I guess I am. But what about me? I have Dallas, but is that all? I had wanted to ask my husband about my family while he was sitting at my bedside, but every time I opened my mouth about it, the words died on my tongue.
I didn’t want to know. Because if Ididhave a family, wouldn’t they have called? Wouldn’t I have had someone else visiting me in the hospital besides him?
And, yet, hearing the slight warning in his tone as he talks about his parents, I know it’s time to ask him about mine.
“What about me?” I murmur. “Do I have parents?”
Dallas lifts his hand, brushing a lock of my blonde hair out of my face. “I believe so.”
I frown. “What does that mean?”
“Your parents are divorced,” he tells me. “Your mom left when you were a kid. You don’t talk. At least, you weren’t talking when you and me were…”
Right. “And my dad?”
Dallas is quiet for a moment before he says, “He lives here. In Harmony Heights.”
My heart skips a beat. “Does he know I’m back? Does he know I’m okay?”
Another pause, as though he’s trying to pick out the right words to keep from hurting me.
“I don’t know, Luce. You two… you didn’t get along,” he says, a touch of an apology to his gentled tone. “He kicked you out when you were eighteen. You’re thirty now, baby. I think you’ve talked to him… three of four times since then that I know of. Youhad roommates,” he continues. “Worked. Took care of yourself. You didn’t need him. Trust me.”
Hearing all of that hits like a kick in the teeth. I’m sure, before my accident, I didn’t care. I probably have reasons why I avoided my parents. But now that I’m basically alone in the world…
Only I’m not, am I? I have a rich, handsome husband, and so long as I can trust Dallas, everything should be alright. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be even better since I’d almost lost him, too, before I fell.
The reminder of that has me letting out a hollow laugh as I realize just how fucked-up my life was.
Dallas frowns. “Luce?”
“Let me get this straight. So my mom left, my dad didn’t want me, and my marriage imploded?—”
He cuts me off immediately, laying his hands on my shoulders.
“No. I told you, baby. That was my fault. I won’t let you blame yourself for that.”
I look away from him. “I don’t know?—”
Dallas frees one hand, using it to grip my chin, turning my face so that I have to look into his gorgeous one. “I know. You’ll remember, but until then, I’ll remember for you. What happened to us… I was too stubborn to apologize. Too proud to come after you. I thought… I thought if you wanted me, you’d come back.”
“How long?” I whisper.
His face shadows over. “Too long.”
It was at least a year, if not longer. Too push Dallas to confess how long wouldn’t be fair when he obviously regrets it.
And then he says, “I wanted you desperately. Every day you were gone… but I thought you were happy. I thought you weresafe. But I want you to understand something, okay? You movedto California after you walked away from me, but you were right outside the airport when you fell from that window in a hotel. You were trying to call me. Maybe… maybe you were finally coming back to me.”
There’s a pleading note in his voice that I pick up on. Like he wants to believe that was the case.
You know what? I want to believe it, too.
“I don’t know what you were thinking,” he adds quickly. “Maybe you were coming back. Maybe you needed my help and you knew that, no matter what, I’d always give it to you. It doesn’t matter now.”
That’s what he says, but it matters to me. “Dallas?—”
“I’m here,” he says, cutting me off. “I’m going to take care of you. You’re my wife. I need you to understand that more than anything.” The intensity in his voice makes my pulse jump. “I never stopped loving you. I only hope that, in time, you remember that you loved me once, too.”
