Page 103 of Almost Yours

“I wish I could answer that, babe. But I’m sorry that you’re dealing with this.”

She sighed and stole a roll from his plate. “My siblings think the plan is futile, because Momisstubborn. But I can’t let her marry him. She needs to be reminded of all the things he’s done.”

“Okay. When should we leave?”

“What?” Ginny pulled back to look at him, swallowing the food in her mouth.

“I’m going with you, right?”

“You really want to endure all of that with me?”

Gavin shrugged, tucking her hair behind an ear. “For you, yeah.”

“Gavin…” She shook her head and cupped his jaw. “I love you for wanting to suffer through this with me, but I think this is something I need to do alone.”

“I get it.”

“I’m sorry,” she said softly, pouting as he glanced at her.

“No apologizing, not for this. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be in this position, but I know a thing or two about handling hard stuff alone.”

Ginny smiled and kissed the side of his head as Gavin squeezed her hip. “I love you, you know that?”

“You might have mentioned it a time or two.”

“We’ll do something fun when I get back, okay?”

“Absolutely.”

Two days later and Ginny was sitting at the airport, waiting for her flight to Houston to see her mother.Renewing their vows? The ones Cyrus couldn’t even stick to the first time? What a joke.There was no convincing Elsa otherwise, so instead of trying to reason with her mother over the phone, Ginny was flying out to see her. She was glad that Gavin was understanding about her decision and didn’t try to change her mind. But she could also see that he was worried about what would happen once she got there. Facing off with her mother would be one thing, but Ginny knew that she’d have to deal with Cyrus as well. Andthatmade her stomach turn.

Cyrus didn’t deserve a second chance, he didn’t deserve even a second thought, but he was worming his way back into her mother’s life and Ginny intended to protect Elsa the best she could. Cyrus was a philandering asshole who carried on multiple affairs while married to her mother and then before their divorce was even final, he was marrying another woman. She couldn’t believe that her mother thought this man who donated his sperm to create Ginny and her siblings was going to stick around this time.

She understood even better now that the marriage her parents had was the kind of toxic bullshit she was avoiding. Ginny loved the heck out of Gavin and she knew that he would never do to her what Cyrus did to Elsa, but this was just further proof why she avoided relationships. How could you trust your partner to be faithful and stick around when you needed them the most? Gavin was nothing like her sperm donor, but all these years of hesitation lay in the fact that her parents had really fucked up her concept of a happy relationship.

Knocking back her third coffee, Ginny picked up her phone to swipe through the texts in the siblings group. For the last five days, they’d been talking about Cyrus’ return and what it meant. Nobody had any intention of going to the wedding, but they were trying to find solutions. As if there was any way to convince Elsa she was making the biggest mistake of her life.

Ginny was the only one willing to try.

Ginny

I’m still pissed that you’re making me do this alone.

David

Nobody is asking you to do anything, Gin.

Stella

I’m sorry, but it’s the busiest time and I can’t leave.

David

Well, I don’t want to. If I see his face, I might put my foot in it.

Joey

I spoke to him and hated every minute of it. Then told him to go back to his wife and he laughed.

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