding for Todd.

“You need to go. Mia and I have some things we need to discuss,” Todd declared.

“Unless she asks me to leave, I’m not going anywhere,” Brock countered.

“This has nothing to do with you. Why are you even here?”

“I’m here because she asked me to be.”

Todd ignored Brock, squeezed my wrist to get my attention, and said, “Mia, I know I screwed up. I know I was wrong. But I need you to give me another chance. We need to do this. For each other, for our baby. We’re going to be a family.”

Why was this happening now? Why, when I’d finally gotten used to the idea of Todd not being involved at all, had he decided to make the effort? This wasn’t how I wanted things to go down between us. And I certainly didn’t want to embarrass the father of my child. Sadly, I couldn’t tell him what he wanted to hear for the sake of his feelings. I needed to do what was right for me and this baby.

But I’d spent far too much time thinking about all of this, that before I could respond and say what I needed to say, Todd grew impatient. “Let’s just sit and talk about this. Give me the chance to prove to you how important this is to me.”

I swallowed hard, my emotions feeling like they were all over the place.

Just as I was about to do my best to let Todd down gently, Brock said, “He doesn’t deserve you, Mia. He just doesn’t. Maybe it’s not my place to say, maybe I’m wrong for what I’m about to do, but I can’t risk losing you simply because I didn’t tell you the truth. If you want to know what I intended to talk to you about tonight, this is it. It’s me being in love with you. Me wanting to do whatever it takes to give you the world, to make you see just how amazing you are. You make me laugh. You’re always on my mind. And whenever I’m not with you, I’m counting down the hours until I get to see you again. Over these last several months, I’ve fallen in love with you. And now, when it matters the most, I can’t walk out of here without at least making sure you know the truth. You’re the woman of my dreams.”

Brock was in love with me.

He was in love with me.

Months. He’d been feeling this way for months and held himself back, just like I had.

I stared into his eyes for a long time, and at the intensity in his gaze, a shiver ran along my spine.

Suddenly, the desire I’d had to sit on my deck and eat ice cream had vanished. There was so much to say to Brock, so much to do with him. But with Todd still standing here, I couldn’t do any of it. I didn’t want to do any of it until we were alone.

So, I returned my focus to Todd, gently pulled my hands out of his, and held the ring box out to him.

He shook his head. “No, Mia. I’m not taking that back. It’s yours. We need to work this out.”

“Susie was right,” I told him. “Months ago, the day I told her about this baby and your reaction to the pregnancy news, she told me she hoped she’d be able to talk some sense into you before it was too late. While it’s not too late for you to be involved in this baby’s life, it’s too late for you and me. I don’t love you anymore, Todd. Not like that. You weren’t here. You left me. And not only did you leave the way you did, but you came back that day I met with your sister and told me you were never coming back. Did you think I’d sit around pining for you? Did you?—”

“Mia, please,” he begged.

“It’s over,” I said softly, reaching for his hand and placing the ring box in it. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what prompted you to wake up and come to this decision. I don’t know how you went from telling me you never wanted a baby to suddenly wanting to be married, so we could raise this baby together. I hope your intentions are genuine and that you want to be part of your child’s life. I think that’s important. But we’re over. I’ve moved on, and I’m the happiest I’ve been in a very long time. I need you to leave.”

“You’re making a mistake,” Todd warned me.

“I don’t think I am. But if that is what this is, then it’ll be my mistake to make, just like you made yours.”

Todd let out a frustrated sigh. “This is it, Mia. If you let me walk out the door, there’s no chance for us again.”

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