Page 37 of State of Grace (First Family 2)

She shook her head.

He nodded.

She smiled. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“You weren’t ready to hear it. You still aren’t.”

“Yes, I am. I’m much better than I was at first.”

“What about in here?” he asked, tapping a finger lightly over the vicinity of her heart.

She took a second to get her thoughts in order. “I loved Ezra for a long time, but over the last year or so, things had gotten really difficult. It’s been obvious for a while that he was battling something, but he refused to get help or get treatment. It was hard for me to continue being supportive of someone who wouldn’t do the bare minimum to care for himself. I decided a while ago that I needed to end our relationship, but because of his problems, I had to choose the time wisely. I thought I’d caught him on a good night, but…” She exhaled a deep breath before she looked up at him. “In truth, I’d left him quite some time before everything happened.”

“It absolutely kills me that he hurt you.”

“That was the illness, not him. The Ezra I knew and loved would’ve never done this to me or taken my family hostage.” She cringed, remembering the horror of that night. “He was the sweetest guy you’d ever meet until the illness took hold when he was in his early twenties. Since then, it’s been a struggle for him and everyone who loves him.”

“Hopefully, now he’ll get the treatment he needs.”

“I hope so.”

“Is it over with him for you?”

“Has been for a while. What about you with Jaycee?”

“Has been for a while, although she didn’t take it well when I told her that.”

“What happened?”

“She was really angry. She thought we were going to get married. I’m not sure why she thought that. We never talked about it. At least I never did. She said I’d embarrassed her in front of her family and friends.”

“How did you embarrass her? By telling her you wanted out of the relationship?”

“I guess. Apparently, she’d told people we were getting married. I mean, why would she do that when she and I had never once talked about getting married?”

“She embarrassed herself. I have no doubt you were always honest and forthright with her.”

“I was. I enjoyed spending time with her, but I never thought she was it, you know?”

“I do. As much as I loved Ezra, I couldn’t picture forever with him. After a while, I think we stayed together out of habit more than anything. We’d been together for thirteen years, since we were sixteen.”

“That’s a long time.”

She looked up at him, feeling madly vulnerable. “I’ve never dated anyone else. I’m not sure I’d even know how.”

His green eyes twinkled with amusement. “You want to find out?”

“I think I would.”

He kissed her again, softly, gently, and then pulled back. “I ought to go.”

“You didn’t finish eating.”

“I can take it with me.”

“Don’t go.”

“You’re dealing with a lot, Gigi. Maybe we should wait, you know…”

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