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Trent held both of her hands inside his. “I’m so sorry. But it wasn’t your fault.”
“I shouldn’t have accused him.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “I shouldn’t have argued with him while he was driving.”
“Wait, hold up. Who did you say was driving?”
She hesitated. “He was,” she said softly.
“Right. Ownership. Responsibility. I’m not saying that you weren’t part of it, but ultimately, it was his fault. The blame lies with him.”
She bit her lip. “I would give anything to have Ian back.”
He embraced her, one hand caressing the back of her head. “I know.” For a long time, he held her, wishing he could take this pain away but sensing that this might be the start of a change in how she looked at the situation.
Eventually, she pulled back. “I should have ended it sooner. We fought over everything. We just were so different.”
“You fought that much?” He knew that it pained her to remember this, but he pressed her. “What was one of the big things you fought over?”
“He thought it was wrong for me to sell my art for money.”
That was ridiculous. “What? Why?”
“He believed that money was evil and that it wasn’t even good for Ian to grow up with a lot of money.” Her eyes became misty. “He hated my grandmother because she was always offering to pay for us to come see her.”
What a stupid man. Trent wanted to clock the guy.
Tears fell down Liberty’s cheeks as she continued, “I let him control me. I don’t know why. I barely saw my grandmother. I finally insisted, after Ian was born, that I was going to come out and visit her last year. And it was the best trip ever.” With a bitter chuckle, she mused, “Grandma knew that Will was how he was. We talked about his attitudes about money and how he tried to control me. Of course, you can imagine how much she did not like him.” She ran a hand through her hair, trying to untangle a few strands of curls that had gotten stuck together. Her bottom lip was trembling. “Honestly, I don’t know why I’m telling you this. It doesn’t matter. It’s just that I want you to know. I like you, Trent. No matter how much I try to tell myself that I’m not ready to like someone, that I’m not ready to feel a thing, I can’t deny that I really like you.”
“I like you too.”
“But I’m scared.” Liberty hiccupped a laugh. “I … I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“I would never hurt you,” Trent promised.
She searched his eyes. “You have taken me by surprise, Trent Stone.” She shook her head. “I see the way you started a charity to help women who have breast cancer. I never thought that you would have such a tender heart.” She crossed her arms and gave him a flirtatious look. “Who knew that the babe slayer could be so … good?”
He burst out laughing. “Honestly, you’re giving me way too much credit. I’m just who I am. I believe it’s my privilege to help those women. I don’t want credit. After mom passed away, I really thought about where I wanted to put my money, and I kept coming back to her cancer and how brave she’d been and how she’d always said that most women couldn’t afford good care in regards to supplies for the surgeries. So … that’s why.”
Her face turned serious. “That’s what bothers me the most about you. You’re … good. I mean, you gave your life to your country. You adore your family. You hurt over your parents not being here.”
It was as if she was peering right into his soul. This woman got him.
Lightly, she put her hand on his shoulder. “And you wanted to clock Roger when he tried to sink his teeth into the money he thinks I have.”
“I want to do more than clock him, and … just like that, I’m back to being mortal.”
She grinned. “I think I’ll keep the ‘great’ in front of Trent Stone’s name.” She scrunched up her nose. “Even if you are the babe slayer, too.”
He pulled her in and kissed her, taking handfuls of her hair and relishing everything about this woman. Truly, he wanted to live up to the man she’d just described … and that was a first for him.
“Can I tell you something?” he asked when they came up for air.
“Please.”
He mustered up the courage to say it. “We kind of talked about how I have been in a faith crisis. I mean, that’s what you called it. I guess that doesn’t accurately reflect the way I’ve felt over the years. If there is a God, I can’t understand why he would let so many bad things happen in the world.” He put his hand up. “I’ve been angry at God since we got the letter from my parents. I don’t know why, but it has stirred up all these old feelings about losing my parents. The other day, Hunter was giving me grief about it. But listening to you and all you’ve been through … it’s got me thinking that crap happens to all of us.”
“Yes, it does.”
“I guess what I’m saying is this: I more than like you, Liberty, and it scares me too. It scares me to the core because it’s like you came into my life and within a short time, I’m questioning everything I was believing.” He took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
