Page 70 of Trust Me With Forever

But when he cupped my cheek, I blinked. His voice was soft as he said, “I can tell from your face that you expected me to toss you aside and abandon you. But no, I’m not going anywhere, Abby. You’re my wife. And we’re going to face this together.”

“What? Why?”

His thumb stroked my cheek. “Did you really think I’d abandon you because of some bastard’s lies?”

Hurt flashed in his gaze, and my stomach dropped. “You’re honorable, Rafe, as well as kind and caring. I know you’re nothing like him, I do. But staying by my side will destroy your dream and ruin everything.”

“I wouldn’t be the first person to have my dream change.”

“What are you talking about?”

He shook his head. “We’ll get to that later. Right now, I need you to do something extremely difficult, Abby. I need you to trust me. Trust me to stay at your side and to help fight back. Trust me not to run away and abandon you. Can you do that?”

I nearly blurted no just to protect him. However, searching his gaze, all I saw was sincerity. Hewantedto help me.

But could I trust my judgment? After all, it’d gotten me into this mess in the first place.

And yet, I was so tired of it all. Tired of worrying about what Travis would say or do. Tired of giving up my dreams out of fear. Tired of protecting myself from possible pain and abandonment by hiding away and keeping new people at arm’s length.

Yes, my parents had died, but neither would’ve done so by choice. And my siblings had probably been so overwhelmed with grief that they hadn’t realized how their leaving would affect anyone else.

Plus, all the messages from the group chat proved they wanted to stand with me.

Travis’s shitstorm could hurt the winery, Emmy’s wedding business, West’s new cattle ranch, Amber’s bakery, Sabrina’s PR firm, or even Nolan’s acting career.

And yet, they still all offered to do whatever they could to squash my ex and help me fight his lies.

Lies they hadn’t even needed me to deny.

Because they knew me, trusted me. It was time for me to put my faith in others in return. Because if I couldn’t even believe in my friends and family a little, then I’d never be able to trust anyone.

And I wanted to trust. Not just them, but Rafe as well.

The question was whether I was strong enough to risk getting hurt again?

Yesrushed through my head. It was time to stop walling off my heart.

Tears threatened to fall again, but I cleared my throat and pushed down my emotions to reply, “I’m going to try and trust you. I can’t promise I won’t try to run again, or if things get worse, try to fight things on my own. I’ve been doing it a long time, Rafe. So long that I almost forgot what it was like not to handle this huge secret on my own. And yet, I’m so damn tired of it all.” I raised a hand and traced his jaw. “Just promise me you won’t resent me later if things get worse. This thing with Travis could affect the opening and reputation of your training facility, your image, the new start you’ve been working so hard on.”

He continued to stroke my cheek. “The training facility will survive, one way or the other. And if it struggles at first, I’ll make sure Mark and his wife don’t suffer because of my actions. Nor will any of the staff.” He raised his other hand to cup my cheek before laying his forehead against mine. “Let me help you, Abby. Please.”

As I stared into his dark brown eyes, seeing how much he yearned for me to say yes, I leaned forward and kissed him gently. “Yes, you can help me. Thank you, Rafe. For not thinking the worst of me.”

“You’re my wife, Abigail. I told you I’d protect you, and I meant it.”

The word “wife” kept repeating inside my head. What would it be like to truly be his wife, in more than name only?

Don’t hope for the stars. Take his friendship and deal with Travis. Then think about the future.

Wanting to lighten the mood a little, I said, “Too bad it’s so windy and cold. I would’ve loved to see you come up the hill shirtless, like this was some sort of movie.”

“Is that what you were doing up here? Imagining me shirtless?”

I smiled, loving how he knew I needed some lightness right now. Oh, shit would hit the fan and the world might come crashing down, eventually. But right here, right now, I wanted to be a little ridiculous before facing reality.

“Well, wouldn’t you like to know?”

In one quick motion, Rafe scooped me into his arms and held me close.

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