Page 59 of Easy Reunion
Chapter 24
Rierson
As her tears die down, I know I’m going to have to be able to answer questions I’ve struggled with for years. When Kelsey pulls back, I brush her damp hair away from her face. She stumbles with her first question. “They didn’t…she’s…Lisa?”
“Never experienced anything resembling the pain you endured,” I assure her.
She lets out a loud sigh.
I knew to bring her here, seeing her own words was a chance—a big one. I had to take it to get us both out of the past to the here and now which is where we need to be with each other.
“I need to apologize.” Her voice is low and sad.
I cup her chin and tilt her face up. The light finds the dusky rose of her cheeks and softens the color. “For what?”
Her head still clasped in my fingers, I can feel as she nods at the broken glass over my shoulder. “For not telling you who I was that night, for being selfish and losing my temper. For breaking something you treasure in your home. Is there more?”
For thinking I was one of them.But as quickly as the thought comes into my head, I shove it aside. As a lawyer, I have to look at the presented evidence even though my heart wants to scream aloud asking how she could think that about me. And unless I’m willing to tell her the whole story, something I’d shared with no one but my father and the president of Forsyth, then even with the explanation I just gave her it’s going to take time to earn my place back into her heart fully. I’d destroyed what was between us cruelly, deliberately.
Intentionally.
I’ve been living life, but I’ve been numb waiting for the chance to accept the punishment and consequences for my actions. That is, after the reality of pain left me with a void so great I had nothing else to fill it with. When I had the glass made, it was because the hurt was better than the emptiness. Feeling the never-ending reminder was better than the void. And above all, it gave me hope that maybe I could change things.
“I had it made because it reminded me of you and all of the reasons why we weren’t so different,” I tell her. “It’s going to take time to forget I didn’t intentionally mean to hurt you, Kelsey. Even though I can’t vouch for a single other person, I had my reasons. I need you to try to start understanding that. I…cared for you,” I conclude.
A veil of disquiet settles over her face. “Are you going to hurt me the way you did?”
“If I hurt you again, Kels, it will never be the same way I did back then,” I tell her honestly.
And for that, I receive a small laugh and a light punch in the gut. “How about you point me in the direction of a broom to sweep this up and we…”
“How about I not?”
She frowns. I brush a kiss against her forehead. “How about I set you up with a glass of wine in the kitchen? I’ll come back, clean this up, and then you can watch while I cook.”
Even as I’m talking, I’m pulling her from the room. At the entryway, she digs in. “Ry? I want you to know I’m truly sorry.” She waves her hand back toward the mess. “I’m sorry for not being able to turn back the clock. There are any number of things I’d have done differently. And not just about this.” She squeezes my hand before she steps out of hearing range.
“And I’m sorry for not being strong enough to save all of us,” I whisper to the empty air before I follow her.
* * *
“That was delicious,”Kelsey compliments me on the spicy grilled shrimp I paired with a pasta salad. When I gave her the options for dinner, her eyes were still haunted. I decided what to make and just started cooking while keeping a sharp eye on the woman sitting at the counter in front of me.
She gently wipes her lips with her napkin before setting it on the side of her plate. “I’m stuffed.”
I frown when I realize how little she ate. Maybe four of the six jumbo shrimp I slid on her plate are gone and about half of the salad. Meanwhile, I must have devoured three times what she did on my first go-around. Maybe she’s still upset until it strikes me, she’s rarely eaten when we’ve been together. “Did you eat before you came?”
She frowns. “Of course not. Why?”
“Because you barely ate. Was it too spicy?”
“Not at all! If you want spicy, you should try this small Mexican place down by the border that Angel and I used to go to all the time when we were at school.” She laughs.
“Then, did you not enjoy it?” I’m confused. I mean, I’ve dated women who don’t eat a lot when they’re out with men, but this is smaller than a child’s portion.
Kelsey freezes. “I enjoyed it.” Her voice is barely audible. She ducks her head.
Reaching over, I tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. Her cheeks are stained with a warm blush. She’s fidgeting with her napkin, pulling it back and forth between her fingers. “Hey? What is it?”
