Page 70 of Second Chance Husband

Paisley frowned, before her eyes widened. “The company that tried to buy me out. And then ended up stopping halfway. When another company came toward me. What does that have to do with it?”

“He was going to undercut you. Stop the business deals. Your mother and him had a scheme. You know your mom.”

“A scheme,” she whispered.

“They were going to take the business out from under you, deem you unfit, and sell it to the highest bidder. And if that didn’t work, your mother had plans to undercut you at every contract that you had. She had been working for months. Because you wouldn’t listen to her. Because you wouldn’t leave me. And I couldn’t let you lose your dream. So I walked away. So you could thrive.”

I should have expected a punch, a slap, but I hadn’t expected the full push. She shoved at my shoulders, and I slid down, only reaching out and taking her with me when I hadn’t meant to. We both hit the ground, me taking the brunt of it, as she shouted.

“Are you kidding me, August Cassidy?”

“Stop full naming me,” I snapped, as I tried to get up, both of us continuing to slide in the increasing snow around us.

“We need to get inside. We’re going to catch hypothermia.”

“Well, you deserve it. How could you think that any of that mattered to me?”

I stood up, barely keeping myself steady enough not to fall again, and then I was holding her tightly to me.

The wind was roaring, and I knew the blizzard was going to hit soon, but I just held her close.

“She was going to destroy your company.”

“That I would’ve rebuilt. I would’ve found another way. Or you could have talked to me, so I was prepared. But you did nothing.”

“Because I was afraid. Because you were so amazing and talented, and I was so stupid. And then my parents came to town, and they were drunk, and they were fighting and they were reminding me exactly why marriage never worked.” I shook my head, and she just stared at me, tears streaming down her face.

“And I was wrong. I was so fucking wrong.”

“You were. You are. You were selfish and you took our choices away from us. And then you tried to do it again. Did my mother help you this time?”

I shook my head as I pulled her toward the cabin, the snow coming down quickly. It was already accumulating, and I had a feeling that I would be using the generator sooner rather than later.

“We need to get inside. It’s not safe.”

“Fine. Only because I don’t want to freeze out here when I’m still angry.”

I held back a chuckle as we walked inside and shook off the snow. The power flickered once, then twice, and then it was just the fire in the fireplace keeping us lit.

The sun was still behind clouds, so it wasn’t pitch black, but it was going to be soon.

“I need to work on the generator, and a few other things. To keep us safe overnight.”

“I’ll help. But first, were you ever going to talk to me again?”

I stared at her as the light from the fire flickered over her face, and we were silent for so long, that every emotion that she felt hit me hard.

Fear, agony, resignation, and acceptance.

Hell. I was such a damn idiot.

“I love you, Paisley.”

Her eyes widened. “What?”

“I love you. I was up here trying to figure out how I was going to be a hermit so I would never have to see you again because it was too damn hard. Because I was such a coward for walking away all those years ago and again. If you want me to get down on my knees in the dirt and the snow and grovel, I will. But I should have fought for you. I just thought I was keeping you safe. And I realize now I was so wrong.”

“Just like that. You want me to forgive you just like that.”

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