“Shh, it’s okay.”
I sobbed into his chest and gripped Brody’s back. Like if I held on to him tight enough, he wouldn’t leave me. My tears continued to fall harder, and my shoulders hunched in against the sobs that were being wrenched from my body.
“I’m not going anywhere, baby. It’s okay,” he whispered and moved back to the counter so he could sit me on top of it.
I heard a choking sound behind me and turned to see both Andy and Grace standing there holding hands and crying. I smiled, and a relieved breath burst from my chest. “Uh, I think we can close early. I’ll see y’all tomorrow.”
“’Kay,” Andy sniffed, and Grace just nodded her head. When they turned to go into the kitchen, I looked up into Brody’s eyes and sagged into his chest.
When I’d moved here, I knew I’d never been happier. Brody, Kinlee, and Jace made my life complete. But lying to them and keeping the earlier part of my life hidden had taken its toll on me. The stress of worrying that someone would recognize me—that my family would find me—was now behind me. It had happened, and for a while my world had felt like it would crash down around me, but now that it was over . . . now that everything was out there . . . it felt like a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The relief was amazing, but at the same time I felt worn out now that months of hiding had finally come to an end. The exhaustion from the stress felt like it would consume me.
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
His hand paused a few seconds from where it’d been moving gently up and down my back, before starting up again. “I know you are. I’m sorry for not giving you the chance to tell me, and for what I said. I—God, I’m sorry . . . I don’t think you’re like her, Kamryn. I know you. I just . . . when it finally all clicked who you are, I freaked. I was afraid it would be a repeat of her, I was mad that you’d kept that from me, and I was scared about what would happen now that they’d come for you. I’ve always been terrified of losing you, and then I almost took myself away from you . . . again.”
“Please don’t apologize,” I whispered and looked up into his glassy eyes. “Not for this. You have every right to be mad, and I knew even when you said it that you didn’t believe what you were saying to me. I knew it was out of anger.
It hurt . . . but I knew. But don’t apologize. This is my fault. None of this would have happened if I’d just told you.”
He looked at me for a few seconds before asking, “Why didn’t you?”
I shrugged as I tried to figure out the words to say. “A lot of reasons. Where I’m from, everyone knew me by name and the way I looked. So I changed those things, but I still was terrified that if anyone knew my real name, they would know who I used to be and somehow my parents would find out. I couldn’t risk it; I’d worked too hard to disappear from them. But then Olivia recognized me that morning she came to my shop, and I have no doubt she’s the one who told my parents. I told Kinlee about my past the night you and I made up at their house, and I was going to tell you that last day in the hotel room, but obviously, I never got the chance to because we were fighting about other things. When the letters from Olivia started, I tried to tell you then . . . and every time I tried something would happen. Your phone would ring, you would have to leave, Kinlee would show up . . . and I kept taking it as a sign that I shouldn’t say anything. Then you came back from the meeting with the lawyers and said you didn’t want to talk about her again. I don’t know, I just kept making up excuses, but I know I should have just told you.”
He brushed back my bangs and nodded slowly. “I understand. I wish you would have, but with everything that’s happened . . . I get it, Kamryn. Please, though, if there is anything else, just tell me now.”
I thought hard, trying to think if there was anything about me that Brody didn’t know. I shook my head for a few seconds before blurting, “Oh! Barb isn’t my aunt. She’s my parents’ maid, but she raised me. She helped me with everything so I could escape from there.”
Brody’s lips tilted up in a lopsided smile, before dropping. “Wait, why didn’t she tell you they were coming? Is she still that mad about us?”
“No, no, there’s no way she wouldn’t have warned me about that. My parents knew how close I was with her. My mom had to threaten to fire Barb in order to make me stay with Charles. But once they found out that I hadn’t actually been kidnapped or whatever, I doubt they even told her they were going out of town because I’m sure they figured she would warn me. They probably just left, and it’s not an uncommon thing for them to do. Barb packs for my mom if they’re going on vacation, but they’ll leave to check out horses on a moment’s notice and be gone for days, and they won’t tell Barb they’re leaving.”
“Okay,” he whispered and searched my eyes. “Anything else?”
“I love you . . . and I’m sorry. I can’t say that enough.”
Brody leaned in to kiss me softly, and I melted into his arms. “We’ve both said ‘sorry’ a lot,” he said, “and there have been a lot of hard times we’ve had to get through to be together. I haven’t regretted a single one of them, and there’s not one of them I wouldn’t go through again in a second. But I’m ready to start making good memories with you, Kamryn Cunningham. What do you say we get through this divorce, and then how about we focus on that forever?” he asked against my lips.
A short, relieved cry burst from my chest, and I nodded, my nose brushing against his. “Sounds perfect.”
20
Kamryn
August 4, 2015
“SO, NO MORE notes, no more nothing?”
I shook my head and shrugged at Kinlee. “There hasn’t been anything since the morning he went into the meeting with them. And Brody made up something about being able to arrest Charles for coming back to my bakery on Friday, and Charles bought it and told him that Olivia’s dad was the one who called my parents. But that had been before the meeting on Tuesday, so . . . oh, well. Now we’re just waiting to see when the court date will be, and then we’ll deal with that mess.”
“And then we’ll all be done with Olivia Reynolds for—hopefully—ever.”
I grinned and relaxed into the cushions of my couch. “Yes, ma’am!”
“I like that you aren’t hiding your accent anymore,” Kinlee said with the worst drawl I’ve ever heard.
“I don’t have an accent,” I grumbled.
“Whatever, Miss Kentucky!”