Page 163 of Aftersome
I couldn’t see her face yet, but in her tone, I could tell she was severely pained by my lack of staying in touch. I hated that I had hurt her in the process, and I hoped that by coming here I could apologize and make amends, but I wasn’t so sure it would be a quick or easy thing.
“Look, I know you probably don’t want to see or hear from me right now, but I just wanted to come over to apologize. I was wrong by not reaching out to you. I can only imagine what you were thinking and how worried you were, and I was selfish in that aspect.”
The door was still partly opened, but I had yet to catch a sight of her face.
“In the end, I hurt a lot of people that I love and care about and I’m so sorry that you were one of them. I became too caught up in what I was doing and… I… I didn’t expect for things tohappen the way they did. And now I just feel broken. Like I let everyone down, including myself.”
Within seconds the door was opening and finally Alice stepped outside and reached for me.
“Oh, calm down, Wren.” She pulled me into her arms while I began to fall apart.
“I'm so sorry, for everything,” I cried into her hair. “I should have called you.”
She brushed her fingers through my hair soothingly.
“You should have, but it doesn’t matter, Wren.” She continued to stroke my locks. “It may have hurt my feelings, but I know whatever you went through in Seattle must have made it hard to talk to me.”
“So much happened and I was terrified to tell anyone.” I cried into her hair. “It wasn’t your fault, it was mine.”
I continued to cry until it physically hurt and I had to stop.
“You were right. All that a misunderstood man needs in his life is a woman who can understand him.”
Her hand paused on my head as she pulled back and peered into my puffy, red eyes.
“Oh, honey.”
She knew.
“I fell in love with him, Alice. And now, I ruined him with all my lies.”
Her eyes fell somber from my confession and soon enough, I was being pulled into her house where she urged me to sit down on the sofa.
I willingly dropped down as she disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a cup of warm tea.
“Tell me everything, Wren,” she begged softly as she handed me the cup and took the spot next to me.
After taking a much-needed sip, I let out a breath that I had been holding in and told her everything.
From the very beginning, to the middle and the end, I confessed to everything and how in the end, it was me who destroyed any hope of a happy ending for Mal and I.
She listened the whole thirty minutes of my nonstop talking and not once did she look upset. Instead, she watched me with sympathy in her eyes.
“Look at me, Wren,” she demanded once I had finished admitting to everything. “You’re human. You make mistakes like everyone else in this world. That doesn’t make you any less of a person.” She slowly laid her hand on top of mine and squeezed. “You lied to Mal because you wanted what was best for him. You wanted him to reunite with his family because you knew he needed that. You knew the Deckers needed that, and if that made you the bad guy of this whole scenario, then so be it.”
She raised her chin then took the hand she had on mine and brought it directly under my chin where she gently propped it upward.
“And you lied about your heart because you didn’t want to hurt that man any more than he already was. In my opinion, all I see are the reasons why I think you are the strongest woman I know, Wren.”
I couldn’t believe after everything, those words were falling out of her mouth and being directed at me. I didn’t feel strong. If anything, I felt the opposite, but of course, she didn’t stop there.
“And no, I already know what you’re thinking in that head of yours. You are strong. Stronger than me, stronger than anyone else I know, and I know… I know that whatever you two shared in Seattle is not over,” she reassured me. “Like you said earlier, all that a misunderstood man needs in his life is a woman who understands him, and since I know you’re that person for him, no way is he letting you go.”
Tears clouded my eyes as I hoped her words were true.
“Trust me.”
57
