Page 86 of His Bittersweet Regret

“I’ll take you home, Opal. I’m the one who brought you here. I’m sorry it turned into another family disaster. That was the furthest from my intention. I wanted to prove to you that Mom was better and that my brothers were here to support you too.” He shook his head defeatedly.

“Marsh,” I sighed, because I honestly didn’t know where to begin or what to say. “I’m sorry, it was just a bad night.”

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “Let’s go,” he said as he attempted to pull me toward his truck. I allowed it because he would feel responsible for getting me home.

When we were on our way, he tapped my thigh to get my attention. “I had to leave so that my sobbing wouldn’t take away from your performance, but I made Ryker record every bit of it for me.”

“I’m sorry, but you put me on the spot, and it was the only song that came to mind when I was up there.”

“Don’t apologize for the song. It’s a piece of your heart now, and while I hate that something sad stains you inside that way, it’s because of what I did. Besides, you heard my dad. You’ve coped with far worse from me by putting your heartbreak into music, poetry, and lyrics. You threw yourself into planning for our son. You didn’t drown in your sorrow, the bottom of a bottle, nor did you give up on life. You pushed forward in a healthy way and dealt with your emotions, Opal. I couldn’t ask for more than that.”

“I’m sorry about your parents. Your mom has been awful to me these past few months, but she was wonderful to me for years. I don’t wish her any ill will, Marsh. I need you to understand that. She’s going through a tough time and needs help. Keeping Austin from her when there’s no one to supervise, isn’t about punishing her. It’s about keeping him safe.”

“I know that. We all thought she was doing better, but tonight proved that once again, you were right and the rest of us missed the important things that she wasn’t doing. Mom’s been faking it, and that’s not healthy in this situation.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I want to ask you something, and I hope you’ll think about it before saying ‘no’ immediately.” I sat quietly waiting for his question. “I would like for you to spend the night. No funny business, I swear. I just would like to have you close after your song and my family’s issues. If you want to sleep in the guest room, that’s fine. I want you to be comfortable, but also close.” He glanced my way quickly, to assess my reaction, before putting his eyes back on the road. “I don’t think I can handle dropping you off and going home alone.”

“Okay.” The truth was, I didn’t want to be far from my son for the night either, and it was technically Marsh’s weekend to have him. Not that I didn’t also want the chance to talk to Marsh when he wasn’t driving, but being alone after the night I just had wouldn’t feel too great.

32

Opal

When we pulled up, Marsh hissed at the site of the other car in the driveway. At first, I panicked, thinking it might be another woman. Then, he turned his attention to me and explained his outburst.

“Mrs. Gliden arranged to stay in the spare room overnight, because I wasn’t sure how late we would be out, and she doesn’t like to drive late at night.”

My erratic heartbeat settled just a little. “You scared me,” I admitted.

“Scared you?” He asked.

“I thought maybe there was someone here you didn’t want me to see,” I told him, figuring the honest approach would be best.

“I would never do that to you, Opal. I know that I blew your faith in me out of the water with the shit I pulled, and I don’t blame you for thinking that. It’s going to take time to earn that trust back. That said, I promise you right here and now that there will never be another woman here who is not related to me or here on business to take care of our son. You will also always know who that is, ahead of time, because we’ll choose that person together.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“Now, let’s go check on Austin and figure out arrangements for the night.”

My stomach did a little flip-flop, like that fluttery feeling when you crest the top of a hill on a roller coaster and suddenly the bottom drops out from underneath you.

After checking on Austin, who was sound asleep, we went back to the living room to settle on the couch before Marsh realized I was still wearing a dress and heels. He took my hand and escorted me to his bedroom.

“On second thought, we’re going to get you comfortable before we settle in for the night.” He grinned back at me over his shoulder. “While you are stunning in that dress, I can’t imagine it’s comfortable to lounge around in.”

Marsh dug through his dresser and pulled out an old t-shirt that I used to love to wear to bed and a pair of his boxers. He shrugged his shoulders. “Best I can do on short notice,” he suggested.

“It’s fine.” I took the offered clothing and moved into his ensuite bathroom to change and wash the makeup off my face. Once I was done, I came back out to an empty bedroom, but it was clear that Marsh had changed into something more comfortable too, since the clothes he’d been wearing were draped across the chair on the opposite side of the room. I chuckled as memories assaulted me of our first time living together.

“You can’t just leave your dirty laundry lying wherever you take it off,” I chastised.

“Sure, I can because this is our place and neither of us has a mom living here, who is going to come check to make sure our bedroom isn’t messy.”

“Maybe not, but I don’t want to be the one tripping over your clothes either. Your mom had a point about keeping your room clean.”

Marsh rolled his eyes at me, but immediately moved to pick his clothes up off the floor. Unfortunately, he didn’t bother to go find the hamper to put them in, and instead draped them over the small, second-hand chair we’d picked up from a yard sale. The damn thing hadn’t really matched well in the living room, so we hid it in the bedroom instead. I supposed the clothes on the ugly chair was better than being underfoot. It was our first compromise.

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