“Yeah.”
“So now she doesn’t have him. But she also can’t go back to how things were with you and your dad. She already did too much…hurt you too much.” I pause to let it all sink in. “Can you ever forget what she said to you?”
I wait for her to process, while holding her hand gently in mine. These are things I wish somebody had told me back then when I was hurting. Even though I never had anyone to hold my hand and make it better, I’m glad to be able to do it for her.
Vi hesitates, then finally shakes her head.
“You’re worth more than you can ever know, Vi. Think how much your grandparents care about you and love you. Think about how your dad loves you.”
She continues to look down, then finally asks in a slightly louder voice than before, “How about you?”
The vulnerable question hits me harder than a tight fist in the chest. I swallow a hot lump in my throat and smile. “Of course I care about you, Vi.” I run the pad of my thumb over her knuckles. “You’re one adorable young lady.”
She nods slowly, then finally lifts her chin. A smile would make me feel better, but this is enough for now. It’ll only make things worse if I push too hard.
She slowly leans forward and wraps her arms around me. “Thank you, Kim.”
Something as warm and sweet as caramel spreads in my chest. I place a soft kiss on the crown of her head. “It’s my pleasure, kiddo.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Wyatt
If the Facebook updates are to be believed, Geneva totally lost it after we left, and she ended up falling into the giant cake while yanking the hair of the woman Churchill screwed. But the baker did manage to put up a bunch of Instagram pictures she took before the destruction by Bridezilla. Fucking priorities.
I push the gas harder, wanting to get the hell out of Corn Meadows as soon as possible and leave the damned wedding behind. I’m pretty confident that Vi’s going to be okay, especially after that talk with Kim. My parents will make sure.
My eyes slide over to the passenger side. Kim’s been quiet, checking her phone. I don’t know details of her job, but she probably has to check in once in a while to make sure her boss is having a good time in Europe. And that he’s finding his way home properly. Dane mentioned his parents were coming home this weekend the last time we spoke. It’s was earlier than scheduled, but apparently his mom misses her grandkids.
“Thank you,” I say, once we’re finally on the freeway back to L.A.
Kim lifts her head from the screen, then puts the phone in her purse. “For what?”
“Talking to Vi. I’m terrible at figuring out what to say to her.”
“It was nothing. I just didn’t want to see her hurt because of Geneva. She doesn’t deserve that.” Kim pauses for a moment. “By the way, can we talk about what Geneva said about herpes?”
“Sure,” I say, even though the topic makes me squirm a little. But we need to get this resolved.
Judging from Kim’s reaction earlier, she didn’t know anything about the text. And it’s pretty clear my harpy ex-wife not only engineered it, but hid it from everyone…including me. If it weren’t for the wedding imploding in her face, she might’ve never lost her cool enough to admit it out loud.
“What did she mean by how I accused you of giving me herpes? When did that happen?” Despite her neutral tone, her gaze is intent on my face, and I swear my cheek’s about to be laser-burned.
“After we, uh, slept together.” Embarrassment heats the skin around my neck. But she deserves the full truth. “You remember you were gone from school for a couple of weeks right after? You sent me a text saying that you got herpes from me and had to get treated.”
She jerks like she’s been cattle-prodded. “What? I couldn’t go to school because I got the flu! And I never texted you anything about herpes. I think I would remember something like that!”
My shoulders tighten. “Yeah, I kind of didn’t believe you had the flu.”
“Why on earth not?”
“Because I didn’t get sick. I figured I should’ve gotten it too, since we’d had sex and all. And the text, well… It came from your phone.”
“Well, I certainly didn’t—” Kim suddenly goes quiet. “Oh…shit. Mom said Geneva came by to drop off some handouts. And I was asleep some of those times.”
“So it’s possible she used your phone to text me…”
“And then deleted the text afterward to hide the fact that she’d sent it.”