“Noah, I’m so sorry. My heart breaks that I brought you back to that place. And I do trust you.” She laced her fingers with his, telling him in her touch what she felt. “Me omitting this vital detail was about me leaning into a time in my life I skipped altogether.” She exhaled. “I found out I was pregnant with Daisy at eighteen, right before college. I’d accepted a full ride to RISD, and I was eager to start a new chapter in Rhode Island. When I found out, it was like I was pushed off a cliff and left to fly without wings.”Dahlia’s eyes burned, and her throat closed. Talking about it brought her right back to the day. “I grieved; there was so much shame and guilt. I told Spence right away, and he didn’t want a baby. So I had her on my own.”
“That son of a bitch,” Noah said with a pinched face.
“No, I wouldn’t trade that time with her for anything. He came back later when she was five and offered us a chance to be a family. It didn’t feel right, even then, but I was so tired. Tired of working two jobs making ends meet, going to school at night, and feeling the weight of the world solely on my shoulders.” She shrugged. “I was just a kid, and in the blink of an eye, I was a mom, responsible for another tiny human. There were no more teenage years, college days, travel with friends abroad, or drunken fun twenties. I let it all go. And I don’t regret it for a second.”
“Baby, you don’t have to explain.” He slid his hand around her neck and under her hair and kissed her like the world was ending and starting at the same time. It was like a promise of what was to come. He cupped her face with his strong, capable hands. “You’re an amazing person. What you gave up to be a mom … your daughter is very lucky to have you.”
“Thank you.” She wrapped her hand around his, still tucked in hair. She knew he saw motherhood through a unique lens. One that made him more than qualified to give her such a compliment.
“I mean it, D. Everyone should be that lucky,” he said adamantly.
“Noah.” She rested her head on his. “I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to be me for a change. You made me forget all the heaviness. And selfishly, I liked it. And a small part of me thought if I told you about her, you’d see me differently,” she said, closing her eyes.
“God, never, ever.” He caressed her cheek with his thumb. It was tender but also laced with yearning. “Look at me. I want you to hear and see me say this. If anything, I caremoreabout you because of this. Whatever you went through, it led you here to me. Don’t you see?” he asked, his eyes locked with hers in a plea that said more without words.
“I do,” Dahlia said, feeling like all the bumps and detours brought her here to him. She glanced toward the garden in thought and sank her teeth into her bottom lip. “Noah, I’m falling hard and fast for you. It scares me.”
“Me too, D.” He pressed his mouth to hers again, and their tongues collided. This time deeper, with a longing she’d thirsted for over the last few days. Her body flooded with warmth. Every morsel of skin craved him, and her core pulsed with need.
“God, I want you so bad.” He kissed every inch of her face. “I’ve never wanted to skip out on a party more in my life.”
“Me … too,” she said breathlessly while imagining Gretchen’s wrath, knowing they couldn’t.
“I missed you like crazy. And I should have come home sooner,” he said, slipping his hand around her waist. “I almost woke you up this morning on my way through the barn, but you looked so peaceful.”
“Home. I like the sound of that.” She smiled.
“Listen, I wasn’t there for you, and I am sorry.” He looked away. “I talked to Penny yesterday, and then Kara reached out to me on Instagram last night.”
Ride or die, no matter what.Kara always had her back. “She did?” Dahlia couldn’t wait to talk to her and tell her everything. And to apologize.
“She knocked some sense into me. Told me how lucky I was to have you. And I am a total arse.”
“No, you’re not.” She laughed. “But maybe it was good that I went through the last few days alone, to break through the noise of everything. It was a lot.”
Noah gave a light head shake. “I don’t know much, just that what you found was shocking and that you needed me.”
Thank God for these girls. Between Kara, Gretchen, and now even Penny, she was starting to feel like she belonged to a tribe. It was something she envied other girls for but never thought she’d have.
“You don’t know the half of it. Are you ready for this?” Dahlia asked quietly as a server walked past.
“Let’s go over here.” He pulled her into the section of woods in the back, as if what she was about to share was top secret. In a way, it was.
“I can’t believe I’m actually going to say this out loud. Aside from Harry, you’re the only person I’ve told.”
“Okay,” he leaned closer. She could smell his musk, with hints of the sea and sandalwood, and her knees weakened. If she was going to make it through this tell-all, she had to lean against the tree.
She inhaled a whiff of him and blurted. “My grandmother didn’t have an affair. It was Lil. She had the baby with a man named Gene.”
Noah yanked back in shock. “So wait, what are you saying exactly?”
“That Lil was my grandmother.” Dahlia felt the tide rise in her eyes. “I found the key. The safe-deposit box held a letter to me and her journals. Noah, she was sixteen when she got pregnant, and madly in love. Her father was a monster. She didn’t have a choice but to let my gran and pop raise my mother. Otherwise, she would have lost her to the system forever.”
“That’s incredible.” He took a long pause, most likely because it hit close to home. “Sounds like your stories were similar. You and Lil.”
“You have no idea.Lil was the only one who stepped up to help me in the beginning. I was so alone when I found out I was pregnant, and she gave me hope.” She smiled through the tears that threatened to spill.
“Now you know why.”
