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“Can we sit?” She gestured to the couch and love seat.
“Sure.” Her dad escorted her mom to the couch.
Belinda sat perpendicular to them on the loveseat. She said a prayer inside, and though her stomach tumbled and her fingers prickled with nerves, she knew she had to do this. For Jagger. She’d chosen to trust him. She had chosen him.
What if her parents wouldn’t support her? Agony stirred inside her.
“What’s going on, sweetie?” her mom asked.
“Jagger was with me on the reality show this week,” she burst out with. The only way through this was head-on. No matter how it hurt.
Both of their eyes widened. Her mom looked like she might be sick. Her dad sat straight as a rod, his hazel eyes unreadable.
“Jagger Lemuel?” her dad clarified.
“Yes.” She studied them. Were they going to say anything? Admit to the truth?
“I’m sorry, Belle. That must’ve been hard,” her dad said in a careful, measured tone.
“Hard?” Her voice squeaked. “You have no idea how hard it was to see the love of my life, him thinking I betrayed and cheated on him and me thinking he’s a liar and a jerk who would claim my parents …” She couldn’t get it out.
For a moment, she didn’t want it to be true. She could still love, trust, and choose Jagger even if he’d lied.
Yet she knew. Looking into their faces, she knew. She’d been right to trust Jagger. The man she loved hadn’t lied.
“Belle, I’m so sorry,” her mom said quietly.
Her dad looked from her mom to her and back again. “Belle,” he said quickly. “You have to understand. You have to believe we’d never want to hurt you. As your parents, we only wanted to protect you and do what was best for you.”
Fire built inside her. She felt like a volcano about to erupt.
“Best for me?” She leaped to her feet and glared down at them, sitting on the couch together as they had so many times in their interactions. They claimed to love her unconditionally and they’d ruined her life. “How do you claim to know what’s best for me? Only our Father above sees the end from the beginning. You don’t have that power or right. Jagger is my other half, the only person in this world who truly gets me. Jagger loves my sting and my honey.”
They both looked confused at the inside joke, but mostly sick and full of regret. Good. They should be.
“Jagger is right for me. I trust him. I love him. I choose him. Mike was the mistake, and the poor guy didn’t deserve to waste years of his life on a woman who could never love him. You manipulated and lied to me, and you broke Jagger’s heart and mine. How could you do that to me? You claim to love me. You’ve always been there for me. How could you?”
Tears ran down her mom’s face. For a few beats, her dad looked simply miserable. Then his face crumpled and he looked like he’d shot his own dog. He stood to face her, his hazel eyes full of agony.
“Belle, you’re right. I was wrong. So wrong. This isn’t on your mama. She begged me to do the right thing and tell you the truth, but … I thought I was right in the beginning, justified my actions by believing it was God’s will that Jagger came to visit the exact day you were on a ride with Mike and kissed Mike right in front of us. I believed I was protecting you from a miserable life. You’re right. I had no right to manipulate you, Jagger, or Mike. I have no excuse. Years passed and it was easier to keep it buried than to cause you even more pain.”
Her own eyes widened at his admission and his humility. As much as she’d always adored her dad, he rarely admitted he was wrong.
Belinda sank onto the couch, exhausted. She didn’t want to fight or yell. She just wanted answers, and she wanted the betrayal and agony of her parents lying to her, keeping her from Jagger, to stop.
Jagger had told her the truth. She’d instinctively known that but had let her anger and pride and defensiveness of her parents override it. At least she’d chosen to trust him before he left.
He’d come for her. Had she been strong enough in her vow to trust and choose him? Did he know how deeply she loved him?
“I yelled at him,” she told her parents quietly. “I stood up for you two. I called him a liar over and over.” She looked at her dad. “He was mad at you. He loves me and would do anything for me and I kept hurting him, just like I’ve unknowingly hurt him for the past fourteen years.” Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes and slid down her cheeks. Agony. All that pain Jagger had gone through, and she’d blamed him. “How could you do this to us?”
It was quiet for a few beats besides her mom sniffling.
“I was so certain it was the right path to keep you from Jagger,” her dad said quietly. “You two were fiery and passionate. You were either laughing and dancing or crying and screaming about him.”
“I only cried and screamed because I was a teenage girl in love and you two didn’t approve of him.”
“I can see that,” her dad admitted. “I’m so sorry.”
