Page 84 of Hero for the Holidays

And Fia could never be her mother.

This woman who had self-immolated when she had children to take care of. This woman who had surrendered all of her happiness, all of her everything to a man instead of being there for her children.

Hell. She was still doing that.

There was a reason that Fia had never confided in her.

Bitterly, sitting there in bed, naked and slightly ashamed of herself, she let that truth wash over her.

She hadn’t been able to confide in her mother.

She hoped that Lila would confide in her. No matter what. No matter what the issue was. She needed her to. Wanted it more than anything.

She wanted to be better. Do better. For her child.

It was the single most important thing to her.

It was so damned important.

And this... This had been an aberration.

At least she and Landry hadn’t touched each other. They hadn’t crossed that line. And they wouldn’t. She would make sure that they didn’t.

Because it would be a very, very bad idea.

And definitely not one they could afford.

So she decided to ignore this. Pretended it hadn’t happened.

It was what Landry had done to her all these years.

She had to protect herself. That was the thing. And she couldn’t regret it.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

THEY’DPASSEDTHANKSGIVINGBY, which had been rowdy since it had been a combined affair between the Kings and the Sullivans. Lila’d had a great time, though when they’d gotten home she’d cried because Thanksgiving made her happy and sad. Because last year she’d been in foster care and that had been saddest of all, but neither year had Jack and Melissa. And it just hurt.

They’d turned the corner into December, Christmas lights going up on the barn at Sullivan’s Point and all around town.

Then they finally got their court date.

Landry was pumped and ready.

It had been a good distraction, knowing their paperwork was in and processing and all they were waiting for was their day in family court. They were going up to Portland, which was where her case was centered.

And it had given him a reprieve from thinking about Fia. And the way that she’d about blown his head off that night they’d talked each other into a frenzy on his porch swing.

She hadn’t mentioned it after that. In fact, the next text she’d sent him had been something wholly innocuous, and it had been like they’d never engaged in that sexually charged conversation to begin with.

And like they hadn’t gotten off while thinking of each other, just like old times.

Though it hadn’t been isolated pleasure back then. They’d have just sneaked out to find each other. They’d havehadeach other. Back when they were teenagers, they’d taken what they wanted.

Reckless.

Heedless.

Unfortunately, now they understood things like consequences and emotional fallout.

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