Page 92 of At the Edge with You

Elena’s laugh is taunting, but Fable looks up at me, cupping my face, and I hold her close. “I’m so sorry they’ve done this.”

I move a piece of hair out of her lashes. “I told you—they don’t matter.”

Her lip trembles as she admits, “I don’t think they’ll apologize.”

I turn my head to kiss her palm. “I don’t need their apology, princess. I only need you.”

Her eyes are flooded with tears, and they continue to flow down her cheeks. She hiccups a sob. “I can’t stay here.”

“Then we’ll leave,” I say, taking her hand in mine. “Let’s go.”

“Fable, my darling, I’m sorry,” Kitty says, and I wish she had just stood there. Another round of sobs hits my girl as she looks over at Kitty. Her grandmother falls back into her seat, pressing her hand to her head. “I didn’t know until it was too late.”

“But you didn’t make it better. Why didn’t you make it better?”

Kitty’s lip quakes, and she looks at us with agony in her gaze. “Your father told me if I did, I’d lose not only him, but you. He’d keep you from me.”

All eyes fall to Richie, and I want to murder the man for hurting Fable and Kitty the way he did. I shake my head, looking at him with nothing but malice in my eyes.

Fable’s voice is small as she asks, “How could you?”

“I was protecting you, Fable Winter. He is not the man for you.”

“He is the only man for me!” she yells, her face flushing so red, I worry she can’t breathe. “Apologize to him!”

“Never,” Elena snaps, shaking her head. “You’ll see. We’re right.”

She doesn’t even look at her mother before she asks, “Dad?”

Richie looks from Elena to his daughter, and I can’t fathom how this man ever thought he could be a father. I would never look at my daughter with such disdain and not give her what she asks for. With a shake of his head, he tells her, “I won’t. We did this for you.”

Fable nods. “Then I am not your daughter any longer. Hope you planted a new one.”

She turns, but before I can follow, Kitty says, “I am so sorry, Jett.”

I nod. “It’s not your fault, Kitty. I love you.”

She covers her mouth, sobbing quietly as she nods. “I love you, honey.”

I send her a sweet smile before I glance at Fable’s parents, both looking distraught and unsure what to do. “No one and nothing will keep me from marrying that girl. I will love her more than either of you could even comprehend, and I will remind her daily how perfectly made she is. As she is. As my wife.”

“Get out of my house,” is all her mother says.

“With pleasure.”

I break into a jog to catch up to Fable, but then I’m sprinting when I find her outside on all fours, her body shaking with sobs. I slide along the manicured lawn, capturing her before pressing her body to mine.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey,” I chant, cupping her face, stricken by the sight of how hard she’s crying. She’s hyperventilating, gasping and clawing at her neck as she tries to breathe. Panic fills me, but I grab her hard, pulling her chest to me. “Come on, princess. Breathe with me.” I take a deep breath as she struggles. Her eyes are bloodshot, her tears falling hard as she wails and fights for breath. I hold her gaze as I tell her again, “Breathe, in and out. Come on. Yes, good job,” I praise as she inhales, letting it out and repeating the motion. “I love you so much, Fable. You’re so strong.”

Her lips quiver as she wails, wrapping her arms around me and hiding her face in my neck. “We have to go. I can’t be out here like this.”

“The fuck you can’t. We aren’t moving until you can breathe.”

“Jett, people can see,” she sobs, but I shake my head once more.

“They see a man holding the woman he loves,” I tell her, kissing her ear. “In and out, princess. Breathe with me.”

She does as I ask, and as I hold her to me, I watch as curtains open and people peek through. Some even come onto their doorsteps, but I don’t let her go. Her heart is still beating out of control, and with every other breath, she shudders or hiccups instead of breathing. When I see movement in the corner of my eye, I notice her neighbor approaching the black fencing.

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