Page 102 of Love Notes & Lifelines
Stella rolls over and sits up, holding the sheet to her chest. I would give anything to take away her pain. I never want to see her like this again. Her shoulders sag in defeat. Her face is devoid of the love that normally fills it. Even her voice has lost the cadence that makes her my Stella.
“He fired me and ruined my reputation by making sure every school on the East Coast knew his version of my nightmare—he called me a stalker and said I was unstable. After a few months, I was desperate. He knew I had cameras in my home because of my mom.” She lifts her head but her lashes flutter against her cheekbones and her knuckles turn white around the sheet she’s holding.
I reach for her, hold her face in my palms.I’m here, Stella. I’m here.
“It was the first thing I did after my mom’s diagnosis. The cameras let me keep an eye on her for short periods of time. Then one day, he showed up and offered to pay for six months of in-patient care at Mindful Moments, but I had to hand over every piece of evidence that linked him to me.”
Her lashes stick together and her chin trembles in my hands.
“I didn’t have any other options. I had no job, no prospects, and Mom’s condition was taking her from me too quickly. As soon as the money was transferred to my account, I gavehim everything. It didn’t really matter anyway. He’d already destroyed all the pieces of me that mattered.”
“Not all of them, sweetheart. I promise you—he didn’t take them all.”
She shrugs me off, then wipes at her nose with the back of her hand.
“I kept her home as long as I could, and accepted every job I could get as a temp. That’s how I met Elijah, and he was so kind, but after our, well, after our kiss…” Her lashes flutter and her cheeks pink when she glances up at me.
Oh, I remember that night well, sweetheart.
She swipes at her nose again and I scan the room for some tissues. “I didn’t want to put him in a weird position after that. I never thought I’d see either of you again, and I never expected him to track me down, but when Caleb’s last assistant quit, he showed up at my building. He found me trying to get Mom in the car.”
“He helped you get her to the nursing home,” I say, remembering his random story when he showed up late. Elijah is never late.
Her brows crease, but she nods.
“Silas’s money is running out, so Elijah’s helped me find other sources of revenue. He lent me his car, but only allowed me to repay him with cookies. Then he gave me an email address for Lottie. She hired me after a background check, and now, here we are.”
I swing her legs over the table and step between them, then rest my forehead on hers.
“Please tell me you don’t still believe his bullshit. Tell me you understand how easy you are to love. Nothing he’s ever said to you is the truth. I’m willing to bet my entire fortune on that.”
“But why? After all this, why? I took his money like a prostitute.”
I suck in a harsh breath. He’s fucked with her mind—made her see herself as someone she’s not. He’s left her with the impression that she’s unlovable. It’s hard to keep my rage at bay, but for her, I do. For her, I’d do a hell of a lot of things.
“You took the money because he owed it to you after the hell he made of your life, not because you’re a prostitute, and I don’t ever want to hear you call yourself that again. Not ever. You’ve made someone else’s lies your truth, and it’s time we changed that.”
“He made me a mistress—a homewrecker. That’s who people believe I am. What if you want the girls to go to that school someday? It’s the number one rated school in the southeast.”
I smile and my lips hover over hers. “No, baby. He’s the homewrecker, not you. And let me worry about schools. But I’ll tell you this—any place that doesn’t respect you will not get a dime from me. It’s funny how quickly tunes change when dollar signs are involved.”
“But—”
I cut her off with a gentle kiss, then lift her off the table and place her carefully on her feet.
As much as I want to carry her everywhere, protect her from the world, something in my gut tells me she needs to be the one to take the steps forward. So I will stand beside her while she forges her path, but she’ll never walk alone again.
She pauses when I tuck the sheet around her then open the door. The place is empty, so I walk with purpose, in my underwear, toward the steam room.
Once there, I place a hand to the small of her back and walk her into the room while billows of steam scented like eucalyptus engulf us.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
STELLA
It takesme a few minutes to get my breathing under control. When we first entered, the scent was nearly overwhelming—clean, almost floral but not quite. I like it, but the thick, hot steam makes it hard to catch my breath.
“Lie back and breathe through your nose,” Beck instructs.
