“Home, looking for you.” His voice gave nothing away. “Wait where you are. I’m coming to you.”
After the call disconnected, she quickly called Malcolm to let him know he could stop searching, and then paced around the grassy area, letting Frank sniff all the smells he could find, trying to keep herself occupied so she didn’t implode. He could be coming to discuss a divorce and access to the babies. Maybe he wanted to get back together. Or maybe there was even worse news that he couldn’t deliver over the phone.
She was sitting on the grass, Frank resting beside her, when she first caught a glimpse of Nick rounding the corner and heading her way. Frank took off, his leash trailing behind him, and leaped on his human, resting his paws on Nick’s chest. Nick took a minute to properly greet his dog, talking to him and rubbing his ears, then looked up. His gaze snagged hers, and goose bumps raced across her skin.
He walked toward her, his expression still giving nothing away. But his steps were sure. Her heart beat unevenly and roughly against her ribs, and she had no idea what to say or do. She stood, brushing off the grass from her pants, and offered him half a smile. She wanted to crawl into his embrace and hold on as tight as she could, but they didn’t have that relationship anymore, so instead she simply waited until he reached her.
He stopped just beyond touching distance and cleared his throat. “Hi.”
“Hi.” She looked down at Frank, who was still bounding around, happy to have them all in the one place again, then back to him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Fine,” she said, lying. “You?”
“Fine.” He gave her half a smile, clearly lying as well. “Harper, I need to ask. Do you hate me?”
Hate him? Not even close. “No.”
“I walked out on you, even though you told me on the day we got engaged that it was a trigger for you.”
She nodded slowly. “Yeah, you did that.”
“I’m more sorry than I can say about that.” His gaze was fathomless. “You should hate me for it.”
She’d always known she’d made bad choices in past relationships, practically setting herself up to be left behind. Nick was different.
She lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “And yet, I don’t.”
“Then I have another question,” he said, everything about him solemn. “Do you love me?”
She’d been so excited to tell him yesterday that she’d realized she loved him—it would have been a joyous moment. This wasn’t the way she’d pictured it going at all, but she couldn’t lie. “Yes,” she said. “I love you.”
He nodded as if he’d been expecting that. “And I love you so much it’s tearing me up inside.”
Those were words she’d been desperate to hear, and yet they didn’t make her heart sing, because she still had no idea where he was going with this. “Why did you want to see me, Nick?”
“Were you serious when you said my addiction doesn’t matter to you?”
“Absolutely,” she said without hesitation.
His brows drew together, and he looked over at the waterfall for endless seconds before clearing his throat. “I realized something today.”
She was almost too scared to ask but couldn’t help herself. “What’s that?”
“Growing up, we weren’t close to my aunts and uncles, so the only marriage I saw close
up was my parents’.”
“Which sounds like it was perfect.” It wasn’t just the way he’d spoken of his parents, but it had shone brightly in his mother’s eyes when she’d mentioned her husband at their wedding.
“I wouldn’t say it was perfect, but it was certainly a good one.” A faraway smile flitted across his face. “They were devoted to each other.”
She sighed, glad there were people in the world who were able to live out the fairy tale. “They were lucky.”
He tilted his head in acknowledgment. “And your parents’ marriage was—”
“A disaster,” she supplied so he didn’t have to say it. “Even before my father left.”