Chapter 33
I wash my face for the third time since getting home—if this even is my home anymore.
Who can ever be sure?
It’s been hours and Dallas isn’t back yet. Silas left a little while ago after graciously giving me a ride.
He had stepped out of the room for a call when the judge ruled, so I sobbed through what happened and asked him to get me out of there.
Rose is leaning along the wall outside Ellie’s room when I step out of the guest bathroom. “You need to calm down. It wasn’t your fault,” she repeats.
I shove the towel at her and step into my bedroom. “You weren’t there. He had it. It was looking really good for him and then I got on the stand and blew it all.”
“Not you. Your mother.”
My eyes sting again. “No one would blame me for taking my money now that I’m married. But the house—Rose. The house was all me. I can’t put that on anyone.”
“Couldn’t you explain timing or something? Your plans pre-Dallas?”
I shake my head. “That woman was twisting words and stories so much—I don’t even know how she’s still able to practice law.”
“Wilder tells me she’s been fined by judges more often than they issue speeding tickets in town.”
I sigh. “That doesn’t help Dallas keep Ellie.”
She picks at the fringes of my pillow. “When is Cole picking her up?”
“Sunday.” I pout.
“Have you called your mother?”
“I don’t want to talk to anyone.”
Rose looks out my window, which faces the front driveway. “Well, you’re going to have to, because Dallas just got home.”
“It’s fine. He’ll want to sit with Ellie for a bit. Even if she is sleeping. Maybe you can nudge her awake?”
She nods thoughtfully. “She’ll probably ask for you too, since you fell asleep holding her tonight.”
I shake my head. “They need some time alone.”
She looks around my room. “You can’t hide in here all night.”
“Good night, Rose. And thank you for today. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
She gives me a long hug. “I love you. I’m sorry about what happened. Noah’s going to fix it.”
“I hope so. Because I’ll never forgive myself if he loses her.”
I didn’t leave my room after Rose left. Heard the faint mumbling downstairs before he walked her out. Then he was upstairs, moving around, checking on Ellie—I could hear them talking for a bit and then it sounded like he might’ve read her another bedtime story.
After that, her lights went out, and a moment later he knocked on my door.
I didn’t answer the first time. My heart was pounding too hard to speak. He didn’t push. Left me alone.
But a short while later, there’s another knock on my door, pulling me out of the daze I’m in.
“Willow, open the door.”
I move toward it but don’t unlock it, drawing in a shaky breath.
He sighs, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I’m not mad at you.”
I hesitate on the opposite side. “You should be,” I whisper harshly.
“Willow, I’m mad at a lot of people right now. You’re not one of them. Open up.”
I unlock the door and move back to the bed to sit down, tossing a pillow over my lap like a teenager in trouble. He enters after a moment, scanning the dim room.
“You get lost on the way to our bedroom?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head. “You know why I’m in here.”
He closes the distance, standing in front of me. Gently, he brushes the hair from my face and lifts my chin. His shoulders fall, exhaling as he takes in my flushed face and swollen eyes. “Oh, Sunset.”
The tears pooled in my eyes fall. “I’m so sorry.” My hands start to shake and I break free to cross the room. “I ruined everything for you.”
“Willow, stop.”
“I swear, I wasn’t going to take the money now—that’s what I was arguing with my mother about. And the house—that was just . . . I swear it’s not what it looks like, Dallas. I can explain everything.”
He catches my face, swiping away my tears, shushing me. “I know, honey.” I fall onto his chest and he holds me close, his heart thudding fast and hard. He murmurs against my head, “I know you can, and I’ll let you—just not tonight.”
Between my fear of losing Ellie and the residual shock of my questioning, I tremble in his arms. He swears, kissing the top of my head, then my temple, my tear-streaked face.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t control it, Sunset.
” Then finally, my lips. “I’m so sorry I let this happen.
” He lifts me off my feet and carries me to his bedroom.
Our bedroom. Where he lays me on the bed and strips me of everything but my undergarments. Then helps me into one of his T-shirts. His scent wraps around me, instantly calming me, like he knew it would.
Stripping himself, he slides under the covers with me. “You’re safe here,” he assures me. “You’re home. So why don’t you close your eyes for me and get some rest.”
I fall asleep like that. In his arms. His warmth.
When I wake up, it’s still pitch-black outside, but I’m too restless. Feeling like I might burst out of my skin, I sit up.
Dallas groans beside me, eyes fluttering open and finding mine. “What is it?”
“I can’t sleep.”
He grunts, twisting. “Tomorrow. No more questioning today.”
I nod. “Can you do me a favor?”
He groans. “Now?”
Five minutes later, he’s carrying Ellie in from her bedroom, setting her between us.
I smile for the first time all day. “Thank you.”
“We’ll get her back, Sunset, I promise.”
“How can you be sure?”
He slides back in. “Because I’ve been where he is. Nothing makes sense and every decision you make is destructive. He’ll realize his mistakes. He’ll right his wrongs.”
“You really think so?”
“Honey, I hope so.” He leans over and kisses my forehead. “Now, let’s hit the hay,” he winks, flashing me a grin that could melt steel.
The next morning, I explain everything to my husband over coffee on the back porch. The dream house. The pressure from my mother. The OK I gave her after signing the prenup—my moment of weakness—and when I called changing my mind.
He listens, reacting only slightly to everything I tell him. Muscles tightening, in a way that shields me, not blames me.
“I looked up the Lakeview Estates last night.” He winks at me, moving his eyes to the view in front of us. “Think I got them beat.”
I laugh. “No comparison.”
He takes my hand, bringing it to his lips.
I breathe in the air. “In fact, the minute I stepped foot in this house, I knew nothing could ever compare.” I watch Ellie out in the yard. Guilt mists my eyes again. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“I wasn’t going to take the money based on a fake marriage.
It wouldn’t be fair to Grandma. It felt like cheating her.
That, and . . . I wanted this to only be about you and Ellie.
Helping you was enough for me.” I swallow, feeling ashamed about my insecurities.
“After I signed the prenup, it triggered something I’ve been fighting for a while.
That I’ll always be alone. I’ll never have that partner in life to be my equal.
” I bite my lip. “And something I tried to prove after Eric attacked me. That I can take care of myself.”
He searches my face. “Willow, I’ll always be on your side. Your partner, your equal. In everything. But I’ll never stop protecting you. Taking care of you. That’s . . . non-negotiable.”
I smile. “I can live with that.”
He turns to me, raking his arms around my waist. “But I will be teaching you how to high kick without making a fool of yourself.”
“Deal.”
My stomach twists when he kisses me. Because I think of how perfect this moment is.
And how it will be ruined tomorrow when Cole arrives.