Shame washed over me. I almost couldn’t bring myself to tell him. Why would I? Why would I want to tell the man who’d done everything and more for me—who loved me in secret for years—that what he’d sacrificed wasn’t enough. That being with me would ruin his dream too.
“She wants me to give up the baby.”
“She’s insane.” His fingers curled into mine, giving them a warm squeeze. “It’s not happening, Daze. She can’t touch the baby or you. Or us.”
A cry untethered from my throat.
“I love you, Daze. Both of you. I won’t let anything happen, do you hear me?”
Max Hamilton loved me, and I’d never been more certain of anything in my entire life. But this wasn’t about loving me—or me loving him. This was…whatever it was, love wasn’t enough.
“You’re wrong.” I covered my stomach with my hand, feeling the baby turn. “She can touch you.”
“What?” He stiffened. “What did she tell you?”
“She…they can ruin you, Max.” Fear reamed all steadiness from my voice. “Everyone there…all the contacts you’re trying to make, the ways you’re trying to grow your business—they can take it all away.” I paused to catch a breath. “A few words from them and everything you’ve worked for will be ruined.”
“Daisy, that’s not?—”
“You can’t tell me it’s not, Max,” I insisted, my voice rising, my heart pounding. “I know them. I know what you and Todd went through building MaineStems. I know how many connections he made for you—all because of his family. You can’t say no because I know the truth. I know what their name means. I know how?—”
“Daze.” He shook my hand until I stopped, realizing I wasn’t stopping to think, let alone breathe. “You know I will fix this.”
Tears strung up along my lashes. “You shouldn’t have to.”
And what would he risk to do it?
He’d loved me through every obstacle, but what if this was the one that broke him? What if loving me meant losing his business—his dream? What if he couldn’t have both, and he came to resent me for it?
“I need you to trust me, baby. Please.” He pulled my knuckles to his lips, tattooing them with his plea. “Please.”
I did trust him. It was never a question of trusting him. I just knew what the McCormicks were capable of, and I knew they wouldn’t relent. They hadn’t relented on Todd when he’d tried to do his own thing. They’d even let him barter on the family name to help MaineStems grow, but it was an insidious kind of help. The kind that grew like a blueberry bush, producing fruit even as it completely invaded its surroundings, choking out every other kind of life.
“I do trust you,” I said, my lip quivering as I let out a sigh and turned to him.
The glow from the dash caught on his tousled hair and the hard profile of his face. He’d never been more handsome than in this moment. My knight in a gleaming black tuxedo, willing to fight any battle for me, even one that could mean the death of his dream.
Just knowing that made my heart swing harder at my chest with every beat, wanting to crack out of its cage and go to him. To leave me to the consequences of my situation and free him to be happy.
“I’m sorry, Max,” I heard myself say, a heartbroken husk overtaking my voice.
His hand pulsed around mine. “Don’t apologize, baby. None of this is your fault. None of it.” He dragged my hand to his mouth again, kissing the back of it like he could infuse his confidence straight into my veins. “I’m going to handle it.”
My eyes burned, but I refused to cry. I didn’t want to waste whatever moments I had left to look at him like this. Like he was mine. Moments that turned out to be too few because it felt like I blinked and we were pulling down the driveway, Max parking in front of the house minutes later.
“Daisy…” He groaned and leaned over the console, cupping my cheek. “What is it?”
It wasn’t fair.
It wasn’t fair that he had to keep cleaning up the mess of my life. It wasn’t fair that he had to keep saving me.It wasn’t fair that to keep the woman he loved, he’d have to risk the dream he chased.
It wasn’t about asking him to choose. It was about having to live with the consequences of his choice. Until Max, I never would’ve dreamed of Todd or any other man putting me first. None of them had, just like my mother had told me, none of them would.Until Max.But Max would put me first. He alwayshad. Always would. He’d pick me time and time again and never think twice about what it could cost him.
How could I live with myself knowing the position I’d put him in? Knowing the choice he’d make? I was the reason he’d been alone for four years. I was the reason he’d given up on the idea of marriage and a family. I wouldn’t now be the reason he lost his dream too.
“Let’s go inside…to bed,” Max rumbled, stroking my cheek like he was searching for tears to wipe away but found none. That was because they were all inside, filling the deep well I’d dug for decades.
I didn’t have the strength to argue when he carried me inside, only realizing when my feet hit the floor that he’d carried me because I’d taken my shoes off at some point during the drive home. Upstairs, he unzipped the back of my dress, the material falling in a gold whoosh to the ground.
