Page 81 of A Whirlwind of Color (The Light to My Darkness 2)

“Yeah. You did.” He folded the onesie back up and looked at me. “I’m sorry I hid things from you. I’m sorry I tried to trick you into loving me. I’m just…sorry.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. I’d probably do the same thing if I was in your shoes.”

“Maybe.” His smile was so sad. “It’s hard for me to be in here. I didn’t want to subject you to that when you were having a hard enough time accepting me.”

“I get it.” I looked around the room. It was adorable. There were stuffed animals everywhere. The only odd part about it was that the walls were bright orange. “Is orange all the rage this season?” I asked.

James laughed and stood up from the rocking chair. “We let Scarlett pick it out. We didn’t know whether we were having a boy or girl so we didn’t want the standard pink or blue. She had fun choosing.”

That was sweet. “You’re a really great father, James.” He was a much better parent than me.

“We’re a great team.” He folded the onesie and put it on top of the dresser.

“Speaking of that…” my stomach felt like it was doing summersaults. “I feel like we haven’t been much of a team. You know everything about me. And I don’t know anything about you. And if all of this is ever going to seem normal…you can’t keep me in the dark anymore. You need to answer my questions. You need to tell me everything.”

“Where do you want me to start?”

“At the beginning, I guess. Tell me about your family. Tell me what you were like growing up. Were you a jock or a geek? Did you have lots of dates or none at all?”

“I’ll tell you everything you want to know over dinner.” He grabbed my hand. I hadn’t expected him to do it. James had made good on his word of not touching me. He realized his mistake at the same time that I realized how much I truly liked the spark I felt when our skin touched. That the feeling was real. He tried to pull away, but I closed my hand to intertwine our fingers together.

“That sounds perfect,” I said and smiled up at him. Any trace of his sadness had disappeared. He was looking at me the way he had in the pictures. The way he had yesterday. And even though it was scary, I didn’t want him to stop. This version of him was so much better than the cold version.

Chapter 30

Monday

“I’m sorry, James.” I had listened to his retelling of his childhood. And the few funny stories scattered throughout didn’t change the fact that it sounded miserable. His parents were God-awful. How had they not seen that he was so unhappy? I barely knew Scarlett and I could tell when she was angry with me. Which was most of the time, but I was improving. I wanted to improve. His parents? They didn’t care enough about him to even try. It was heartbreaking.

“It’s okay. I met you. I found my love of teaching. I love the life we’ve made together. Besides, nothing heals the past like time.”

“So you’re on good terms with both your parents now? I know your father visited me in the hospital. But your mother? How is she?”

“We haven’t spoken since everything that happened with Isabella.”

“You mean her forcing you to marry Isabella?”

“Well, that and the f

act that my mom was trying to help Isabella break you and me up before our wedding. She sided with a monster instead of her own son. I don’t know how to forgive her for that.”

“Isn’t forgiveness the key to happiness, or something like that?”

“Maybe. But I almost died. She almost prevented me from ever being a father.”

I nodded. I wasn’t an expert on forgiveness. If I ever saw the doctor who had poisoned me I was worried I’d try to stab him or something. He had taken away all my most wonderful memories. Of James, of Scarlett, of Liam. “Then screw her.”

He laughed.

I took the pause in the conversation to help myself to another serving of the delicious penne noodles with chicken and vodka sauce. “Don’t let me forget to tell Ellen how delicious this is. She’s a great cook.”

“I actually made it.”

I looked up from my fork. “Really? James, it’s so good. I didn’t know you could cook.”

“I can’t. Not really. It’s one of the only things I know how to make. And in the interest of full disclosure, I made this for you on one of our first dates. I already had the whole night planned before you called me out on my games.”

I smiled. He had planned to spend the whole night trying to win me over? How could I not swoon over that? “What else did you have planned?”

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