Page 28 of The Life We Left Behind

Goddammit. Here came the curse of being a good person again because there was no way I could abandon him now, not when it seemed that he needed someone to stay on his side.

Chelsea’s gaze snapped to me and her nostrils flared as she glared at Trace’s hand holding onto mine.

When she looked back up at me, it was with a hatred I’d never seen in her before.

“I knew you’d jump straight into bed with her as soon as you saw her,” she spat at Trace. “How long has this been going on? It was always Delaney, wasn’t it? I was never going to be good enough to take her place.”

Trace sighed, and it was like all the fight leaked out of him as he seemed to sag on the spot. Whatever had happened between the two of them, it had clearly ended in one hell of a messy divorce. I was surprised that Marie hadn’t told me all about it when Chelsea had first come across me at the bakery.

“Delaney is here to deal with her father’s estate. We’re discussing the Farrington Group buying the land. This is the first time I’ve seen her since she left town, Chelsea. I wasn’t the one falling into every available bed during our marriage. There was never anyone else for me.”

He sounded so exhausted as he spoke, and I winced as he so casually dropped the mention of her infidelity. I wondered what it had cost Regina to cover this one up.

“Your father’s estate?” Chelsea’s gaze flickered to me, and for a second, I saw a glimpse of my old friend before it was masked by her anger again. “Whatever. Even if she wasn’t here, she might as well have been. I’ve been competing with her ghostin our marriage for years. Can you blame me for trying to find someone who would loveme?” she shouted at Trace.

Chelsea didn’t wait for an answer as she stalked away. I realized then just how hard Trace was gripping my hand.

What the hell had happened here? Trace was the one who told me to go. He didn’t want anything to do with me or Cade. There was no way he’d spent the last ten years pining after me. It had to all just been in Chelsea’s head, right? He could have easily found out where I was if he asked my father. If he really had cared about me or Cade, he could have come to us at any time?

Chelsea’s jealous rage was exactly what I needed to have some sense slapped into me, and I pulled my hand from Trace’s.

This couldn’t happen. It was ridiculous to get caught up in the old feelings that used to be between us. I had responsibilities now. I couldn’t let Trace play with my heart like this, and most of all, I couldn’t let him anywhere near my son if he didn’t intend to be in his life. I’d been a fool to even think that I should. Cade deserved so much better than that, and I wasn’t going to let Trace hurt him any more than he already had.

“I’ll meet you at the pasture,” I rushed out before turning my back on him and quickly walked away.

The quicker I could get this deal done and my business in Willowbrook finalized, the better it would be for all of us.

CHAPTER TWELVE

TRACE

Ifelt it the moment that she realized what she was doing and pulled back the shields she had around her heart. Every muscle in her body tensed, and even though I wanted to beg her not to, she pulled her hand free of mine and left before I could even draw enough breath to ask her to stay.

The second she pulled away, I knew whatever thoughts were running through her head would be the ones that forced us apart. There would be no recovering from this.

Fuck Chelsea!

Why couldn’t she just let me be happy? Hadn’t she tortured me enough for all these years?

I stared after Chelsea, making sure that she was leaving. I’d learned long ago never to trust her to do the decent thing. As soon as she rounded the corner, muttering and cursing as she went, I turned to try to find Delaney again. But she was gone. Of course, she was. I wouldn’t want to stick around and watch the car crash that was my life either.

Except she had.

When I’d reached for her, she’d stayed at my side. Delaney had held onto my hand like a lifeline, and it was the only thing that had kept me grounded. She always had been able to do that.

For a moment, I hesitated. Sucking Delaney into my mess probably wasn’t fair to her, but if I didn’t act now, I could never get another chance. I’d made mistakes. I might even be a shit human being, but deep down, if I really wanted to be honest with myself, Chelsea was right.

It had always been Delaney.

My marriage was a disaster before it even had a chance to start because I’d never loved Chelsea. How could I when all I could think about was the girl I let slip through my fingers?

If I wanted a chance to have the future I’d dreamed about since I was a kid, then I needed to suck it up, admit to my mistakes, and beg the only woman I’d ever loved for a second chance.

Dammit, I wouldn’t lose her a second time.

With a sense of newfound determination, I sprinted across the road, heading for the bakery. First, I’d grab us both lunch, and then I was going to find the girl of my dreams, drop to my knees, and hope she was a good enough person to see past all my mistakes.

I parked behind a rental car outside the old James farmhouse, hoping that it belonged to Delaney. Grabbing the bag of food from my passenger seat, I exited the car, looking around to try to see where Delaney had disappeared to. She was nowhere in sight, so I started the familiar walk to the south pasture, hoping she was there. It had been years since I’d been out this way, but I hadn’t forgotten a single step.

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