“My girl,” she exhaled as Henry gently set me down on a nearby bench.
“Mom,” I choked out, tears spilling over before I could stop them.She wrapped her arms around me, and I buried my face in her neck, inhaling the faint scent of lavender and powder that always reminded me of her.
“It’s okay, darling,” she whispered, rubbing small circles on my back.“I’m here.Everything will be okay.”
My chest broke open.
For so long, I’d only seen pieces of the woman she once was, her mind lost somewhere I couldn’t follow.And now here she was, lucid and warm, holding me.
How was this possible?
“I’ll let you two catch up.”Henry’s voice cut through, and I pulled my attention back to him.“Krystal will check on you periodically.If you need anything, let her know.”
I swallowed hard, peering at him through my tear-stained eyes.
When I’d first woken up in his bed, I’d been convinced he was the enemy.Part of me still wasn’t sure whether I could trust what he told me.But this act of kindness undid something in me I didn’t know was still holding on.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Anything to make you happy.”His eyes lingered on mine before he looked to my mother.“Mrs.Summers.”
She smiled warmly.“Henry.”
As he retreated toward the house, the sunlight glinted off his dark hair, making him look almost ethereal.A hint of light in the darkness that typically consumed him.
“He cares about you,” my mother said quietly once he disappeared from view.
I turned my eyes back to her, wiping my cheeks.“You don’t?—”
“I know.”Her voice was calm, clearer than I’d heard it in years.“I can understand your hesitation, especially after Victor.”
I didn’t say anything.She’d hit the nail on its head.It was precisely what I was thinking.
“But you can always trust your heart, Ariana,” she continued.“What does your heart tell you?”
I parted my lips, trying to listen to the same organ that had betrayed me repeatedly.“I don’t know.”
“Then give it time.”She squeezed my hand.“It will know before your head does.”
Her words wound their way through me like a vine — fragile, hopeful, terrifying.
Because I already knew what my heart was trying to tell me.
I just didn’t know if I was ready to trust it again.
ChapterNine
Henry
My footsteps echoed off the hardwood floor as I stepped back inside the house, but my mind was far away, still caught on the look on Ariana’s face when she realized her mother was here.
Pure, unguarded happiness.
I’d never seen her smile like that.I’d seen her laugh out of disbelief, smirk out of defiance, even cry out of frustration.But this?This was different.It was light.Real.
A glimpse of the woman she might have been if Victor Kane hadn’t destroyed her life.
And I’d been the one to give it to her.A moment of peace.Of joy.
