Page 150 of He Loves Me Knot

She planned on selling, with orwithoutMum’s blessing? Hell, she might even be planning on letting someone else buy her out and deal with the messiness of co-ownership.

That bitch.

And maybe it was too strong of a feeling, but the fact was, his mum wasn’t a young woman anymore. If Sophia insisted on selling, Mum would be out of a job, a business, and a home.Her home.

“But . . . you’ve always been loyal to her.” The idea that Sophia could turn around and do something like this to his mother, even after Mum had picked her over her own son, after working together for years, aftereverythingmade him so furious that he could hardly see straight.

Mum gave Callum a helpless look. “I never should have made her feel like she was more important to me than you. And now I’ve earned my punishment, yes? For everything. For leaving your father, for not breaking my promise to Carmen.” She bowed her head. Tears shook her shoulders. “I’m sorry, Callum. I’m so sorry. I love you, I always have. I was selfish, though. I chose what was easy, even if it did not make me happy. I didn’t want to loseLa Hacienda,and I thought you would come around. I knew it would make me miserable in the long run. I knew I would end up alone and empty.”

Quiet sobs shook her shoulders.

She looks frail.

Broken.

So human.

She’s so...lonely, especially having lost Carmen—now that I fully understand what she meant to her.Carmen had been dead for eleven years now. Mum had been alone ever since.

And Sophia was ready to toss her to the side—for money. Seemed that Sophia had deceived both him and his mum. Had she ever been someone they should have trusted? Even though he felt closer to Liddy and saw her as special, he wondered if he’d ever be able to fully let go of the doubt—that fear to trust—that still plagued him.

But I want to try.

Callum tugged at the wet hair on the top of his head.

Fuck.

He had no idea what to do.

“I chose what was easy. Even if it did not make me happy. . .”

Those words were haunting.

They might have been the most honest words his mother had ever spoken.

Maybe even the bravest.

He’d spent the past five years doing thesame damn thing.

How many times have I chosen to do what I know will make me miserable because it’s easier? Because changing what I’ve been doing means facing a different fear?

Liddy’s face flashed through his mind.

He reached out and set a hand on his mother’s shoulder.

How do we even go forward from this?

Can we?

He tried to think about what he’d wanted to hear all this time. What he’d needed to feel.

What had been missing in his life.

After Sophia had gone home from their breakup, he’d sworn to himself that he wouldn’t let himself loveanyoneelse again.

He’d closed himself off.

. . . and where had it gotten him?

---