fury.
She’d balled her hands into tight fists. How many times had she told him how she felt about the military? Soldiers were brave and strong and a wonderful necessity for the country, but in her experience, they weren’t so good at being part of families. Case in point—her own father. He’d hurt Maisey’s mother so many times over the years that she’d lost count. Granted, not every man cheated on his spouse, but deployment tossed open the door for marital discord to march in. Why her mother never divorced him was a mystery. She claimed it was because she was a God-fearing woman, and wanted to honor her lifelong vow. But Maisey believed she’d secretly always hoped he’d change.
“Say something,” Nash had coaxed.
“You ruined everything. What’s wrong with you?” Hot tears flooded her cheeks, and her throat ached from what she could only label as betrayal. “You know how I feel, and you did it anyway. I hate you.” She landed a half-hearted slug against his stupid chest, and tried pushing herself up, but he caught her wrists, tugging her back down
In the tussle, she’d dropped the snowcone. It now melted in a sad red pool on the ground.
“You love me.” He said. “Marry me, and we’ll make all our dreams come true. You can still go to college, and I’ll work hard and be an officer. We’ll travel the world on the government’s dime. It’ll be great. You’ll see.”
“All I see is an idiot. You know what my father did. Why can’t you understand?”
He kissed her. Soft and sweet. And like always, it was never enough. When it came to Nash, she could have kissed him all day, every day and it would still never be anywhere near enough.
“What I understand,” he said, “is that your dad hurt you. I get it. But, baby, that doesn’t mean I would ever do the same. Look at how great my dad is. Practically every kid we go to school with is a Navy brat, and tons of them have turned out fine. You can’t condemn an entire organization based on the faults of one disgusting pig.”
But she had.
After telling Nash she never wanted to see him again, she hadn’t—up until he’d shown up to rescue her. His being here for her now made no sense. Not after she’d failed on all fronts to be there for him. When her mom told her his wife and unborn child had died, she could have called—at the very least, sent a note—but she hadn’t.
Just like she hadn’t reached out before that, when she’d learned he’d become a SEAL or when his dad had passed. Why?
Because she’d given up the right to celebrate his successes or mourn his failures and sorrows when she’d turned her back on him all those years ago.
Obviously, her biggest regret centered on ever having succumbed to Vicente’s snake-like charm. But coming in a close second would have to be her naïve refusal to give Nash’s way a chance. What if everything had gone as he’d said? And he had been a man of his word? And they’d since made a beautiful family?
Maisey hugged her belly.
How different would her life now be if this child were Nash’s instead of Vicente’s? The thought crushed her. She was soon going to be a mom. She had to start making better decisions—not merely for her sake, but the baby’s. With Vicente out of the picture, she’d get back to her career.
Maisey and her longtime friend, Delia, were part-owners in a used clothing store. It wasn’t much, but it had been theirs—at least until Vicente whisked her away. When she’d told him she was pregnant, he’d proposed and then paid off her share of the business as well as her student loans for her fashion merchandising degree. Assuming she’d never need or want for anything ever again, she’d naïvely signed over her share of Glad Rags .
How had she been so desperate for love that she’d missed a ridiculous number of signs that Vicente wasn’t quite what he’d seemed? Paying for everything in cash, cutting her off from family and friends, always needing to be