I pulled him to my chest. “Let it out. You’ve held it inside all these years, haven’t you?” I rubbed his back in soothing circles. “You’re hurting, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.” He rested on my shoulder. “You should be angry too. They wronged you as much as me. Who knows what might’ve happened if we’d been allowed to see each other? We could’ve been married, maybe even had a child by now.”
A thrill ran through me at his words, but I suppressed it. This wasn’t about me. “We can’t change what happened, but we can learn from it.”
“Oh yeah,” he said bitterly. “I’ve learned something all right. Don’t trust anyone. They’ll only let you down.” A shudder rolled through him. “Even Dominic died and left me.”
An unpleasant thought hit me. “Did you sleep with him?”
“Dom?” His shocked face met my inquiring one. “No, of course not. He was crazy about Ross. Despite their last fight, they had a wonderful marriage. I’ll admit when I took him on as a client early in my career, I had a little crush on him, but he told me right from the start that his heart belonged to Ross. I’ve never had an affair with a client. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Sort of like my doctor-patient relationship. I’d never overstep boundaries.”
He raised his head and caught my gaze. “Haven’t you ever been tempted?”
“Not where I’ve ever asked anyone out. But then again, I’ve sabotaged my personal life to an extent.” I stopped myself and gnawed on my lower lip. “I’ve barely had relationships. Lots of one-offs, but after Mike, there were only a few men I saw more than once or twice. Like you, I kept everyone at arm’s length so I wouldn’t get hurt again. Guess that was my coping mechanism clouding my judgment.”
“So my parents damaged two lives with their selfishness.”
His jaw worked back and forth, and he stormed away, stomping across the room. His phone lay on the floor where he’d thrown it earlier, and he picked it up. He returned to me and set it between us. I saw at least a dozen missed calls, presumably from his mother. “You’re going to listen to this? Please?” he pleaded, determination in every word.
I nodded. Already strung tight from our earlier lovemaking, I was on edge, yet conversely, emotionally spent.
He pushed one of the return calls, and the phone didn’t even ring twice before the shrill voice of Ezra’s mother rang out. “Ezra, is that you? Please listen to me.”
“Stop. I’m here with Roe. We’re both listening. But let me say one thing first. Do not tell me that you lied to protect me. If you say that, I promise I’ll hang up, and that will be the end of us.”
I remembered him telling her he’d never speak to her again, but when it came to family and people you loved, you tended to want to give second chances.
I took Ezra’s hand, hoping to offer him a little bit of lifesaving comfort in his sea of turmoil.
“I—we, we didn’t think he was right for you. What did you have in common? Nothing. You had this fantasy of getting back together after college, and I knew that would never happen.”
“Why? I loved him.”
“You were kids. What did you know about love?”
I winced at her dismissive tone, and from the thrust of Ezra’s jaw, those weren’t the words he wanted to hear.
“I knew Roe was who I wanted to be with.”
“Because you wouldn’t allow yourself to see anyone else. You told me yourself, Monroe didn’t approve of us or our lifestyle. So why should I give him a chance?”
“Because, Mom,” Ezra said wearily, rubbing his face with his free hand while I kept a tight hold on the other, “it wasn’t about you. Or the business. Neither of us cared about the money. We cared about each other. We made a promise that after college we’d be together. You took that chance away.”
“Sure, you say you don’t care about the money. But you never minded having it, did you?”
The heat of my humiliation crept up my neck, and Ezra tightened his hold on my hand.
“That’s not fair, Mrs. Green.” I hadn’t meant to speak but couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Of course. When I mention money that’s when you speak up? See, I told you, Ezra. It was always on his mind. He liked the things you could do for him.”
I let my temper get the best of me. “Things? I wasn’t interested in what Ezra could do for me or give me. I loved him for how he made me feel. The one thing I wanted from Ezra was always free. His heart.”
“You hear that, Mom? Does that sound like someone who only wanted money? Where did you get this crazy idea?”
But she continued on stubbornly, not giving an inch. “We did it because we’re your parents and thought it was best for you.”
