Page 73 of Enticed

“We can go in in a few. You didn’t have to come,” my mom assures Clara, but by the redness of her face and the anguish in her eyes, I can tell she’s been crying.

“Yeah, I did. I can’t wait. I just wanted to see my niece.”

Her head finally swivels in my direction and the look of sorrow in her eyes almost makes me want to reach out and pull her into me.

But her words come back and play in my head—reminding me that she broke my heart when she was the only one I’d ever given it to.

“I’m gonna take off, Mom,” I declare, moving to hug her and then my dad.

“You’re not gonna stick around?” My mom questions, her eyes bouncing back and forth between Clara and me, silently asking me what the hell happened.

“No. It’s alright. I have to work in about five hours anyway. You guys get your visits in, tell my sister I love her, and I’ll stop by after my shift tonight.” I can feel Clara’s eyes on me as I say my goodbyes, but I fight like hell to ignore her.

“Okay, but you’d better come back. Liv will never forgive you if you don’t see her while she’s still here,” my dad warns.

“Oh, I know. I’m gonna order an Uber to take me back to your house to pick up my truck. I’m just beat, but I’ll see you all later,” I turn to leave and I swear I feel Clara reach for me—but I keep on moving—walking away from her just as she did to me, turning my back on what I was sure was right until she unbottled every doubt I’d been feeling in my gut but I tried desperately to ignore.

If she wants my forgiveness, she’s gonna have one hell of a fight on her hands—because right now my anger is more powerful than my ability to forgive—and that’s a fact that terrifies me more than I care to admit.

Chapter 26

Clara

“You can come in now,” Mama Walsh waves to me from my seat outside of Liv’s recovery room. I’ve been here for almost two hours, making it well past three in the morning. But after Liv delivered the baby and they cleaned her and the new bundle up, they moved her to recovery before the hospital staff would let anyone in besides family. Usually visiting hours are later in the day, but since the baby was born at twelve-thirty in the morning, they’ve bent the rules for us.

“You sure?” I rise but Stacy stands right in front of the door, shielding the frame before I can slide through.

“Yes. But Clara, first I have to say something…”

Shit.

“Okay…” I feel like a dog with their tail tucked between their legs, waiting to be hit for peeing on the floor or something.

“I don’t know what happened between you and Cooper, but you both need to fix it.”

My head pops up and meets her eyes—the same eyes that have scolded and guided me since I was fourteen, more so than my own mother has ever done.

“What?” I play stupid, but I’m pretty sure I know where this conversation is going.

“I know about you two. Hell, I saw the writing on the wall back in the fall when Liv came home. My son cares about you, honey, and I know you feel the same way. But the anger in his eyes right now tells me something happened, and by the way you’ve been cowering since you got here, I’m safe to assume you had something to do with it.” Her arms are folded across her body and she’s tapping her foot on the ground like she’s waiting for me to lie to her.

My lips tremble as the tears break free again. “I messed up, Mama,” I let my head fall again and then cry for the hundredth time in the last few hours.

“Hey, it’s okay, kiddo. We’re all human and make mistakes. I don’t know exactly what you did and I’m not saying he’s innocent either… but I know my son. It was my idea for him to take you to Hyatt Lake last week,” she admits as she drops her hands and her entire stance changes. “Cooper doesn’t open his heart to just anyone, and he did with you. I know what I saw in his eyes when he spoke of you, and Clara,” she pauses, effectively forcing me to meet her eyes again, “I want nothing more than to call you my daughter-in-law someday. But you have got to get past your hold-up, child, whatever that may be. You’re going to keep pushing away anyone good to you and end up alone,” she says on a sympathetic tilt of her lips.

“I don’t know why I did it. I let everyone’s opinions get to me…”

She shakes her head with tears in her eyes. “Andthatfact right there baffles me to no end. You, of ALL people, are never one that has let the opinions of others dictate your life. Why now?” She comes closer to me and brushes a tear from my cheek.

And that’s the question I’ve been struggling with most of all. She’s right. I’ve always lived my life and danced to the beat of my own drum. I’ve always done what I wanted, when I wanted, and never gave an ounce of thought as to what other people had to say about it.

But then I was attacked, and my life flashed before my eyes—and I think suddenly I realized I had a lot to lose, and I never wanted to feel that way again.

“I’m still trying to figure that out,” I concede as Stacy pulls me in for a hug.

“I love you like my own daughter, Clara. Make things right. Only then can you and Cooper fix this and hopefully find the happiness I know you deserve, even though you may think you don’t.”

Squeezing this woman, I thank the lord silently for people with hearts like hers—because if it wasn’t for her motherly guidance, who knows where I might have ended up. My parents were so busy running a business and doing what they wanted, I didn’t feel like a priority in their lives very often. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t bad parents and didn’t ignore me—but they definitely weren’t as hands-on as Olivia’s were.

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