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She flinched at the question, silent for the longest time before she whispered, “Car accident.”
Fuck. Didn’t know how to process the information she’d trusted me with throughout the day. The fact she was married, and I was sure this person had done her wrong, treated her bad. I mean, fuck, she still felt the need to look over her shoulder in fear that he might be coming after her.
That horror was far more than enough.
But this?
It was too fuckin’ much, and I hated that this girl’d had to bear that much grief.
I wanted to reach through the screen and hold a part of it for her. Promise her it would be okay. That there was joy waiting all around for her.
“That’s awful, honey.” The words were raw, coarse and littered with this feeling she’d lit inside me.
Sniffling, she wiped at her face with the back of her hand before she nodded, “Yeah, it’s awful.”
Her mouth twisted in a mournful smile, one riddled with eternal, broken love.
“See now why you look at Nolan the way you do.”
Her nod was soft. “I just see him for the treasure he is.”
A gift.
That’s what Raven had always said.
“He is,” I agreed, voice low and raw.
“Do you like it? Being a dad?”
My chest tightened.
A storm of ferocity.
“Yeah. Scares the fuck outta me most days, but I do.”
This kid that little bit of joy that I’d stolen. Didn’t deserve it, but there he was, sleeping down the hall, filling this house with all his happiness.
“You’re a good dad.” Her lips gave a soggy tilt at the side.
I grunted. “Not sure about that.”
“I am,” she murmured, and she was watching me in a way that no one had ever watched me before. Like she saw something deeper.
But that was because she didn’t have access to everything that was buried beneath.
Hidden and concealed.
“I’m trying to be,” I admitted.
“That’s all we can do, right? Do our best? It’s no different than the words on my arm. We have to live each day for what it’s worth. Pour ourselves into those around us. And I’ve been so scared of doing that—so scared of getting close to others—that I’ve almost forgotten what that means.”
She readjusted her arm, and it brought her into better view.
“Fuck, you’re so pretty.” I couldn’t stop the confession from sliding out.
So fuckin’ pretty. But I knew whatever I was feeling right then had little to do with that. This was far more than the base attraction I’d felt for her when she’d come through my shop’s door.
That shyness crept through her features, though she continued watching me as if maybe for the first time she wanted to be seen.
