“Skye.” Her voice hitched a little on my name. “It’s so good to see you.”
She walked directly into the small kitchen and set the picnic basket on the counter.
My eyes darted to Fox, wide with panic.
He met my gaze, nervous but also reassuring. With a small shrug, he seemed to say,What do you want me to do?
“I decided I needed to bring you both dinner tonight.” She took out multiple lidded dishes from the picnic basket and placed them on the counter.
She turned the oven on, barely missing a beat. “It’s some baked tortellini with garlic bread and broccoli. I hope that sounds nice. We just have to warm it up a bit first.”
Fox stepped closer to me as his mother put the food in the oven to warm. The scent of garlic and butter wafted toward me as she popped off the lids of the dishes. My stomach clenched. I was starving, but the sensation barely registered beneath my shock.
“She heard Graham and August talking about you at the house earlier today,” Fox muttered under his breath. “She insisted she follow me here with dinner.”
I believed him. I gave him a curt nod as Raleigh shut the oven and turned around, wiping her hands on her jeans and adjusting her sage-green top. That warm smile I remembered all too well graced her face.
I gaped at her without saying a word, and that smile lowered a little.
“I heard you were in town,” she said softly. “Well, I heard rumors that you were in town, but I had figured if they were true, my son would have told me about it.” She rolled her eyes before stepping closer.
My heart raced beneath my ribs, and it took all my strength not to back away. Shame and guilt swirled inside me, coiling around my vital organs and squeezing until I almost couldn’t breathe. How could she say that after everything I had done?
A lump rose in my throat, and I swallowed hard against it. I sensed Fox shifting at my side, and he mumbled something about showering before dinner was ready. I resisted the urge to grab for him, to beg himto not leave me alone with my unmitigated guilt and the woman who I’d betrayed.
When I heard the bathroom door snick closed, Raleigh pulled in a deep breath.
“Oh, sweet girl,” she said softly.
She stepped even closer and before I had time to react, she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me in tight. I tensed. Her warmth and soft floral scent surrounded me. Her embrace felt like a mother’s—secure and utterly pure.
Something cracked inside me. A wall I had built long ago to keep my sadness and guilt away developed one sharp fissure right down the middle, and I melted into Raleigh’s embrace.
I circled my arms around her waist, clinging to her as tears welled. Raleigh rubbed a hand up and down my back.
“I’m so sorry.” My voice cracked.
Raleigh shushed me. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
I buried my face in her chest, shaking my head. “I do. I have so much to be sorry for.”
I lingered in her arms a moment longer before I pulled back. She held onto my hands. I hadn’t let any tears go, but they swam in my vision, distorting the look of concern and pity on her face.
“Come on.” She pulled me toward the couch.
I let her lead me, and we both sat on the cushions.
“You don’t—” I stammered, not sure what I wanted to say. “You don’t have to forgive me.”
Raleigh frowned, her brows pulling together in sharp disapproval. “You’re right.”
The words pierced my heart like a knife.
“I don’t have to forgive you.” She let go of one of my hands and smoothed down my hair. “I don’t have to forgive you because there’s nothing to forgive.”
I inhaled a shaky breath. Memories of Raleigh and what it was like being welcomed into her home flooded me. I shook my head. I was both embarrassed at my overreaction to her presence, and overwhelmed by the ache her absence had left inside me. An ache I had been ignoring for so long.
“I left,” I choked out. “I didn’t even tell you goodbye.”
