If she did, it was hard to face what he had done.
And I didn’t even give her a choice.
If she had loved him the way he’d loved her, then she would probably never forgive him.
He slid his phone out of his pocket. He wasn’t about to knock on her door again, but he needed to make sure she understood that he was thinking about everything she had told him, and that he was trying to learn from what he had done to them both. Without knowing exactly what he was going to say, he started tapping out a message.
Hailey, you’re right. I’ve been heartbroken all this time over leaving you. But I never realized you were heartbroken too.
I always thought you were way too good for me. I still do.
I knew that great things were waiting for you, and I thought you were excited to see what the world had in store.
Right now, I’m sitting with the knowledge that your feelings for me were deeper than I thought.
That maybe they were an awful lot like mine for you.
And if you felt the way I did, then you had a hard time sleeping for a long time after our break-up.
If you felt the way I did, then you also had a hard time opening your heart to anyone else, and it impacted every relationship you’ve had since me.
And if you felt the way I did, and you didn’t even know why, then you felt things I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy.
I’ll never forgive myself for what I did, so I can’t expect you to forgive me either.
And I know that what you want right now is space.
But if you ever change your mind, I will be right here.
And Hailey Sinclair, I will always, always love you.
He was no poet,and he was pretty sure his words would only make her angrier. But he hitsendbefore he could change his mind. At least he was being honest with her now about his feelings, and letting her make her own decisions instead of assuming he knew what was best for her.
How could I have been so stupid?
His phone chirped to say the text was sent just as he headed for the barn door.
The chirp echoed faintly from the other side of the door, and when he slid it open, there was Hailey.
Her hair glowed softly in the outside light like a halo and her eyes were brighter than ever.
“Hailey,” he murmured.
“Don’t youevershut down on me again,” she told him firmly. “Notever.”
“Never,” he told her. “I promise?—”
But she was flowing into his arms before he could finish, hugging him so tightly and weeping into his chest.
He held her close, pressing his lips to the crown of her head, and when she finally loosened her hold on him, he pulled back and cupped her cheek in his hand.
Her blue eyes were wet with tears, but she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And when he bent to kiss her he wondered if she could hear the wild beating of his broken heart coming back to life.
23
HAILEY
Hailey looked around the table at the A-frame that night, unable to believe that she was sharing Christmas dinner with Ransom, Travis, Mae, Willow, Jensen, and little Henry.
