Page 71 of Betrothed
Heat rose in my cheeks. “Oh.”
“For as long as I’ve been here… as long as I’ve known him… I’ve never seen him let himself be loved.”
My breath hitched.Love.Who said anything about love? This wasn’t love. It was friendship and mutual understanding and phenomenal sex and a temporary marriage. But not love. No. It couldn’t be.
“I know what it does to a person when you give everything you have to others and you don’t…” he trailed off, emotion clogging his throat. “And you don’t take anything for yourself.” He paused, and I felt my brow start to crease when he added low, “That was what Larry did. He gave everything—was everything—to everyone until he had nothing left.”
My throat tightened. It was no secret in Carmel that Larry had committed suicide. Maybe for most that was the kind of thing kept quiet or hushed up. A tragic circumstance to never be mentioned. But not here. Like everything else about Larry Ocean, even in death, he’d left a lesson to be learned.
To let yourself be loved.
“I’m sorry,” I said and gently placed my hand on his shoulder.
“Don’t be sorry.” He smiled. “I’m just glad Zeke finally found something… someone… a reason to be loved.”
My lips parted, but before I could say anything else, Ash’s daughter moseyed around the table and put her arms around her dad’s neck.
“Grace, can you say hi to Kenzie?”
The little girl buried her face in Ash’s shoulder, and he chuckled. “Sorry, she’s tired.”
“Don’t be sorry. My son would get the same way,” I said without thinking.
Ash cocked his head. “You have a son?”
“Jake. He’s eight.” I nodded. There was no turning back now. “He lives with my ex.”
I didn’t need to explain more to someone recovering from an addiction. Ash read between the lines that I didn’t have custody of my child.
Grace whimpered in his arms, and he sent me another apologetic look. “I’ve got to get her to bed. It was good talking to you Kenzie,” he said as he stood. “Hopefully we’ll get to meet Jake soon.”
My chest squeezed. “Hopefully.”
I watched him walk away for as long as I could, but eventually I had to turn my head and meet Addy’s stare over the table. She was the only other person out here; Ace must’ve accompanied Laurel and Eli back inside the restaurant.
It only took a second to realize she’d overheard my conversation with Ash;she knew.
I stood, my chair grinding on the patio. I had to explain. She had to know this wasn’t my idea. I never would’ve asked this of Zeke—never would’ve begged for this sacrifice after everything he’d already done.
“Addy…” I tried to figure out what to say, but all my words blended together on the tip of my tongue.
She walked up to the table, holding my stare as she demanded, her voice cracking, “Was it for your son?”
“Please,” I begged softly, looking at the woman who’d saved me—whose organization had saved my life and had given me a second chance. And I’d never felt like more of a fraud.
No matter what Zeke said—what he wanted—it didn’t change why we’d gotten married.
“Just tell me the truth.” She swallowed. “Did my brother marry you so you could get custody of your son?”
My jaw went slack. The truth was there. A simple yes about to tumble from my lips when a different voice echoed over the patio.
“Addy?” Zeke stood in the doorway, his gaze swinging between us. “What’s going on?” He walked over to my side, but I didn’t feel comfort like I had before.
Addy lifted her chin. “Did you marry Kenzie just to help her get custody?”
Zeke tensed, thrown off guard by the sudden interrogation. “Don’t,” he warned.
“Just tell me the truth, Zeke,” she pleaded.