Page 143 of Infatuated as They Come
My eyes narrowed. “It’s not his fault you are the way you are.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, hurt flashing across his face. “Holly, please, we can’t keep doing this. We can’t keep fighting.”
“Do you think I’ve been happy with the way we left things? What did you think I’d do? It’s just…” My hands gripped the edge of the couch as I looked at him, giving him a weak shrug, because I was so tired of the same old fight. “Look, I don’t even know why you get so worked up about it. About money. It doesn’t make sense to me. It never even crosses my mind, but it’s like the only thing you can think of when you see Sawyer. You turn into a totally different person when you’re around him.”
“He brings out a side of me I’m not proud of,” he said before he held his hands up. “I’m not saying it’s his fault. I’m not. I know it’s mine. I’m the problem. I hurt him and I hurt you and it’s wrong. I just… Holly, I never expected you to fall in love with someone so…”
“Poor,” I offered. “He’s poor and it’s okay that he is. I don’t care about how much money he has and I don’t need him to be anything except who he is. I love that he’s not like all those boring superficial boys you want meto be with. He’s better than them in every way. He’s sweet and romantic and caring and loyal and hard working and gentle and I’m the luckiest girl in the world that someone like him is my boyfriend. That I’m his and he’s mine. I’d be so sad if I had to be anyone else’s…”
“Well, I don’t want you to be sad,” he said. “I never want you to be sad.”
“You make me sad when you treat him badly.”
“I really thought I was protecting you,” he said. “I’ve been doing it my whole life, but I suppose you don’t need me to do that anymore. You’re all grown up now. I have to accept that. And… I have to accept him. He’s who you want. He’s who you love. And it seems like you love him a lot.”
“With my whole heart,” I said with a sad smile.
“I can’t get in the way of that.”
My fingers toyed with the hem of my dress. “You can’t be in my life and treat him badly at the same time. It’s not fair to him. You have to treat him with respect. You don’t have to be best friends, but you can’t keep hurting him. You can’t say awful things to him. About money, about you thinking he’s not good enough, about other guys. About hismom.”
Breathing out shakily, he nodded. “You might think that I did what I did that night because I was trying to get him away from you, but I really did think he hurt you, Holly.”
“But when you found out it wasn’t what you thought, you still couldn’t bring yourself to apologize.”
“No, I couldn’t. That was my fault. My mistake. And like I said, if he was here, I’d say this to his face. I suppose I’ll get to talk to him on Friday.”
“He’s the one who asked me to invite you and Mom. He’s the one who encouraged me to talk to you and forgive you. You should be thanking him.”
“I will. On Friday, I will.”
“If you show up and do something to hurt him or ruin his night,” I said, drawing in a shaky breath, “I will absolutely never forgive you. I will never speak to you again. If you think a few weeks is painful…”
“I won’t,” he said, voice low and serious. “That’s his night and I won’t ruin it for him.”
I nodded, eyes falling to my lap. “I hope not.”
“I’m sorry about everything, Holly. About upsetting and hurting the both of you. About breaking his gift and that necklace. About ruining Christmas for you two—your mother as well. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so angry.”
“I hope next Christmas will be a lot better,” I said, reaching a hand up to grasp the pendant resting against my chest. “He fixed it for me.”
He smiled, and it looked soft and sincere. “I’m glad it’s fixed. I’m… I’m glad he fixed it. I’m sorry again for breaking it. For everything.”
“It’s up to him if he wants to forgive you,” I said.
“That’s true. But… you love him and he loves you and I should be happy my daughter’s found someone who makes her happy,” he said, slowly moving an arm my way, all cautious and careful like I’d bite and rip a limb off.
But I didn’t move or budge as he looped an arm around me. Instead, I let my head fall to his shoulder.
“I don’t have to worry about him not looking after you,” he continued. “It looks like he knows how to do that. He can take care of my daughter and love her and be good to her, and that’s all that matters, right?”
“Right,” I said softly, eyes closing as I rested there on his shoulder. That was all that mattered.
Chapter 37
Sawyer
There were too many people in the room.
