Page 38 of Mercy Lake

The temperature had dropped, storm clouds closing in overhead as if to appease my mood. My energy was waning, but he latched on tighter, lending me strength. The contradiction had my mind and body out of sorts.

As the first droplets of rain began to fall, I ran my fingers through Owen’s hair and stared down directly into his eyes. He was right there with me, ready to hear and take it all.

I sighed, the power draining from my voice, leaving only hurt behind. “You ask me why I didn’t fight for you?You didn’t fight for me first. Although the circumstances are different than I thought, it doesn’t change the fact that you let that vile snake come into our home and blindside me with the most incriminating accusation—which you didn’t deny. Why would I need to hear anything else after that? By keeping your secret,yougave her the opportunity to twist her own narrative and total our marriage in the process.”

I released my hold, grabbed his hand and pressed his palm to the centre of my ravaged chest. “At that moment, I didn’t just find out my husband had been unfaithful with my friend. It was far worse. You were having ababywith her, Owen. A baby whoshould have been mine. A family that should have been mine. A future that should have been mine.”

Then, slowly, ever so slowly, I lowered my forehead to his, our tears mixing together. “You ripped out my heart, baby. Tore it to shreds. Tell me… How was I supposed to piece it back together?”

By then, I was shaking, grief and memory consuming everything else, and when solid arms wrapped me up tight, I completely combusted in the embrace of my perpetrator as rain cascaded from the skies.

Chapter 22

OWEN

We were drenched by the time we reached my car. Jumping inside, I cranked the heater and shook out the water from my hair.

Alexis giggled…Fucking giggled.

I drove back to town with an inner hesitance. We didn’t say a word, but it wasn’t uncomfortable—more contemplative.

I learnt a lot about Alexis, but also about myself. I hadn’t realised I was holding on to such resentment towards her. And although I had no right to, I couldn’t help the words spilling from my tongue. But she gave it back in kind, in the truest form she could.

It was complicated, messy—a downright trainwreck. But it was alsopure.Of all the turbulent emotions running through me, one stood firm.

I was relieved.

We had finally initiated a conversation that was four years overdue, and we survived.

After that heavy exchange, the torrential downpour almost felt symbolic. That, alongside our tears, helped the storm cleanse away all our old grievances.

As I pulled up outside her parents’ house, Alexis didn’t move to leave, the rain secluding us in our own little place where the outside world didn’t exist. We were both caught in a spell, unwilling to break that new frequency we had found ourselves.

I let her company lull me as I spoke into the blank space.

“What are you thinking?”

She remained quiet, sorting through her thoughts before she answered. “I’m…sad,” she whispered. Her body was turned away from me, so it was barely loud enough to hear.

All the previous fight, all the fire that had been there before was nowhere to be seen. Instead, the woman next to me appeared exhausted and entirely drained.

“Talk to me, Lex,” I coaxed.

She sighed, then tipped her head back to hit the headrest. “She was my friend. She wassupposedto be my friend. I’m the reason you went there in the first place. If I never asked you to go and help her, it never would have happened, and we wouldn’t have lost each other. Lost so much time…”

Her words tapered off on a subtle clearing of her throat, and I took advantage.

“Nope, we’re not playing this game. The ‘what if’ game. I know all too well where it leads, and it doesn’t end up anywhere productive.”

Then, she turned her head and gave me hertrueeyes. For the first time since she had left me, I was granted full access behind her impenetrable walls to see to her very soul beneath. And what I found practically totalled me to the ground.

Despair. Guilt. Sorrow.

The exact replica of myself when I knew I had lost it all.

“I’m sorry, Owen,” she said, so broken and so real. She aggressively rubbed her knuckles against her sternum. “Fuck, I’m sorry for putting you in that position. I’m sorry for what you endured. I’m sorry for what she did to you.”

“Did tous,baby.” My hand pulled on hers, wanting to stop the repetitive, bruising motion.

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