Page 149 of Their Greatest Strength

“Mrs. Bateman is?—”

I’m moving before he finishes.

Hidden out of view from the street behind the wall painted with the Pythons mascot, I find Blakely and her mother. Thesmall black pouch in my wife’s hand sparks alarms, but I slow my pace, taking in every aspect of what’s in front of me.

The older version of Blakely has her back to the wall while her daughter is shaking the bag between them. I force myself not to run over and drag them apart, choosing to listen instead.

“Take the money. It’s all you’re getting,” Blakely pleads.

Her mom shakes her head, scoffing. “It’s worthless. He’ll laugh and haul me out of the apartment himself.”

“Use it as a down payment or a show of good faith. Use it foranything, just please take it and leave me alone.”

“The only way I’m leaving you alone is if I get every dollar that I asked for. Not this pathetic attempt of a savings fund. Don’t you see? We’re the same, sweetie. We’ll chase and chase forever without getting to the top. You might as well accept it now.”

Blakely’s lip wobbles before it pulls flat, and she sniffs, collecting herself. “Take. The. Money. Let me have this one good thing, Mom. Don’t take him from me. If you want me to beg, I’ll get on my knees and do that. All I want in return is to never see you again.”

“I’m not taking anyone or anything from you unless it’s the ten thousand I need. All you need to do is bring me the money, and I’ll take your secret to the grave.”

I run through her words, trying to make sense of them. From the way Blakely’s mask is slipping further and further by the second, her fear so sharp it pricks my chest from a distance, my first guess is that this is about Nate.

“If you’re trying to punish me for something, this isn’t the way to do it. This won’t ruin my life. It will ruin Jamie’s. He doesn’t deserve that. Please, don’t make me do that to him,” she begs, voice cracking as it drops. “I love him.”

I may as well have taken a football directly to the chest.

It’s the wrong place and the worst timing, but her statement rams right into me, knocking the air from my lungs. I want toscoop her up and kiss the fuck her until our lips are too swollen to keep going.

It’s not time for that yet.

Blakely’s mom laughs at her while swiping the pouch out of her hands. She peels it open and pulls out a handful of colourful bills.

“Did you even try to take his money? Or did you hand him your backbone when you sold yourself for a nice place to live and a bit of publicity? It doesn’t matter now. At least if you’d taken his money, he wouldn’t suffer the consequences. Money means nothing to those who have too much of it.”

“I did think about it, but it was your son who changed my mind. He reminded me that there is always a second option,” Blakely says, voice low and sharp. “I used to wonder how you could be so cold-hearted. How there could be no affection or love in your entire body when it came to us. It turns out that the answer has always been right in front of me. We stole it from you. Nate and I are nothing like you because we have double the ability to love and desire to care for others. He wears his heart on his sleeve and, despite everything we’ve gone through, doesn’t fear love. And me . . .”

She rips the pouch and cash from her mom’s hands and zips it up, gaze hot with fury. “I have never been afraid to protect those I love. I’ll kick and scream and fight every day to keep my family safe and taken care of. I was prepared to steal from my husband and lose him if it meant he didn’t have the chance of losing his career after you told the world about us. It was a sacrifice that I would have made if it weren’t for Nate being so open with his love and reminding me that the best rewards come after taking a risk. We’re everything you’ve never known how to be, and despite our struggles, I’m so happy that you left when you did. We’ve always been better off without you.”

Pride explodes inside of me as I start walking toward her, done with watching. Staying away any longer may just kill me when all I want to do is tell her how incredible she is.

How incredible she’salwaysbeen.

Blakely’s mom stares at her, stunned, and I use her surprise to interrupt. My wife looks at me before I even open my mouth to speak, as if she’s as in tune with me as I am with her.

I hold her stare, pushing every ounce of the love I have for her into a single look. “I’ve been waiting for you to say that for weeks.”

“Jamie,” she whispers, biting at her cheek.

“You cut yourself off last night, Bandit. I thought I’d have to wait months to hear those words for real.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Just say them again. To me this time.”

She shakes her head, visibly overthinking. “How much of that did you hear?”

I step in front of her, guarding her with my body while taking her face in my hands. She releases a shaky breath and carefully rests a hand on my chest.

“I’d have given you every dollar in my bank account if you needed it. I could lose football tomorrow, and it would be fine because I have you.”

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