Page 95 of Resisting You
The muscle in Lydia’s jaw twitched before she answered, “Because as misguided as it is, it’s what I would have done in her situation.”
Callie looked away. Cam rubbed the back of his neck. Lex lowered his clipboard.
“Give us a minute?” I asked.
They all nodded and drifted off—Callie back inside, Lex toward the food table, Cam muttering something about checking the generator. Birdie followed Cam, limping and tail wagging like he’d just won a prize.
Lydia and I were alone.
She stepped closer, hands in the pockets of her hoodie. “I know I’ve apologized to you before, but it just never feels like you’ve… like we’ve…”
“I know,” I said, cutting her off. “I don’t know why I’ve held onto this grudge for so long—” Emotion broke my voice.
“I do,” she went on. “Because even though I’ve apologized before,” she went on, “I don’t think I ever really said it the way I should have. That article I wrote all those years ago… it hurt you. Even with how my editors twisted it all up, I still accept the blame. I was ambitious and selfish and trying to get ahead, and I thought I could do that without collateral damage. But you were the collateral, and I’ve regretted it every day since. Even before I knew Cam. Even before I really knew you. I’ve always regretted how that went down. And I’m so sorry.”
I didn’t say anything at first. I just looked at her. Really looked at her. And I saw it—regret, sure, but something else too. Hope.
“If we’re going to be family—a real family—when Cam and I get married, I just… I need you to know how much I want a real relationship with you. Not just as your brother’s wife. But as your sister.”
I reached over and gave her a playful tap on the arm. “What’s taking you two so long, anyway? You’ve been engaged longer than anyone in this family.”
Lydia rolled her eyes, but smiled through the gesture. “Hey, not all of us can drunkenly elope, you know.” After a pause, her smile turned more gentle. “Also, for what it’s worth, I admire the hell out of the way you love Rosa. The way you see her, even when she doesn’t see herself.”
I laughed softly. “Yeah, well. Loving her was the easy part.”
Lydia placed her hands on my shoulders, drawing my eyes to hers. “I may be the only one in this family right now who doesn’t want you to stop fighting for her. I’vebeenRosa before. I was the girl who walked away thinking it was the only way to protect the people I love. It was misguided, sure. But it was based in love. Not apathy.”
Lydia stepped forward and pulled me into a hug—tight, warm, and maybe a little overdue.
I hugged her back.
“Welcome to the family,” I said.
She pulled back, eyes a little misty. “So. What are you going to do?”
I looked out across the yard. The white arch still waited. The folding chairs stood in rows like soldiers. And my heart, even bruised and battered, still pointed in one direction.
“I’m going to fight for her,” I said.
Lydia nodded. “Good. Because now? You’ve at least got a backup army of one,” she said, pointing her thumb to her chest.
I smiled, a little unsure. “A backup army… even of just one… is great. I just don’t know what the hell to do with it.”
And that was the truth. I didn’t have a plan. Every romantic cliché I’d ever seen felt either wrong or wildly out of character. Rosa didn’t want fanfare. She didn’t want a spotlight. If anything, she wanted the opposite of that. She wanted real. Safe. Quiet. And I’d given her chaos.
How do you win back the woman you accidentally married, publicly embarrassed, and possibly drove out of town?
I sighed and turned back toward the yard.
That’s when I saw them.
Not just Lydia, who stood beside me with her arms crossed in quiet solidarity—but the rest of them.Allof them.
My army.
Callie stood near the back deck, arms still wrapped around the fairy lights she hadn’t bothered to finish untangling. Cam was in front of the barn, a beer bottle dangling from his fingers, his usual frown softened. Lex had put down the clipboard as he walked across the lawn, eyes fixed on me. Ronnie waddled beside him, her arm hooked around his elbow and her free hand resting on her growing belly. Steve and Yvonne held hands while my mom walked at the front, leading the pack.
Our rock, always. The woman who withstood nearly every storm that whipped her way and not only survived, but thrived… with five kids in tow.
