Page 41 of Wilde Hearts

“What are you two silently saying to one another?”

My father was sitting on the coffee table, and he reached for my hand. “Did he say he wanted to get back together?”

A swift, sinking feeling hit my chest. “No…not really. He just said he wanted to talk.”

He squeezed my hand lightly. “Then he may just want to explain his reasons for leaving.”

“He’s had ten years to explain them, Dad.”

Turning to face me, my mother added, “I’m not saying he should get a pass. You’re absolutely right, Ensley. He had ten years to contact you, and he didn’t. But…he is back now, and maybe hearing him out is what you need to move on.”

“I have moved on,” I blurted.

My mother raised a single brow. “Ensley, we’re your parents, and no one knows you as well as we do. You have not moved on. Yes, parts of your life have moved on to a certain extent, but you haven’t let down the wall around your heart. Just look at Doug. When things got serious, you broke up with him.”

I closed my eyes. Doug. I’d already forgotten all about him coming to Granby and taking me to dinner.

“I thought I was ready to move on with Doug. He even came to Granby to make sure I was okay. Took me to dinner and let me get…well…he was there for me. But he saw Colt in the hotel where we were both staying, and he said that he could tell simply by the way I looked at Colt that I still had feelings for him.”

“And do you?” Dad asked.

I shrugged. “I won’t lie and say I don’t feel anything when I’m with him. I loved him, and thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. I haven’t met anyone who makes me feel the way he did. I’ve tried…I really have.”

I wiped my tears away.

“Oh sweetheart. You gave your heart away, and sometimes it’s not so easy to get it back. Look at your brother Caden.”

I blinked back tears as I looked at my mother. “I thought I’d be married with kids by now. I’m so angry with myself that I’ve let Colt steal that away from me.”

My father let go of my hand and sat up straighter. “I’m going to play devil’s advocate here, pumpkin.”

I ran the back of my hand across my nose, and my father snarled his lip.

“Gross, Ensley.”

Mom handed me another tissue.

I wiped again. “Sorry. Go on, play devil’s advocate.”

“You don’t know why Colt left.”

I shook my head. “I don’t. I’m assuming it was because of Grady.”

“I don’t think it’s simply because his brother passed away. There has to be more to this, and at the time, he couldn’t explain it. It sounds to me like Colt was running from whatever that reason is. He didn’t know how to tell his parents or you—maybe especially you—so he ran. And kept running until it got to the point where he felt like it was too late to come home. Too much time had passed.”

Frowning, I asked, “You really think there’s something else?”

He nodded. “I saw the way that boy looked at you from the moment you first started dating. He was head over heels in love, Ensley.” He held up a hand when I tried to speak. “I’m not saying what he did was right, but I do think there was a reason that, in his mind, he thought was big enough to make him leave. Just look at Grady, honey. No one knew anything was wrong with him, either, until it was too late.”

“You think I should let him explain?”

My father and mother both nodded as my dad spoke. “I do. Nothing says you have to take him back, or even be friends with him. But I think that, if you truly want to move on and get over Colt, you have to let him tell you why he left. Otherwise, you’re always going to wonder, no matter how hard you try to tell yourself you don’t care.”

“I agree with your father. There was something more behind his reason for leaving.”

My shoulders dropped, and I sighed. “I don’t want to relive that pain again.”

“I doubt he does either, but it’s something you both have to do. Let him explain to you why he left, then you can decide what the next move is.”