Page 87 of Crumbling Truth
“I’m so afraid of loving you.”
My muscles tensed, caught between the joy of this almost-admission and the pain of knowing I’d put her into this position. With a long exhale, I said, “You don’t have to be afraid. Never, I promise you. Esther…I’m staying. Moving back to Spruce Hill.”
Her head tipped up. “You’re staying?”
“My partner is going to buy my half of the business. I’ll have to wait for this Wylie project to be completed before the transfer, because of the contract, so I may need to go back and forth a few more times. I got an apartment over the Davies Soap Emporium.”
“You got an apartment,” she repeated. I couldn’t see her face, but I felt her eyelashes brushing over my skin as she blinked, presumably processing that information. “You’re moving back to Spruce Hill.”
“Yes. I’m very much in love with you, Esther, but you’re not responsible for choosing my future or finding my happiness. I wanted to prove to you I wasn’t putting any of that on you or using this as some way to pressure you into forgiving me. Christ, I don’t know if that makes any sense. I just wanted to show you I’m serious about this, all of it.”
Silence fell again, stretching until I was sure this was the end of things. My heart clenched painfully in my chest and I tangled my fingers in her hair, certain it would be the last time she let me this close to her. Then, when I opened my mouth to speak, her nose nuzzled the hollow at the base of my throat, followed by the soft press of her lips.
“I didn’t want to love you,” she said quietly. “But tonight, all I could think about was wasting these last few days, losing that time with you.”
I scooted down slightly in order to meet her eyes, glowing like silver discs in the darkness. “My days are yours. And my nights. All of them, from here on out.”
“I’m sorry I freaked out on you.”
“No,” I replied, my tone firm, and kissed the tip of her nose. “I’m sorry I freaked you out. I had a lot of shit to work through with my brother, but I think…I think we’re on our way to fixing things between us. I am so, so sorry, Esther, that I let that hurt you.”
“I do love you, you know,” she whispered.
With a shuddering sigh, she relaxed completely, her body melting into mine as though the confession had been a final wall that crumbled between us. I kissed the top of her head, tightened my arms around her, and held her until she finally fell asleep.
Epilogue
Esther
Itwasn’tquiteclearwhich news traveled faster—that Theo Silver was moving back to Spruce Hill, or that the only remaining member of the McNulty family had tried to kill me. Even the bustle of the last few days before Christmas couldn’t quell the furor of gossip flying through town.
Those invitations we’d feared never actually materialized, aside from one for a New Year’s Eve gathering at Sofia’s place. When we told her we’d see how we were feeling after Christmas, she just yanked us both into a warm hug and left us with a teary smile.
Still, we weren’t entirely without plans for the holidays. Theo asked if I was open to inviting Alex, Isabella, and Dominic over for a small celebration, and I enthusiastically agreed.
The three of them were driving out to Rochester to see her family on Christmas Day, so we scheduled our little get-together for Christmas Eve. Theo laughed at me for trying to toddler-proof the house as much as possible before their arrival, but I caught him moving a side table with sharp corners into thebasement before they arrived. When I tried unsuccessfully to hide a smile, he only winked at me.
The day after the incident, Theo helped me string Christmas lights throughout the guest house with reckless abandon while we ate the lemon cake I’d made straight off the serving plate. The day after that, we turned our attention to the main house, hauling boxes of decorations from the basement. The artificial tree we put up in the living room was so tall that even Theo had to stand on a step stool to put the star on top. I cooed and Theo groaned over every handmade ornament his mother had saved from his childhood.
We’d just added a final ornament to the tree when the doorbell rang. For a beat, we stared at each other, then I followed him toward the front door. In all the times I’d been to the house, I’d never come in that way. We always used the side door by the driveway.
When Theo opened the door, he kept me behind him as though there was still some threat out there. I knew there wasn’t—Detective Hanson had told us they’d tracked the prepaid phone to Drew McNulty and found another half dozen doctored photos on his laptop at home—but for once, I didn’t mind letting Theo step between me and the unknown.
Except…on the other side of the threshold were my parents, holding a prettily wrapped box with a golden bow on top of it.
I shifted out from behind Theo and stared at them in surprise. For a second, I thought he might tell them to get the hell off his porch, but they were looking back at us with such contrition that we were both startled into silence.
“We’re sorry,” my mother said softly, blinking back tears. “So sorry. My beautiful girl.”
I was frozen in place, barely aware of Theo’s hand settling against the small of my back in a wordless show of support. As Ilooked back and forth between my parents, wondering what the hell was happening, my dad held out the gift.
“We didn’t understand what you were dealing with back then, Esther. That’s no excuse for turning you away, and I will regret it until my dying day. But we love you. I never thought my job might put you at risk, and I can’t—”
When he broke off, choking on the words, I shook my head. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I heard about what happened to that boy’s family. I should have realized there was danger and shielded you from it.”
Theo glanced down at me before asking, “Do you want to come in?”
