Page 80 of The I Do Over

That was another thing she came to realize about herself—in all the years that she’d been beating herself up over the way things ended with Knox, even though she knew what she did was wrong, she still managed to paint herself as the victim. The truth was, she sabotaged their marriage by not keeping it a secret like they had planned. She made the conscious decision to confess and then made the conscious decision to lie when her father got mad. She wasn’t proud of her actions, but it was time to own them and stop making excuses for them.

She’d refused to be happy because she didn’t think she deserved it. But once she was back with Knox, it felt like maybe she hadn’t been happy because he was her other half. No one else got her like Knox did, and no one else made her feel the way Knox did.

And dammit, she wanted to feel happy and loved and wake up every morning with him and go to sleep every night with him. And if that meant cutting ties with her father, well…she really didn’t have a problem with it—not after the whole snarky text thing on Monday.

Choose Knox. Choose happiness.

Her father had chosen to move away and forget about the imperfect family he had here in Virginia, so why couldn’t she do the same to him?

“His loss,” she murmured as her car came into view. “Hallelujah!”

Fortunately, the drive back to the cabin was short and within fifteen minutes, she was inside, her shoes were off, and her phone was on the charger.

Without giving it a second thought, Maddie walked into the single bedroom and stripped out of her clothes and opted to take a shower. It seemed silly considering she had plans to soak in the hot tub too, but the hike had been a little strenuous at times and she felt sweaty and sticky. Plus, it was really the considerate thing to bathe before going into the hot tub.

At least, to her it was.

All week she’d been telling herself that she’d sit in the hot tub and she’d yet to actually make it in there.

The shower was quick but glorious and she examined her ankle as she dried off. It was a little swollen but nothing major, and maybe she could skip the ice for now. Maybe just elevating it for a little while and not walking on it other than from one room to another would…

A loud banging in the distance made her jump and lose her balance.

And caused her to twist the same ankle again.

“Oh, come on! Seriously?” she cried out. Hopping on one foot back to the bedroom in nothing more than a towel, she grabbed her robe and slipped it on. The knocking was bordering on obnoxious and she hoped her phone was charged enough to call 911 because there was no way whoever was out there was here for her.

“Maddie! Maddie! Open the door!”

Wait…Knox?

She hopped, hobbled, and nearly stumbled all the way to the door, and when she pulled it open, the look of utter horror on Knox’s face was enough to make her want to slam it shut.

“Holy shit, Maddie! What happened to you?” He slammed one large hand against the door as he all but pushed his way inside. The cabin was small and cozy, but now that he was there, it felt like the size of a dollhouse. He shut the door and instantly reached for her. “How badly are you hurt? Do we need to go to the emergency room?”

Emergency room? What the…?

Then she remembered the branch to the face, the probable sunburn, and the fact that she hadn’t slept for the better part of a week.

It was amazing he hadn’t run screaming in the opposite direction.

His hands were already on her face, examining it to make sure everything was okay. It was kind of nice to have someone fuss over her, even when all the injuries were a result of her own stubbornness and lack of proper planning.

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “Today was just a series of really unfortunate events.”

He gently ran a thumb over her cheek and his expression softened. “You scared the hell out of everyone.” His voice was gruff as he continued to study her face. “Why didn’t you return anyone’s calls?”

“You…you called me?”

His hands stilled. “Your assistant reached out to me because she couldn’t get in touch with you. Apparently your mom’s nurse was also trying to get in touch with you, and…”

“Oh my goodness! Is it my mom?” She pulled away and immediately darted—painfully—over to her phone. “There is very little cell service up here, and I thought that was a good thing. Dammit, I never should have listened to Babette. I should have just stayed home and not gone anywhere!”

“Mads, you need to relax. Your mom is fine. I called and talked to Nora and she just wanted to touch base with you because…um…” He looked mildly uncomfortable. “I guess something happened when you were there earlier this week and your mom remembered and wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh, God…” She looked at her phone and shook it—as if that would suddenly make the bars appear so she could actually make a call.

“Here. It looks like maybe my phone has enough bars. Want to use it?”

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