“Marsh, why don’t you take a walk?” Royce suggests.
“What? Are you fucking crazy? The love of my life is ready to walk out on me, and you think I should take a walk?”
“Yes,” all four of my brothers say at once.
“No. No way. I’m not leaving this room without her glued to my side.”
“Marshall.” Royce’s tone is that of the demanding CEO. “Go down the hall to where the girls are getting ready. Spend some time with your daughter. I promise we won’t let her leave here without you getting to talk to her again, if that’s what she decides to do.”
I turn my back to them to look at Wren. Tears streak her gorgeous face, and the fracture in my heart widens. “I love you, Wren. I love Maddie, and I want our family. I’m sorry for lying to you. I know it was wrong, but, baby, I just wanted to give you the world. You changed me. You make me a better man, and for that, I wanted to make life easier on you. I wanted to watch you achieve your dreams.” She doesn’t reply. I lean in and press a kiss to the corner of her mouth, tasting her tears. She still doesn’t move.
“I’m trusting you with half of my heart,” I tell my brothers. “I’m going to be down the hall with the other half when you’re done.” With one last longing look at my bride, I quietly make my way down the hall.
I knock on the door, and a chorus of come ins greet me. Inside, I find Carrie and Aspen with Maddie. They have her in the cutest little pink dress and white shoes. “Hey,” I croak.
“What’s wrong?”
“I fu-fudged up,” I quickly correct myself.
“We were just coming to check on Wren,” Aspen tells me.
“My brothers are with her. I just came to see my daughter.” I take Maddie from her arms and snuggle her close. “I love you,” I tell her. The tears are back, and I don’t bother hiding them. My entire life is crashing around me all because my dumb ass thought I knew what was best for her.
“Aspen, do you mind if I talk with Marshall for a minute?” Carrie asks.
“Sure, you want me to take her?” She points at Madeline.
“No.” I hold her a little tighter. “No. I need to be with my daughter right now.”
Aspen gives me a small smile. “Okay. I’m just going to go downstairs and check on everything.”
“Thank you.” I manage to force the words out.
“So, what did you do?” Carrie asks.
I launch into the story, how I lied about the day care and the tuition. “I love her, Carrie. No, it’s more than that. I don’t even have the words to describe how I feel about her. I wanted to make it better, you know? I had the ability to do it, so I did. I knew she would fight me on it every step of the way, and she’s done so much for me. She gave me her heart and this one.” I kiss Madeline’s cheek. “She gave me my family and I wanted to give her the world. Hell, I still do.”
Carrie nods. “Anyone can see that you love her, Marshall. That’s not what this is about.”
“Help me,” I plead with her. “Please tell me how I can make this better. How can I prove to her that I’m sorry, and I know I messed up? Lesson learned. I’ll just argue with her the next time until I wear her down.”
“Wren loved Travis.” I nod because I know this. Of course she loved him. He was her husband. “But she loves you differently. Their love was safe and it was comfortable. What she has with you is not even close to what she had with him.”
“And?”
“She’s scared, Marshall. She loved him and lost him, and she survived. It was hell, but she survived. She knows she won’t survive losing you. It would break her heart and break her spirit for a lifetime.”
Realization sets in, and I know that what Carrie is telling me is part of our fight. I fucked up, and that’s on me. I lied to her, and I never should have. However, I can also see the fear in her eyes now that it’s been brought to my attention. I was mistaking it for anger. “She’s not going to lose me. If I could just get her to believe that I haven’t lied about anything else. This is our wedding day. I should be downstairs pledging my love to her in front of those closest to us. Instead, I made a mistake, and now I might lose my wife and my daughter.”
“She’s hurt. My guess is a lot of that is her pride. She struggled and worked her ass off to stay afloat. Suddenly you come into her life, and things are easy for her. She needs to know that she has a choice, Marshall. She doesn’t want someone who is going to fix things for her. She needs a partner. Someone who will stand tall beside her, supporting her through the good times and the bad. She needs to know that you are that person.”