Page 97 of Hypnotized By Love

Bridget had posted.

CHAPTER THIRTY

I needed a minute to regroup before I read her post. I saw that there were literally hundreds of comments, and no other post on the message board had anywhere near that many. When I went inside the house, I thanked the heavens for the invention of air-conditioning and then took my shower.

I’d nearly forgotten about the online hypnosis session that I’d scheduled, and I threw something on that looked professional, then pulled my wet hair into a bun and hoped my client wouldn’t notice.

When the session was over, I reached for my phone and clicked on the post. Bridget had called it “The Actual Truth About Mr. Landry.” She had written down everything she’d told me. She took full accountability for her actions, apologized to me, and admitted that she had been wrong. Some other women posted that they had thought he was inappropriate with them, but didn’t tell because they thought it was their fault or that no one would believe them or that they had been misreading the situation.

There was a lot of support for Bridget, and I was glad she was getting that. What had happened to her was awful, and I hoped she would find a way to heal and move forward with her life.

The anger and the betrayal were still there, but finding out it was her and not Mason—it didn’t feel like such a personal act. What she had done was terrible, but it had come from a place of fear and not out of a desire to hurt me.

When I’d suspected Mason, that felt entirely personal. Like a targeted attack for a reason I didn’t understand, and I hadn’t been able to move past how big that betrayal was.

I’d already realized that a large part of it was because I was in love with Mason, and so of course it wouldn’t feel the same with Bridget, especially because we hadn’t even been friends back then.

I wished that this pain could go away—that I could stop being angry, stop feeling hurt. But I didn’t know how to just let it go. I wanted to be more of an adult, to forgive, but it was something I was going to have to work on. I wasn’t ready to do it yet.

The wound she had caused still ached.

Later that night Sierra found me in my room, where I was reading a book. Whenever I needed to escape the real world, a good book never let me down.

“Did you read Bridget’s post?” she asked as she sat next to me on my bed.

I put down my book. “I did. That must have been hard for her to do. It means she probably had to tell her mom first, which couldn’t have been easy, either.”

She blinked at me a couple of times. “You are handling this much better than I thought you would.”

“I am hurt and mad that she did it and angry that she kept it from me, but I also know it wasn’t intentional and she was confused and being groomed and preyed on.” I wanted to handle this better than I’d handled the situation with Mason. I didn’t want to keep making the same mistakes, but I couldn’t turn my hurt feelings off.

“She’s apparently put posts up on all of her social media accounts, and she contacted the proper authorities to report it. I don’t know ifthe statute has run out yet or not, but she wants to make sure that Mr. Landry stays locked up. She’s making an effort to own up publicly to what she did.” It confirmed to me that Sierra and Bridget had stayed in contact and were still talking.

“And I appreciate it,” I said.

My sister stayed quiet for a few moments, her expression serious. I waited because I could tell that what she wanted to say next mattered to her. “One of the most important things I’ve learned over the years is about forgiveness. For ourselves and for others. For some reason, we see forgiving someone as a weakness or a failing.”

I nodded because I knew that better than anyone.

“It doesn’t mean you have to forget or condone what happened. It doesn’t even mean you have to ever speak to or see that person again. But forgiving someone means you don’t let them control you any longer. You get to replace all the heavy, negative feelings that weigh you down and focus on your own well-being instead. Bridget can’t undo this. Neither one of you can change what happened, but you get the choice to change how you relate to it.”

“That’s really good advice. When did you get so wise?” I asked.

“Therapy. Years and years and years of therapy,” she said. “I wanted you to forgive Mason for a long time because I saw how unhappy your anger toward him made you. And I’m saying this because I love you the most, and not just because Bridget is our friend, but I don’t want to see you get caught up in that cycle again.”

Maybe I wasn’t as angry with Bridget because things had changed. Because I had found someone who made me feel more myself, more complete, who pushed and challenged me to do better and be better, and so forgiving Bridget didn’t seem like such an impossibility.

“With time, who knows?” I said. “I probably have to work through some things first. It’s a lot to deal with.”

“If you need the name of a good therapist, just let me know.”

That made me wonder if my mentor, Camila, was back in town yet. I made a mental note to send her a text and see if she was reachable. She would be a really good person for me to talk to. “I’ll tell you if I need anything.”

Sierra nodded and then hugged me. “You are my favorite sister.”

“And you’re mine.”

The next few days were filled with work and my clandestine meetings with Mason. We were dedicated to taking things slow, and we were managing fairly well in that area, with a couple of close calls. He really was too sexy for his own good. Sierra was probably right, as she had been about so many things lately, that we just had a lot of pent-up wanting and longing that we had to work out before we could calm down.

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