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“She was ill. Had an emergency doctor’s appointment. And she didn’t blow off Mason. She made sure someone he knew and trusted and who loved him would pick him up. I’d say that made her more reliable than most during a medical emergency. She made sure our son was taken care of.”

“She didn’t tell me she was ill.” Lisa shifts her purse to her other shoulder.

“She was afraid you’d use it against her, against me. That you’d say she was too sick to help care for a child.”

Lisa shakes her head. “I feel awful, Lucas. I didn’t know any of this. I thought she was playing with your feelings and Mason was part of her manipulation. I didn’t realize how much she was there for him.”

I sigh. “Well, now you do.”

Not that it makes any difference. Riley’s gone. I lost her.

Again.

“Where is she, Lucas?” Lisa asks, bringing me back to the moment.

I shove my hands into the pockets on my suit pants. “She dropped out of the program and went home to Texas. She needed another surgery and decided annulling our marriage and going home was best so she didn’t cause any more trouble for me or for Mason.”

And I let her go.

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this before?”

“Some of it I just learned today. She, uh, sent a letter explaining her decision.” So typical of Riley. A handwritten letter.

My ex-wife closes her eyes for a moment and rubs her left temple. “Let me get this straight. She left you and the program because she cared so much about you and Mason that she didn’t want to get in the way of your relationship.”

I nod.

Lisa pauses, the muscles in her face softening. “Do you love her?”

I nod again, not trusting my voice to hold.

Lisa steps in and smacks me on the shoulder. Hard. “You idiot. Go get her.”

My eyes go wide. “What?”

“I said, go get her. You’ve been in love with that girl your whole damn life, from what I can tell, and now you’re telling me she loves you back? And that she’s willing to put her own happiness aside for the sake of our son? What on God’s green earth is wrong with you? Go get her.” Lisa pushes the door open and marches out into the parking lot, leaving me with my mouth open.

I follow more slowly, making my way to my truck. “What do I have to offer? Really? Just look at us, at this current mess.”

Lisa spins around, eyes narrowed. “First, don’t pin this on me solely. Remember, you divulged a lot about her over the years. About how she broke your heart, about how her family judged you and yours. I’m part of your family. We have a son together. Your parents were my in-laws and I adore them. What was I supposed to think, to feel? Not to mention you certainly need to work on your communication skills.”

No sense in arguing. Part of all this is on me. Well, most of it.

“And second,”—Lisa throws her hands up in the air dramatically—“you are so focused on the hurt from your past, from the circumstances of the way you grew up, you aren’t stepping back to see what you have to offer. That is for you to discover. I can ramble off a list, but it won’t make a difference if you don’t figure it out for yourself.”

Once again, Lisa has a fair point. It’s not like she hasn’t told me things over the years, only for me to question them. To question myself.

I shove my hands into my pockets and clear my throat. “Need a favor?”

She quirks a brow but remains silent. I rock back and forth on my heels. “Can you not mention anything to my parents? Haven’t exactly told them anything yet.”

Lisa crosses her arms in front of her chest. “I gathered, especially after they made a comment about how they’d hoped you’d find someone again.”

“What? When did they say that?”

Lisa’s arms drop to her sides. “When I told them that I was engaged. It was about time they knew, especially when they offered to come up during your last deployment and I turned down the offer. Didn’t want them to feel it was personal.”

“Oh.” I scratch the back of my head. “How’d they take it?”

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