“Honey, sit. I can bring them to you.”
“No, please. I’ve been sitting a lot the last couple of days, and it’s starting to drive me crazy.”
Linda chuckles. “Fair enough.”
The Brussels sprouts are in a colander beside a cutting board, so I take them out one by one and remove the loose leaves around the outside. Then, after cutting an X in the stem, I slice it in half and lay them on the prepared baking sheet beside me.
It feels so good.
“How long have you lived here?”
“Seven years,” she replies. “The tenant I had next door moved out and left the place a mess, so Zane’s been helping me fix it up.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
She shrugs. “It happens. They were friendly enough, but the husband was a mechanic, and he worked on engines in the living room.”
“Are you serious?”
She laughs. “I am. And he didn’t put anything down first. The carpet was destroyed.”
“Did they at least pay for that?”
“I kept the deposit, but it wasn’t enough to cover the damage. It’s okay, though; my sweet boy has been helping.” She beams, so proud of her son. And why wouldn’t she be? Zane is the best man I’ve ever known.
“That’s great that he’s helping you.”
“He always does.”
Silence wraps around us as she continues chopping potatoes and putting them in a pot of water heating on the stove.
“I’m sorry that I left the hospital the way I did. I—uh—I wasn’t sure how to face you after what I did to Zane.”
Linda sets her knife down and turns to face me, so I do the same. She reaches out and grips both of my arms. “You don’t need to apologize to me.”
“Did he tell you? Why I left?”
She nods. “He did. But I didn’t want to bring it up unless you wanted to talk about it.”
“I didn’t want to risk what he’d do when he found out.”
Linda smiles, tears filling her eyes. “As his mother, I can appreciate the sacrifice you made. But as a woman who loves you like a daughter, I wish you would have come to us so we could’ve helped you. I like to believe Zane had a steady enough head on his shoulders he wouldn’t have run off without a thought to the consequences.”
Loves. Not loved. Loves. The dam I’ve used to hold back my emotions since I walked into this place shatters, and tears fill my eyes.
“Oh, come here, sweetie.” Linda pulls me in and wraps her arms around me. I hug her back, the embrace more than I’ve had in years. “You’re safe now. No one will hurt you again, okay?”
I wish that were true.
Because I sense that my greatest heartbreak is still on the horizon.
Chapter 15
Zane
“I got you something.” I set the Bible down in front of Tessa, then slide into the booth across from where she’s sitting.
She stares at it as though it’s going to jump toward her. “What’s this for?”
