Page 142 of Just One Kiss

Carly’s mind spun. Josh had spent all these years believing he was the cause of his brother’s death? How had she never known this before? How had he kept that secret from her of all people—she thought she knew everything about him.

“He came by this afternoon, Carly. He asked me to go with him. When Jim heard him, they fought and—”

“And what?”

“I watched my son remember what really happened. Not the version of events we told him, but the truth. He’d been bearing the weight of his father’s sins all these years and it cost him everything. It cost him you and Jaden.”

Carly’s pulse quickened. She’d been so quick to write Josh off when he left. She’d been so angry, so bitter, that she wouldn’t even entertain the idea that maybe Josh had a reason for running.

He didn’t want to be the cause of any more pain. When he held his sick, screaming baby, did he see his brother’s face? Did that moment close space and time in his mind, becoming the moment his brother died?

Carly had met Josh not long after Dylan’s death—she could still picture his eight-year-old face, and now the line of worry that always laced his brow made so much more sense.

“He didn’t leave because he didn’t love you, or even because he didn’t want to deal with having a child,” Gloria said, interrupting Carly’s thoughts. “He left because you and Jaden mean everything to him—and because he was afraid if he stayed he would subject you to the same kind of life he’d had. He was protecting you—from what he feared he might become.”

The words nicked the edges of Carly’s heart. Her eyes filled with tears and she shook her head. It couldn’t be true. Josh never would’ve hurt her or Jaden—he was one of the kindest people she knew.

“Carly, if you love him at all, go find him. I don’t think he’s okay.”

No, how could he be? How would he ever be?

“And you?”

“What about me?”

“What are you going to do now?”

Gloria’s face fell. “Pray that he changes his mind and agrees to talk to me again.” She pressed her lips together. “There is one thing I can do for Josh, if you’ll help me?”

Carly stilled. “Name it.”

“Would you mind calling your father and having him come over here?” Gloria drew in a long breath. “I think it’s time to press charges against my husband.”

36

If the frantic knocking on the cabin door was any indication, Carly wasn’t going to leave him alone. Her timing was terrible. She probably wanted to yell at him about last night. Carly had a way of going home and stewing, thinking of all the arguments she should’ve made.

Had she come to tell him what a terrible mistake she’d made in letting him kiss her? Had she come to reiterate that he’d abandoned them when they needed them most—a fact he was most certainly aware of?

A fact that had become his life’s greatest regret.

He’d been carrying around the guilt of a lie—it had altered the course of his life and there was no turning back. His mistakes were his own, regardless of why he’d made them, and he didn’t need Carly to point them out.

The knocking continued. Nobody could ever accuse her of not being persistent.

He opened the door but refused to look at her. How could he, knowing the truth? It should exonerate him, make him feel vindicated—but instead, it had paralyzed him—it had made his choices that much clearer. That much more painful.

“Are you okay?”

He met her eyes. What did she know? Why was she asking? “Not great, Carly.”

A nervous ripple washed across her face. “Your mom came by my house.”

Josh scoffed. “She’s got a lot of nerve.”

Carly studied him through a long pause. “She’s with my dad right now.”

He frowned. “Why?”

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