Page 92 of The Locksmith's Promise

He winced and squeezed me back. Glancing at me from beneath the brim of his baseball cap, he explained, “Sorry, baby. I ran into Vince Moroni yesterday. He said some shit and I didn’t handle it all that well.”

“Oh, no, your father’s drinking buddy? What did you do?”

“Turned off my phone, worked late, slept at Miller’s.”

I nodded, my gaze dropping to the leaf-covered ground before meeting his eyes. “You could have called or come to me.”

“I know,” he answered. “But I needed to be with someone who’d been there with me back then. Someone I didn’t have to explain things to.”

Like Jenny?

The thought came unbidden, and I shook it off. “I understand.”

He offered me a half smile. “And I didn’t want Corwin waking up and thinking something was wrong.”

“Somethingwaswrong,” I countered.

His determined eyes met mine. “It doesn’t have to touch him. It shouldn’t ever touch him.”

“But—”

He shook his head, his beautiful mouth flattening into a thin line. “No, Maggie. I’m sorry, I am, but I’ve thought about it and I’m not going back there. I refuse to dwell in the past.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

His eyebrows scrunched together. “I know you want to know for sure if I cheated, I understand, I’d probably want to know if I were you.”

I blinked and snapped my jaw shut.

Was that true? Did I need the truth to find closure on what happened in the past? What would I do if I found out he had sex with her that night after promising me forever?

And how much of me being with him now rested on the hope he might not have?

I swallowed. Hard.

Because I didn’t have the answer to any of those questions.

And I wasn’t sure I wanted them, not if I couldn’t control the outcome.

Living in blissful ignorance didn’t sit right with me, but it was a whole helluva lot better than losing this chance with Baxter.

For the first time, I understood his desire to leave the mess of the past and all its broken promises behind.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. “There are memories, bad ones, and I don’t want to recall the details.”

“Your back?” I prodded.

He looked away, eyes narrowed on the path ahead of us.

“Okay,” I decided. I’d let him down once before when I stopped believing in us too soon. I wouldn’t allow my insecurities to let him down again. “No more looking back.”

He inhaled deeply and blew out a breath. His shoulders slumped and the lines in his face softened. “Thank you.”

The forest opened into the clearing and our rock came into view.

Only it wasn’t empty like we’d expected.

A young couple sat on top, laughing and kissing intermittently.

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