Great. That answered my question from earlier. “I’ll visit with Charity. You go dance with your husband. He looks lonely,” I told her.
She smiled at me and nodded, then said good-bye to Charity before hurrying back to Woods. This was their night. I would do this for them. This once. But never again. And for no one else.
“You seemed very taken with the other dance partner you had. Did someone take her away from you?” Charity asked. I didn’t miss the annoyed tone in her voice.
I had the warmth of Bethy still in my arms. I wasn’t ready to have someone else replace that. I took a seat beside Charity instead of asking her to dance. “You enjoying yourself?” I asked, completely ignoring her comment.
She raised her eyebrows as if she was surprised I cared.
I was purposely not looking at Bethy in Thad’s arms. I couldn’t be sure I wouldn’t storm back there and take her away from him.
“My date has been very wrapped up with another woman for the past half hour. What do you think?” Her retort was sharp this time.
I leaned forward and started to inform her that she wasn’t my fucking date. She was here because Della invited her, not because I asked her. All I wanted right now was to go back out there and hold Bethy the only way she would let me. But I caught myself. I wasn’t cruel. Charity was a scorned woman who had been burned by her husband. She was at a wedding with a bunch of happily married people. She was hurting. And I, as one of the few bachelors here, was an easy target. I got that. “I’m in love with her,” I said. Charity needed to know that my attention was never going to be turned her way.
Charity rolled her eyes. “Sure you are. Big boobs and all those curves. I’m sure it’s love, all right.”
Reminding myself once again that Charity was going through a tough time was hard. “Yes, she’s beautiful, but it’s deeper than that,” I said, unable to hide that she’d pissed me off.
“Men. You see something you think is easy, and you’re all like panting dogs. News flash: tonight I was going to be easy.”
My hands fisted as I leveled my furious glare on her. She’d stepped over the line. No one, fucking no one, referred to Bethy as easy. Leaning forward, I clenched my teeth so tightly my jaw popped.
Charity sat back as her eyes went wide with fear.
I didn’t lose my shit often, but this woman was pushing me. “When I was eighteen years old, I fell in love. Not the first love kind of love but the big kind. The one-and-only kind of love. But because of parents who wanted to turn me into someone I wasn’t, I had to run to save myself. She was only sixteen and I couldn’t take her with me. When I ran, I did it for us, so I could come back for her when she was old enough.” The hard edge to my voice made her shoulders jerk and her face pale, but she was listening.
“But that didn’t happen. While I was running, she was facing something terrifying without me. I wasn’t there to stand by her and hold her. Because of that, I lost her. Years later, she fell in love again. With my cousin. And he was the better man.
“When I finally came home to face my demons, she was happy. More than anything on this earth, I wanted her happy. But again, tragedy hit us. A riptide pulled my cousin under the water while he was trying to save her life, and we both lost him.
“For eighteen months, I’ve had to watch as the woman I love walked through life lost. Hollow from her loss. She wouldn’t let me near her, because all I did was remind her of everything she’d lost. She yelled at me and said things that sliced me open in ways I don’t think I’ll ever recover from. But still, I follow her and watch over her every day. Because she’s alone. And I have to know she’s safe. It’s the only thing that keeps me going.” The angry tone in my voice was gone. I sounded as desperate as I felt.
Charity’s expression softened, and the shock in her eyes was replaced with sympathy. I looked out onto the dance floor as Dean Finlay, who had taken over for Thad, twirled Bethy around, making her smile.
“Tonight, for the first time in eight very long years, she let me hold her. She didn’t yell at me. She didn’t push me away. My cousin’s best friend got married tonight, and instead of my cousin standing up there as his best man, I had to take his place. But even with that reminder hovering over the night, she let me hold her.”
Charity followed my gaze and then made a soft “oh” sound.
I wasn’t sure why I told her everything. I wanted her to understand that I knew all about pain. She wasn’t the only one with shit in her past. I also wanted her to get that I would not be sleeping with her tonight.
“That’s her, then,” Charity said, watching Bethy laugh at Dean’s antics.
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“She’s beautiful,” Charity said in a whisper.
“The most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
She sniffed and wiped at her eyes. When I looked back at her, she smiled. “That’s a heartbreaking story. But it makes me believe there’s more out there for me. What I had was never that kind of love. I thought that kind of love was only in the movies. Seeing your face when you talk about her, that’s what I want.” She stood up, and her smile brightened. “Thank you. For telling me all that. I was sitting here feeling sorry for myself. I’ll admit, I was angry at you for not giving me any attention. But after hearing that and watching Della and Woods together, I know that Braden and Adam aren’t one of a kind. There really is someone out there for everyone. I’ve got that big love out there somewhere. I just haven’t found it yet.”