Chapter 42
Icy rage, like I’d never felt before, burned every inch of my body as I paced the courthouse hallway. This town, the place I picked to open Honey I took it for granted, leaning on his strength and confidence in this fight. I was so preoccupied with my grief and anger that I hadn’t been there to support him through his.
And God, the way he must have felt as the very judicial system he risked his life for day in and day out failed the woman we loved.
I knew he loved her, even though he hadn’t told me.
Kicking off my heels, I scooted across the bench seat to him, nuzzling in against his side, and the deep breath he let out nearly broke my heart as he held me to him. In that very moment, I vowed to be stronger the next time something happened, to support him better.
I also prayed we never had another moment like this one for as long as we all lived.
“She’s broken.” He replied after a while. “It was terrible to see her there, with no life in her eyes, while they spoke about her as if she wasn’t even in the room.” He shuddered, “Shackled, and in an orange jumpsuit like an animal.”
My nose burned with fresh tears, but I held them in so he could keep going.
“I don’t know how she can come back from this,” he said after a while. “We know Rhea, and we know how she struggles with self-doubt and I—” His voice broke. “She deserved better than to have her worst fears come true.”
“What if we left Cedar Bluff?” I asked, looking up at him as I voiced the very idea that broke my heart. But I knew there was a very real chance that Rhea wouldn’t want to stay here, amongst the people who betrayed her most. “Would you do that? Leave the very place you’ve lived your whole life?”
“In an instant.” He replied firmly, and I smiled, knowing the truth was in those words. “For her. And you. I would walk away from it all. Without a second thought.”
“I love you.” I whispered. Because there was nothing else that could be said in response to that kind of commitment from someone else.
Nothing else measured up.
“I love you too.” He said, kissing my hair and leaning his seat back so we could relax together, holding tight.
Peace wasn’t the right word to describe how it felt to know that in the end, the people I loved were going to be by my side, forever.
Peace felt too final.
Maybe hopeful was the right word.
Here was to hoping it all worked out.