“I decided to start my own company afterward.”
Rowan reached over and covered his hand with hers. “Thank you for sharing that.”
He didn’t say anything. After a moment he turned his hand over beneath hers and held on.
Several minutes of quiet passed.
“I keep thinking about that picture,” she admitted after a moment. “About the fact that someone was watching me while I walked around acting like I was safe.”
“You weren’t acting.”
She glanced at him. “No?”
“No.” His voice stayed calm and certain. “You felt safe here. For a moment, at least.”
Emotion tightened unexpectedly in her throat.
Because she had. For a little while anyway.
But safety now felt like an illusion . . . an emotion she’d never feel again.
CHAPTER 36
Rowan staredat the woods again as she tried to sort her thoughts.
“The movie industry changes people, Wes. Everyone’s constantly pretending they have it all together. Everyone wants something from you. And after a while . . .” She swallowed. “You start pretending too.”
Wes remained quiet, letting her gather her thoughts.
“I used to think success would feel bigger,” she said. “But mostly it just feels noisy and uncertain. Like everything I’ve worked so hard for could be snatched away at any minute. You know what the worst part is?”
“What’s that?”
She rubbed her ear. “Somewhere along the way I started becoming someone unrecognizable. Someone my family wouldn’t even like.”
Wes shifted toward her. “I don’t think that’s true.”
Her jaw tightened. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see me. You don’t know the person I became.”
“No, I didn’t, and I don’t. But I’m here now. And I still recognize you.”
Her chest tightened at the words.
He was here now. He’d been incredible to her since she came back to Virginia.
He’dalwaysbeen incredible to her.
She’d left her life here thinking she could find something better—that she could become something better.
But she’d been wrong.
The better was right in front of her the whole time.
Rowan looked at the blanket in her lap. “Leaving here was a mistake.”
Silence followed, and for one terrible second she thought maybe she shouldn’t have said it out loud.
She looked up at Wes. Shereallylooked at him. At the steadiness in his expression. The restraint. The warmth he kept trying not to openly show.
