Page 101 of Mine For The Winter

“You don’t have to make up for anything.”

He turned his head to kiss her fingertips. “I shouldn’t have left. That’s the long and short of it. I should have stayed and helped you with Lyle.”

“It would have made things worse. He…” She sighed. “When I told him I was pregnant he thought it was yours. I don’t know if he ever truly believed me that Cole is his.”

“I wish Cole had been mine.”

Her breath caught. How many times had she wished that back when her life was falling apart?

“Then he wouldn’t have been Cole.”

He smiled at her. “I guess not.”

“I think I needed you to leave,” she said, her eyes full of honesty. “I think I needed to learn how to stand on my own two feet. I was so afraid of losing you and then Lyle that I pushed all my needs away to make sure you were both happy.”

“I never wanted you to do that.”

“I know.” She nodded. “And that’s why I needed to be on my own. I’d relied on you two for so long.”

“We’d relied on each other.”

“Until we didn’t,” she said.

“Yeah, until then.” He exhaled and kissed her again. Needing the connection. A reminder that this was real. “And I like the way you are now.”

“Me too.” She smiled. “I like who you are now.”

“Good.”

“Can I ask you something?” She turned on her side to look at him, propping her face on her hand.

“Sure.”

“Who’s Laura?”

He wasn’t expecting that. And for a moment no words came out.

“I saw her name on your phone. I wasn’t snooping or anything, just checking the time the other morning. And her message came up.”

Kris swallowed. He wasn’t sure if he was ready for this conversation yet. But here it was and he’d promised himself he’d always be honest with her. “Laura is my therapist.”

Kelly blinked. She didn’t look shocked, just interested.

“We were all offered therapy at work. Part of our healthcare plan. And I went to a session with her because the CEO wanted our whole team to. I thought I was just ticking boxes but then all this stuff came out. Things I’d been ignoring for years. I’ve never been one big for talking but…” He trailed off. “I dunno. What she said made sense.”

“What did she say?” Kelly asked him.

He ran the pad of his thumb across his shadowed jaw. “I guess she made me see things differently. For the longest time I thought circumstances were a bitch. But she made me realize that I made bad decisions.”

“What kind of bad decisions?”

“Leaving you.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “Messing things up with Lyle. And later, having bad relationships because I wasn’t willing to give them anything of myself.”

“Like your ex?”

“Yeah. That was the bad one. I was in danger of becoming an asshole. I wanted to be a better person. Make things right. Since coming back to Winterville, I’ve kept in touch with Laura. Let her know I was here, talking to you.”

“Is she happy about that?”

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