“Not at all.” He had to make her understand. “I had plans to tell you when you joined me at the ranch. I thought it would be a nice surprise learning that we’d never have to worry about finances the way other couples do when they first start out. You’d have the option of continuing with your career, work part-time or quit and be a full-time ranch wife. Whatever you wanted to do.”
“Only I called and told you that if we stayed married, you’d have to move to Seattle,” she said slowly.
“Yeah.” He stared down at his empty cup. When he looked up, he added, “But I wasn’t the only one with a secret, was I?”
“What do you mean?” she asked, frowning. “I’ve always been honest with you.”
“Sweetheart, from what you’ve told me about your parents and their divorce, I think that carried a lot of weight in your decision not to come to Wyoming eight months ago.” He reached across the table to cover her delicate hand with his. “The only thing I don’t know is how it influenced you and why.”
She had opened up about her parents during their conversation in the hot tub and he was positive their divorce had somehow played into her choices about them. But he needed to know how their problems had become her problems. How were they holding her back?
When Karly remained silent, he got up to round the table. He picked her up and sat down with her on his lap. “I know I screwed up by not telling you everything about myself and the reasons I felt I had to be cautious. But you’ve left out some important information about yourself, too. What we’ve got is good and worth fighting for, Karly. Talk to me. Tell me what held you back and why you were so frightened—why you’re still frightened.”
“You won’t understand,” she said quietly. She shook her head. “I’m not even sure it makes sense.”
“Why don’t you tell me and maybe we can make sense of it together?” he suggested, loving that she was in his arms again and wasn’t pushing away from him.
She remained silent for a minute before she finally spoke. “From the moment we moved to the Midwest my mother hated it and before it was over with, she despised my father as well.” She turned her head to give him a pointed look. “After she and I moved back to New York she blamed him for everything that went wrong in her life—the loss of her career, her unhappiness. Sometimes I even think she didn’t like me because I was part of him.”
When she fell silent, Blake kissed her cheek and hugged her close. “I’m sure she loved you, sweetheart.”
She shrugged one slender shoulder. “Whether she did or not, I was afraid that if I discovered I didn’t like living outside of a city the same thing would happen to us.” Tears filled her blue eyes when she looked at him. “I care too much for you to let that happen, Blake. You deserved better than to be resented and blamed for something you had no control over.”
Giving her a kiss that left them both breathless, he raised his head to smile at her. “I love you, too, sweetheart. I always have and I always will.”
That was all it took for the floodgates to open and when she lay her head on his shoulder, Blake held her while her tears ran their course. He hated seeing a woman cry, but Karly’s tears were especially gut-wrenching. She was crying for the child who had doubted her mother’s love, as well as what her parents’ mistakes had almost cost the two of them.
When she raised her head he handed her a tissue from the box on the table. “Feel better now?” he asked, smiling at the only woman he had ever loved.
Her cheeks turned a rosy pink. “I’m sorry. I hate being so emotional.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me, Karly,” he said, kissing her forehead. “It’s my job to be here for you during the bad times, as well as the good.”
“I love you so much, Blake,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck.
“And I love you, Karly,” he said, hugging her tightly against him.
They sat that way for some time, content just to be in each other’s arms.
“So where are we going to live?” he finally asked.