Page 139 of Just One Kiss

Carly frowned. “Safer?”

Gloria removed the sunglasses to reveal not one but two darkening bruises, one around each of her eyes. There was a cut above her right eye so deep it looked like it might need stitches.

“Gloria.” Carly sighed her name, pushing the door open to let the woman in.

“Is Jaden here?” she asked.

“No. He went to the training center with Grady,” Carly said. “Come in. Please.”

“I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re here for a reason,” Carly said.

Gloria met her eyes. “I’m here because you’re the strongest woman I know.”

Carly’s mind worked for a response, but the words had caught her so off guard, nothing came. She’d felt so weak and helpless lately—how ironic.

“And because you have medical training.” Gloria passed through the door and into the kitchen.

“Here, sit.” Carly pulled one of the kitchen chairs away from the table and Josh’s mom set her purse down and sat. “You really need to go to the emergency room and have that checked out.”

Tears streamed down Gloria’s already stained cheeks. “You know I can’t. What would people say?”

“This is about more than your family’s reputation. You might need stitches—that cut above your eye looks pretty bad.”

She gingerly pressed at the cut, which oozed red. “Can you just help me clean it up? It’s been a long time since he hit me anywhere anyone would be able to see.”

The sadness of that statement settled on Carly’s shoulders, and she chided herself for not trying harder to help Gloria over the years.

The few times she’d even hinted that something might be wrong, Gloria had brushed her off. Should she have pushed harder?

“Have you called Josh?” Shouldshecall Josh? His mom was sitting here, battered—wouldn’t he want to know?

Gloria’s tears fell more quickly now. “He doesn’t want to speak to me. Maybe ever again.”

Carly walked to the cupboard and took out a first aid kit. “I can’t imagine that’s true.”

“No,” Gloria said. “Those were his actual words. And I can’t blame him.”

Carly got to work cleaning up Gloria’s cut, then her eyes fell to the older woman’s lip and saw that it was split and swollen too. “What happened?”

Tears pooled in the woman’s eyes, sliding in an already marked trail down her cheeks. “Josh loves you so much, Carly.”

Carly stopped dabbing and found the woman’s eyes.

“He loves you and we ruined that for both of you.”

Carly went back to cleaning the wound. “That wasn’t your fault.”

Gloria wrapped a hand around Carly’s wrist to stop her and met her gaze. “It was. I’m telling you.”

Carly shook her head. “Josh chose to leave us. It was hard and he left. End of story.”

“I know it’s hard to give second chances, Carly—goodness knows I’ve given them when I shouldn’t have. But would you consider it this time?”

Carly took a step back. “He’s not sorry for leaving. He doesn’t regret it at all. Said he did what was best for me and Jaden.” A lump grew in Carly’s throat. Josh’s words had wounded her more than she’d realized.

Carly dabbed at the gash above Gloria’s eye with a cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide. Gloria grimaced at the touch.

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