Jude’s eyes turned from guilt to anger when I mentioned King.
“Not being there for you, for our child, will always be my biggest regret. It’s the one thing I would change if I could.”
It’s the one thing I would change if I could.
“The one thing you would change?” I whispered, slow and quiet. “There is nothing else you would change? Like coming home to me? If you could go back, you would make the same decision?”
Jude’s eyes hardened. He crossed his arms over his chest and broke my heart all over again when he said, “Yes.”
“Get the fuck out of my house,” I ground out through clenched teeth. “NOW!”
“Morgan...” He took a step closer, his hands reaching for me, and I backed up. I couldn’t let him touch me. Not now. Not after knowing he’d left me on purpose. “Baby, just let me explain.”
“Jude, you need to go.” She used her ‘mom’ voice, and I saw the moment he realized my mother was no longer on his side.
Sighing heavily, he said, “I’ll go. I’ll give you some time, but I’m not leaving. Not without you.”
He paused and kissed the top of my head as he walked past me. My mother pulled me into her arms, and I held on to her while I cried.
He didn’t leave me because I lost the baby. He left me because he didn’t want me. He didn’t want us. For the first timein seven years, a tiny part of me was glad my son had never been born.
Jude made me feel that way, and I hated him for it.
But I was glad our son would never feel what I was feeling right now. Never know the pain of being rejected by his father, the pain of not being wanted. He would never know the fucking hypocrite his father was.
He’d made promises to me. To our son. To be a better father than his was to him and his brother. To be there for our son. Be there for me.
And when the time came, when he had to make a choice—a choice to come home and face whatever life threw at us or run away—he’d chosen the cowardly option.
And he would choose it again.
And for that, I was no longer sure I could forgive him.
Chapter Eleven
Chasm
I walked into the Rosewood Lodge with the intent of going directly to my room and taking a shower. I needed to regroup before I tried to talk to Morgan again. What I didn’t need was another altercation with a pint-sized pain in the ass.
“What are you doing here?”
I turned at the disgruntled voice and found Cameron Montclair standing behind me with his friend Jasper.
“I don’t have the time or the patience for you, kid.”
I continued toward the elevator, and when the doors opened, I stepped inside and hit the button for the fourth floor. The doors closed, and I let out a frustrated sigh. I’d had enough shit dealing with Morgan last night and again this morning and was glad I didn’t see Cameron outside the elevator as the doors closed, which meant he must have gotten the hint.
“Why are you still here?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin and spun around to glare at the tiny terrorist. His friend Jasper smiled and waved.
“What the hell?!” I snapped. “Are you following me now?”
“My grandpa owns the lodge,” Jasper chimed. “I live here.”
“Well, so do I while I’m in town,” I told him.
“And how long will that be?” Cameron asked, folding his arms over his chest.
