Chapter Fifty-Three
Mia
I hadn’t been expecting this, and my attention was completely on his voice coming from behind me.
“I’m so fucking pissed at you. For what you’ve done to yourself all these years, for preaching love and letting go while repressing those things inside yourself.”
My heart ached for him, for these words. But I knew them, had felt them as my own.
“You let Katherine manipulate you, use you, make you into some asshat in a suit with no opinions or desires. You let love turn into something nasty in your eyes, like a virus or a plague upon mankind. Instead of those dreams of having a family and a happily ever after, you gave up. Wanted the simple love-free life instead.”
Tears started falling over my mascara-covered eyelashes, those fingers gripping my dress opening and flexing. Craving to reach out and soothe the hurt that was inside him. But this moment was for him to get out what he needed and not for me to save him.
“Then, there was the shit with your parents. They got their own letters from you, but I’m still angry with you for holding on to that hope that they’d be people they weren’t—loving parents. At the end, you let them be in control of your happiness, and no one but you is in charge of your happiness. You forgot everything. All your schooling, all that work with people you’d helped with Inspired. Your friends, your new love. You forgot who you were. You let yourself fall into despair where no one could follow you. Pushing away everyone who mattered, hurting those you cared about most.”
His breathing hitched slightly, like he was struggling to get these words out as much as I was struggling against going to him, to be there for him.
“Lastly, I’m so pissed at you for fucking things up with Mia. For pushing her away when you really needed to lean on her. To let her be the light in the dark for you. Instead, you yelled, and you made both of your hearts break in two. Then, there was that stunt with Alexa.”
My chest constricted, my throat refusing to swallow, and my eyes burned from the coming tsunami of tears that were about to crest.
“Your cousin Alexa came to visit you, to check in on you, and instead of telling Mia that she was your cousin, the truth, you let her think the worst. You not only shattered what was left of her cracked heart, but also pushed her into a place she should never have been. You love Mia with all your hippie, sandal-wearing heart. And you broke her. You don’t deserve her after this. You’d helped build her up, only so you could tear her down when you were feeling vulnerable and scared. That’s what you were. Scared. Scared of the unknown future, scared that you would end up with a broken soul or breaking Mia’s in the process. You turned too far into yourself that you lost sight of what you had and only focused on the negatives.”
My head fell, tears dripping onto the yellow dress, as I was unable to hold back the emotions I was feeling—the release of knowing he hadn’t betrayed me. He was an ass and shouldn’t have done what he had. I’d played right into my own flaws, and he’d merely taken advantage of that.
“But you know what, Logan?” His voice was closer, on the move.
Sandals peeked into the view to my left. He was here.
His soft fingers caressing my hair, then my jaw, and under my chin. Slowly lifting my head to look at him once and for all.
My heart skipped a beat and then became erratic. He was so handsome, smiling, and a gaze of hope beamed in my direction.
“I forgive you, Logan.”
I cried for him.
I cried for me.
“I forgive you, Logan, because I know you’re going to make this right. I know you’re going to let go of the past, of the hurt, and finally set yourself free from those chains.”
A smile began forming on my lips, pride blooming in my chest, as he kept going with his words, not even bothering to look at the paper he had, which was now discarded on the ground somewhere.
“I forgive you, Logan, because I know that you are going to find Mia, tell her the truth, and spend every second of the rest of your life gluing those pieces of her heart back together if you need to. I know you’re going to tell her every day how much you love her and how beautiful she is, even without the makeup and glam. That you’re going to tell her how brave and strong she is. Because let’s face it; she doesn’t need you. She can handle anything life throws at her by herself. So, you’re going to prove to her with every breath you take that you belong beside her.”
I could not stop crying, but those tears that had been sad and filled with hope were now tears of joy. My Logan was here, and he was confessing his love to me.
“I forgive you, Logan, because I know that you’re enough on your own and that you will live out the rest of your life, choosing happiness. Maybe Mia will even let you marry her one day and have a family filled with gray eyes, tan skin, and caramel-colored hair, so they can drive you crazy while they speak half-Italian and half-English around you at the breakfast table.
“I end this letter with a simple good-bye. Take care, Logan. Live free and go fix what you fucked up with the love of your life. Good-bye.”
Silence spread between us, the crashing of the waves in the background the only sound here. My tears fell quietly, no ending in sight for those.
“I’m sorry, Mia,” he finally said to me, not a part of his letter.
Although those words weren’t needed. I knew he’d felt them even before now.
“I fucked up, and I can’t take it back. Any of it. But I can promise you that I will never hurt you like that again. I’ll annoy you, tease you, but I will never break any part of you again, especially something as valuable as your heart. Forgive me, Mia.”
