Page 42 of Coming Home

I wasn’t sure I could handle too much more in one day, but I didn’t tell her that.

She let us into her room and closed the door behind her. She motioned for me to sit on the bed and then went to her closet. A minute later she came out with a box and set it on the bed, then went back to retrieve another, and another.

“What’s this?” I asked.

Shelby looked a little uncomfortable and I could feel her anxiety rising through our bond.

“Open them,” she finally said.

I hesitated for a moment and then lifted the lid on the first box. Inside there were envelopes, hundreds of them. I pulled one out and saw it was addressed to me.

Shelby took a deep breath. “I never stopped writing to you, Ben. I just stopped sending them.”

I stared at the boxes in awe. “Every day?” I asked.

“Every single day until two months ago,” she confirmed. “Peyton knew about it and thought I was crazy for it, but I kept writing. I guess it became more like a journal after a while, but they’re all there.”

I picked one out at random and opened the letter.

Dear Ben,

Annabelle would be turning two today if she were still with us. I have no idea how I’ll ever face you again knowing I killed our daughter. . .

I sucked in a deep breath, unable to finish reading it. Of all the letters to pick, why did it have to be that one?

“You didn’t kill her, Shelby?” I said.

“What?” she asked, grabbing the letter from my hands. She sighed. “You had to pick that one first? Of all these letters?”

Shelby wiped another tear form her cheek and started laughing. I didn’t know why we were laughing, but I joined her.

I pulled her over to me and leaned down to kiss her. The mood changed instantly between us. Shelby sobered, gave me another quick kiss, and pulled back to stare into my eyes.

“You can’t possibly want me after everything I told you,” she said.

I didn’t understand how she could conceivably think that.

“Sport, there’s never been anyone else for me, ever. What happened was awful, and I hate that I wasn’t here to go through it all with you, but I love you all the more for it.”

“You love me?” she asked.

I scowled at her and brushed away a piece of hair sticking to her cheek.

“I’ve never stopped loving you, Shelby, and I never will.”

She started to sob again, but I pulled her back into my arms and kissed the tears away. This time I couldn’t restrain myself from stopping there. I broke away from her long enough to move the boxes off the bed.

Shelby was nervous, and if I was being honest, I was a little too as I fumbled to find the hem of her dress and pull it up over her head.

“I’m a little out of practice with this,” I told her.

She giggled. “Me too.”

As I discarded her bra, I stopped to admire the beautiful woman she’d transformed into.

“So perfect,” I said as I kissed her again.

As she reached for me, I instantly grew hard. Relief washed over me and boosted my confidence. With more sure hands I carefully removed the rest of her clothes and set about getting reacquainted with my mate.

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