Page 19 of Romance Reset
“I have. She explained that you two have a history. That’s the first time that’s happened to me but I’m not surprised. You two match very well on paper. As soon as you called me to give me the go-ahead to set you up for an interview, I knew you and Amelia would be a good fit.”
“Yeah, well, I’m… not so sure that’s the case.”
“Amelia said the date went well once the initial surprise wore off. You don’t agree?”
He swiped a hand over his face and rubbed hard but the tension remained. “The date was fine. It’s just…” Marsali waited for him to finish, but her silence didn’t help Lincoln form an acceptable excuse.
“Lincoln, first dates are always hard, and I imagine this one was doubly so with you coming out of mourning only to find Amelia there. Before you say anything else, let me ask a few questions. Did you have fun? Enjoy yourself?”
He inhaled and sighed. “Yeah. I suppose I did for the most part.”
“Were you still attracted to Amelia? Have chemistry?”
He pictured her in his mind, her long legs and that skirt and the way she smiled up at him. “Yes.”
“Okay. So far so good. My next question has to be, have you forgiven her for what happened twenty years ago?”
“Forgiving and forgetting are two very different things, Marsali. Amelia didn’t just end our relationship, she packed her bags in the middle of the night and took off without another word. I needed her. Even if we didn’t get married right away, I needed her. I’d just lost my parents, was given guardianship of Carter so long as I could show a stable home life for him, and she nearly wrecked all of it.”
“Did you lose Carter?”
“No, but—”
“If you had stayed with her and lost Carter anyway, would you have blamed her?”
“Of course not.”
“Okay, so if that’s the case, what about what happened after she left? You met someone, fell in love, and married. If you had the chance to do things over again, would you change the path you took because Amelia left?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and counted to three. “Marsali, I’m not giving you excuses. They’re reasons why she isn’t trustworthy.”
“Few eighteen-year-olds are trustworthy, Lincoln, and from what you said, she was under a lot of pressure. In speaking with Amelia, I know she had a lot on her plate from a young age with her parents and siblings.”
Lincoln’s argument faltered and shattered into a fast death because Marsali was right. Amelia was the eldest of seven kids in a working-class family. She’d cared for her siblings since they’d been born, sacrificing after-school sports and friends and fun due to duty and responsibility. Even dating her had been an issue because it meant she could only go out if one of her parents was home.
And then he’d wanted her to marry him and take on him and Carter.
He’d been overwhelmed at the time. So burdened by all that had happened he hadn’t looked at things from her perspective. As an adult, as a parent, now he understood the weight of what he’d asked of her. He also knew that he probably could’ve talked her into accepting his proposal if given more time, which was no doubt why she’d been so desperate she’d… run away?
Wait.
It washisfault? How had he not seen things from her perspective? Was he that much of a schmuck back then to think she should give up her life for them?
“Lincoln?” Marsali asked. “Are you there?”
A breath huffed out of his chest as the reality of the past sank in along with the present. Free. Twenty years later, they were both free to do as they pleased. Start fresh. If they wanted.
Would things be different now?
“Lincoln? Hello?”
“Yeah,” he said, shaking himself out of the storm in his mind. “I’m here. The, uh, band is getting ready to start back up but I… I think I would like to see Amelia again after all. If she’s willing.”
“You’re sure? I don’t want there to be any misconceptions here. If you’d rather not, I can set you up with someone else, but once you pass on another date with Marsali, you understand you can’t go back?”
“No, I understand. I’m sure. I want to see her.” He had to see her again, if for no other reason than to own up to his mistakes and set the record straight now that the fog had cleared from his brain. He couldn’t imagine Breanne taking on such a thing at her age, and yet that’s what he’d expected of Amelia.
“Oh, good. That’s great news,” Marsali said. “I’d be happy to arrange things. Do you have a particular date idea in mind?”
