I watched him, not understanding what he meant.
"But you still bought candy for the pack pups."
My breathing stopped. How did he know?
"You could identify those complicated herbs. Poison hemlock and water hemlock that others couldn't tell apart—you knew at a glance."
That was because I was ostracized, only given the hardest work, sent to the forest to gather herbs.
"Your roasted meat was the best in the entire pack, even though you never joined the gatherings."
I wasn't allowed to join. I could only help in the kitchen, then take leftovers home.
"And now you're a renowned jewelry designer." Kayden's voice carried admiration, praise, and something hidden... pride?
"You had a harder start than any of us. But Layla..."
I held my breath.
"You're braver than all of us."
I'd never expected him to say that.
I was like a porcupine with raised quills, all aggression. I needed to push him away, drive him off. Only when he witnessed my wretchedness and finally left would that voice inside me be satisfied. See? He left after all.
But if he could stay, if he could really look at me, if he could just hold me... I'd surrender completely.
"But that's not why I love you." Kayden pulled a cloth bag from the backseat, placing it on my lap. Trembling, I opened it. Inside was my diary and that jacket I'd treasured for ten years.
"Love only needs a glance, a moment, a trace of scent. Layla, I wasn't drunk that night."
So he meant—
"It wasn't a mistake. It was the best choice of my life. Having you. Facing my love."
Kayden's hand gently covered mine, warm and dry, his thumb slowly stroking the back of my hand.
"I know all of this is too late, but I have to tell you. Layla Gray, or Ella Ross—even though I was once blinded by meaningless reasons... I love you. That's the only thing I'm certain of."
I just sat there. No movement. No words. Seventeen years. Over six thousand days and nights. From the moment I fell for him, I'd fantasized about hearing these words.
Until time stripped away my innocence, until fine lines appeared at the corners of my eyes. I was no longer that fifteen-year-old girl full of fantasies, but a mother with a six-year-old son. I'd loved him too long. This love was like breathing. I was used to Kayden Blackwood living in my heart, used to him effortlessly stirring waves in my life.
I pulled my diary from the cloth bag, fingertips slowly, carefully tracing the cover. Inside lived a girl from a time already passed.
I couldn't forgive him on behalf of the past Layla.
"How can I believe you?"
I handed the bag with the jacket back to him. Kayden stiffened for several seconds, didn't take it. I calmly placed it in the backseat.
"A few words won't change the despair I endured."
Kayden's face went instantly pale, like all blood had been drained from it.
"Kayden, thank you for saving me. But I'm giving those words back to you. Tonight was a mistake." I slung my bag over my shoulder, pulled the jacket tighter, hand on the door handle.
"Lay—"
