I shook my head, my eyes pleading for her to believe me. “When he woke the next morning, he was beside himself with disgust and anger at what he’d done.” I inhaled on a slow breath, my gaze shifting to Shay before I looked at her again. “He wanted me to call the sheriff on him. Begged me to. I couldn’t.” I glanced down at my fingers, remembering those words he uttered before he kissed me. He never explained them, and I never asked. “We don’t pick who we fall in love with, Ryleigh and unlike romance books, it doesn’t always end happy like it should, in real life.”
“You weren’t in love with him, Skye, merely teen infatuation,” she said dryly.
Resentment punched holes through my pores. Fists clenched, I turned away, not bothering to repudiate her words. Then I looked at Shay and my heart melted. Slowly, I pivoted, facing her again. “I promised to never bring up the kiss, because of you. I knew Shay felt something for me, I just didn’t know what and I never got a chance to explore it because he left that same morning. When he returned, sixteen months later, it was to announce he was marrying you. Somewhere between that kiss, his announcement and your marriage, I lost my brother, my soul, my heart and the only man I have ever loved. Walking away was the best for both of us even though it hurt.”
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t feel sorry for you. Because even after he chose to fuck you, minutes before my wedding, you chose to run. You left him when he needed you most,” she sneered, hate tightening her jaw.
Pain charred my insides. She was right. I ran. I didn’t give him a chance to choose differently. I left him with a burden of not only cheating on his future wife but losing me too.
She took a step closer. “It took me two years of every single ounce of courage I could muster to bring him back to me. When he finally admitted what happened, I was stunned, hurt. But I couldn’t hate him because I loved him so damned much. So guess what, while you ran off, leaving two broken hearts behind, I was there to pick up the pieces, I was there to hold him together, I was there loving a man who loved another.”
“I’m...I’m sorry.”
Her brow shot up before her lips thinned and her anger wasn’t unfounded. “If you really are sorry, you’ll walk away now. You’ll leave him, forget about him and never return. He doesn’t know you’re here, so let’s leave him like that. When he wakes and finds you here, he will leave me, and I’ll be damned if I let everything I worked for, go to waste. You can’t come home. If you do, the entire town will know you fucked your brother.” She hissed the last part, her threat as clear as the white clouds in the window behind her.
Tears I couldn’t hold back, fell. Rolling down my cheeks and falling to my linked fingers just like the way my heart was dropping right now. Careening over that cliff edge I’d worked hard to fence off. Whether she was being nasty or not and she had every right to be, I could never go back home. I could never go back to Shay.
“Don’t twist this already sick love story into something worse, Skye,” she gritted. “Because the pain I felt over the last three years will be nothing compared to what you’ll feel when everyone finds out, including your father,” she warned. “Clearly he doesn’t know about your sordid escapade with your brother.”
“You wouldn’t,” I gasped, my voice thick with the anxiety of losing my father too. So far he’d respected my wishes to not let Shay know where I was and if he learned the truth behind that request, it would break him, break us and take away the only family I had right now.
She leaned closer, her nose inches from mine, her eyes shards of ice. “Then don’t test me.”
“Mama.”
I turned at the soft call. My son stood at the door, his hand linked with Dad’s. “Everything okay?” Dad’s gaze slid between Ryleigh and me.” At my nod, he added, “I’m sorry, Angel, he woke and wanted you.”
“It’s okay, Dad. Hey, sweetheart.” I crouched and gestured for him to come to me. He ran into my arms. “I’ll be back just now, Angel.” I nodded before Dad walked away.
As I stood, my son’s little hands cupped my face. “Why you crying, Mama?” his baby voice made me smile.
I rubbed my nose against his. “Mama is sad.”
“I kiss you better.” He leaned forward and kissed me like I’d done a thousand times when he’d cried or fallen.
My laugh was soft. “Thank you, sweetheart.” When I turned to look at Ryleigh, a deep frown ridged her brow.
“You had a baby?” she asked, her tone heavy with disbelief, her eyes riveted on him. “I’m surprised your father never mentioned it.” Her laugh was acidic then her expression morphed into realization, and I knew what was coming. “Oh, my God.” She clutched her throat, her nostrils flaring. “He’s Shay’s son,” she choked out.
Anxiety tightened my chest. “Ryle—”
She held up her hand, shaking her head for me to stop. “All I ever wanted from the first day I met Shay, was the white picket dream. You know, a quaint home by the river, two kids we’d roast marshmallows over the fire with, Sunday morning breakfast in bed.” She hiccupped on a sob, her eyes turning a livid darker brown. “You stole that from me, Skye. You took everything I dreamed about with you that afternoon you ran off, leaving me with nothing but shadows of happiness. Now here you are, back to taunt me with the happiness I was desperate to have with Shay.”
Ashamed, I shook my head. “I’m so sorry—”
“Save your false pity for someone who cares, Skye,” she cut me off. “Your father doesn’t know, does he?” I didn’t answer but her anger was now replaced with sadness—a sudden mask of agony I’d never want to see on my worst enemy and truthfully, I did consider her that once. Her eyes dropped to my son, longing mixed with jealousy swathed her eyes before her lashes swept downward and she inhaled on a deep breath.
In that single moment I’d never hated myself so much. I stole her happiness. I stole her dreams with Shay. They might have a child together but what I did with Shay poisoned his relationship with her.
As if he sensed her pain, my son reached out a hand to her, giving her one of his sweet smiles. “Don’t cry.”
I expected her to leave, but instead, she took a step forward and took his hand in hers, wiping her tears with her other. “I won’t,” she whispered, kissing his hand then she looked at me. “He’s beautiful. Just like Shay.” At my nod, she whispered, “please, Skye...” she trailed off and I knew what she was asking.
The question was, could I give her that? Could I walk away and leave the man I loved, once more? I looked at my son then, and in my heart, I knew I could. If for nothing else but to spare him the agony of growing up in a place he’d be ridiculed for his parents’ mistakes.
“Take care of him,” I said to Ryleigh, anything more and I’d come apart, embarrassingly so. She nodded. With one last look at Shay, I swiped at the tears racing down my cheeks. One more touch, one more kiss, it was all I wanted. “Bye, Shay,” I murmured, hoping he’d hear me and open his eyes.
I will always love you.
