I know Mae meant well in staying quiet all this time. Her logic makes a certain kind of sense. But she let bad feelings fester, and no matter how difficult it would have been to confess everything after decades of keeping it in, she should have tried sooner. At the very least, she should have said something the first time Seth made it clear he’d rather have a root canal than visit the town he grew up in.
“How are you feeling?” I ask, holding that blue-green gaze he’s always hated because of the man he inherited it from. He showed me a photo once, and there was no denying that his eyes are a perfect copy of Harrison’s.
“It’s nice to know the truth.” He pauses to collect his thoughts. “But I hate that it took so long, and that I let my issues get in the way of us having this conversation earlier. I never realized it, but Mom was right—I did resent her on some level for the way everyone in town treated me growing up.” He sighs, and closes his eyes. “Mostly I feel guilty for assuming the worst of her, just like everyone else did. I should have known better.”
I kiss the line of his jaw, and he shudders with suppressed emotion. “You know now. It’s not too late for things to change.”
His eyelashes flutter, and he looks down at me with a well of tenderness. “I don’t know how I’d do this without you. Thank you for your support.” He takes a breath. “And for being here with me.”
“I always will be,” I whisper back. It’s about time I had the chance to be the one helping him stand strong through life’s trials. Too many times in the past, I leaned on him. Now I can be an equal partner. Someone worthy of standing beside him.
He kisses my nose, then chuckles. “It seems like a lack of communication is a recurring theme for me, but I want to do better. Both with Mom and with you.”
“You already are.” He tucks me beneath his chin and I snuggle into the firm plane of his chest. “We had a good marriage, but I think we’ve been more honest with each other in the past month than we ever were back then.”
“You might be right about that.”
Deep down, I still have more to say to him, but this isn’t the time. This is his night to work through things, and I won’t steal it from him. My past problems can wait.
“Would you like to visit Mae more often?” I ask tentatively.
His hand slides down to the small of my back and draws me even closer. “Will you come with me?”
“Of course. As if you even have to ask.”
Even though I can’t see it, I sense him smile. “Then yeah, I’d like that.”
19
Ashlin
Wakefulness comes upon me slowly. First, I feel the softness of the blankets, and the warmth of my cocoon. Next, I hear the chirping of birds, and the sound of water whispering over stone. The river outside. I blink myself into full awareness and smile at the ceiling. Seth and I made love last night. There’s no other phrase suitable. He took me the same way he did on our wedding night—as if he were afraid to believe I was really his, but determined to prove that no one else could ever satisfy me.
I’m so very satisfied.
The only thing that would make it better is if he were still in bed with me. But he’s gone, and when I extend an arm into the space where he slept, it’s cold enough to suggest he left some time ago. I sigh. This part of being with Seth I remember well. He’d always be exercising before dawn. Morning sex—one of my favorite things ever—was a rare occurrence. Something for special occasions. Slipping out of the bed, I scan the floor for my robe, then don it and head to the kitchen.
Mae glances up from the counter, where she’s pouring a mug of coffee, and smiles. “Good morning, honey. I hope you slept well.”
“I did, thank you.” I infuse the words with a little too much enthusiasm and blush when she laughs.
She gestures to the mug. “Would you like one?”
“Yes, please.” I wait for her to take a second mug from the cupboard since I don’t know my way around. “Where’d Seth go?”
Mae pours my drink and hands it over. “He, Harley, and Devon went running.” She raises a brow. “They assumed you wouldn’t want to join them.”
“Clever of them.” Together, we take our mugs to the breakfast bar and sit side by side. “Sounds like you and Seth had a much-needed conversation last night.”
Her eyes slide to mine. “How much did he tell you?”
“Everything, I think.”
She nods, and blows on her coffee. “He was an angry kid. Got in a lot of fights, and most of them were because of me. His half-brother…” She shakes her head. “He was poisonous. I suppose it isn’t easy seeing evidence in your classroom every day that your dad betrayed your mom, but he took it out on the wrong person. Seth never told me what the fights were about. He’d just sit there in the principal’s office with a busted lip or a black eye and refuse to answer any questions. I knew though. A mother does.”
“But you didn’t tell him the truth?”
She sips her drink, then winces and sets it down. “I told myself I was doing him a favor by keeping quiet, but who knows?” She shrugs. “Perhaps it was just easier not to explain the full story.” She levels her gaze at me. “Speaking of full stories. I know it’s not any of my business, but I never understood your divorce. Seth said nobody was unfaithful, and the last time I saw you, you’d seemed as in love as ever. More, even.”
