I smile at him. “I’m glad you had a good day with her.”
“It was a good day.” Kade leans back in the booth, draping an arm across the leather seat. “Poppy mentioned some things when we were fishing, and brought them up again today.”
“Some things?”
He nods. “That you’ve been sad ever since you left Paul and your dad died.”
I wince. “That’s a very abbreviated version.”
“Presley.” Kade’s voice is stern. “What happened?”
I’m nervous. I shouldn’t be nervous around Kade, but I am. Because I don’t want him to hate me anymore. Because we’ve had a few conversations together without it feeling like the world is going to end. I don’t want what I tell him now to change things.
“My dad died about six months ago.”
Kade reaches around, clasping a warm hand over mine. “I’m sorry, Pres. I can’t imagine how hard that was.”
I give him a sad smile. “I tried to have a relationship with him, but no matter what I did, it wasn’t good enough for him. I wasn’t a good enough wife to Paul. I was failing Poppy because I wasn’t putting her in all the extracurricular activities to improve her social standing. I was letting her have playdates with other kids from families he didn’t approve of.” I scoff, tears welling in my eyes. “I hated it. I didn’t want her to havethe same childhood as me. But when Dad got sicker, and Paul started taking over, everything changed.”
“What changed?” he asks, prodding me along.
“Paul wasn’t around. He spent more time at work than at home. It was only me and Poppy. My mom would come around, but it would be to judge how dirty the house was or how I wasn’t feeding her right.”
“Jesus.”
I remember how they treated Kade when we were dating. They looked down their noses at him. Like he was the dirt on the bottom of their shoe. I hated it. Kade dealt with it for me, but eventually, he stopped coming around.
I snuck out to see him, but my dad? He’d had enough. So he arranged for me to marry Paul.
Causing Kade to flee.
It was the last time I had anything resembling a relationship with my dad.
“I tried to be the person they wanted me to be, but nothing worked. Not even arranging the marriage to Paul worked. Everything fell apart. I never had a great relationship with any of them. I didn’t want to be a person that hated my life, so I took Poppy and left. Paul and I are legally separated, but then my dad died.”
Kade’s nostrils flare ever so slightly. “They arranged the engagement with Paul?”
“Of course they did.” I nod. “You really think I wanted that?”
“I was blindsided, Presley. Who wouldn’t be?”
“I tried to go after you, but you were gone. I never wanted any of it. I wantedyou.”
Kade shakes his head. “I should be surprised, but your parents hated me.”
“They didn’t know you like I did.”
Because if they had, they would have seen the person that I saw. The kind, generous caring man. The one that is herenow. The one that loved me more than life itself. WhoIloved more than life itself.
“What happened with his company?” Kade asks, steering the conversation back to the original topic.
“That’s the sticky situation. He never updated his will, so it still comes to me.”
“Still?”
I nod. “Everything is still up in the air because his lawyers are working out all the details of his estate. Because the company is in my name, I’m getting payouts from it. It’s why I can afford to live and work right now. Paul hates it. He is trying to sue me for sole control.”
“And if you don’t give it to him?”
