Obviously surprised by her outburst, Tory’s mom said, “Of course. I’m sorry.”
Tory ran her hand along her forehead. “I’m sorry too.”
And she was. Bitterly, bitterly sorry that she’d ruined so much.
* * *
Chance got the word that Tory had quit when Gwen came down with a file folder filled with the resumes. Once she’d heard Tory wasn’t coming back, she’d called an agency and they’d emailed the information he’d need to choose a new nanny.
Chance looked at her. He knew in his heart she was doing what she considered to be the right thing. But he was tired and confused and angry that Tory couldn’t even call him herself to quit. She’d had her mom call his mom.
Now he was looking at resumes? Just like that, Tory was out of his life?
“Leave the resumes,” he said, rising from the sofa so his mom would too. “I’ll look at them tonight.”
“And get back to me with your choice in the morning?”
“Yes.”
Pain sluiced through him. But if she noticed, Gwen didn’t say anything. She grabbed her coat and left.
Standing in his living room, filled with a pain so intense it couldn’t be described, he thought about what Max had said, about how he’d abandoned Kate when she’d needed him the most. Tired, confused, he scrubbed his hand across his mouth, then picked up the phone and dialed the first two digits of her cell phone—the number he’d saved when she called him from the hospital when Sam was sick—but he quickly hung up.
He did that four times that night, but in the end he just couldn’t call her.
She’d told him she loved him in a tirade about her fear of hurting Jason, losing Jason. She’d pushed him away every chance she got. She’d fallen in love with him so reluctantly, that sometimes when he thought about it, it made his heart hurt.
And when he’d told her he loved her…she’d ignored him. Pretended she hadn’t heard.
He couldn’t go to her. If he went to her and she rejected him again, he’d be devastated. But he also knew he had to wait until she was ready.
She had to come to him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THREE MONTHS LATER, sitting in Mrs. Mulcahy’s accounting class, Tory looked in dismay at the simplistic spreadsheet she had created the week before. They were supposed to make a document that would assist them in creating a budget for a construction project, but though her formulas were correct, her headings left a lot to be desired.
She’d taken labor and materials into consideration, but when it came to materials her “guesstimates” were totally inaccurate. She’d forgotten little things like braces and brackets, tools and nails. Things Chance would have known about without a second thought.
Chance.
Her heart skipped a beat.
He loved her.
His actions had told her a million times over.
Tears filled her eyes and the numbers on the spreadsheet swam before her.
He’d trusted her with his kids. He’d paid attention to her, listened to her fears, respected her.
He’d taken her on the bike to help her get rid of her fears.
And he’d fallen in love with her and tempted her into being in love with him because he’d known, just as deep down inside she had known, that she was supposed to
move on.
And she’d barely acknowledged any of the good things he’d done for her. She’d pushed him away. Every time they got too close, she’d pushed him away.
She swallowed as tears slipped down her cheeks.
She remembered shopping for the stroller, play yard and walkers. Remembered that he hadn’t even known what a walker was.
She remembered their first kiss in the garden.
She remembered Christmas shopping for the babies.
She remembered breakfast in bed. The bear the twins had bought her for Valentine’s Day.
And tears flowed even harder. The lengths he’d gone to to love her without hurting Jason amazed her. She hadn’t actually noticed them at the time, but now everything was coming back to her in waves of memories—
Shooing her out of the house to visit Jason.
Taking her to see him after his stroke.
Bringing the kids too so she’d be grounded in reality.
She ran her hands down her face. Oh, God. What it must have done to him to have her simply ignore him when he told her he loved her.
In three long months, she hadn’t let herself think about him and now she couldn’t do anything but think about him.