Page 158 of Stolen Fate

I looked down at his tie, fingering the knot. He was right. I knew what I agreed to, but sometimes I wished they had given me the chance to say goodbye. To hold him just one time.

It had felt like I was grieving his death, and that pain when they told me he was gone…

It was not something I had ever experienced before, and I didn’t want to ever experience it again.

Jace brought my focus back to him when he cupped my cheek. I stared into his eyes, feeling my own welling up. I had never told anyone about that. Not Katie, and certainly not Ethan.

He had shown up at the hospital two days after Elliot’s birth, when I had asked him to come pick me up. Katie didn’t have a car at that time, and I supposed, I thought having my big brother around would comfort me in some way. It didn’t, and at that time, the only thing I was capable of telling him was that the baby was no longer there.

I didn’t know if Ethan took that to mean the baby had died or went away, and at that time, I didn’t care to ask him.

“I’m sorry you went through that,” he said softly.

My lips trembled and the tears spilled over once more. God, I was so sick of crying. I didn’t want to cry anymore. He wiped away my tears with his thumbs.

“I wished I had been there for you at the time.”

I smiled a little at that. “Yeah, me too.”

Certainly, things would have been easier… better. I wouldn’t have had to say goodbye to Elliot. I would have been able to bring him home with me.

In another lifetime, things would have played out differently. Jace and I would have been together, and there was no Marie or Camila in our lives.

It would just be me and him and Elliot.

I didn’t know who moved first, but I suddenly found the space between us closing, and then his lips were just mere inches away from mine.

I looked into his eyes, then down at his lip, my breath coming out in tiny pants.

“Evelyn.”

My name was said so softly, I almost didn’t hear it. But I felt the way his hot breath touched my lips, and I knew there was still so much for us to talk about and so much to be resolved, but I didn’t want to talk.

I wanted to kiss him.

I wanted to place all of my burdens, and worries, and problems on his strong, capable shoulders and let him carry the weight for me, if only for a little while. And I knew he would. To love a capable man was a true blessing, but to have that man love me back was everything, and I knew he did. I knew he loved me, even when he’d never said it, just like he knew I loved him, even when I never told him as much.

My lips trembled and tears sprang to my eyes.

I wanted a do-over.

Back to the past, so Jace could tell me about Elliot right away, so that I could accept and open my heart to Jace sooner. I wanted a do-over, but that wasn’t real life.

What was real life was how my anger toward him was fighting with my love, and I didn’t know which side to let win.

Or perhaps, I knew which side to let win, I just didn’t know if I could do it.

One thing was for certain, I still craved him.

As angry as I was, I still craved his touch, his eyes, his love… everything.

And I wanted him to make me forget. I moved closer, taking away the distance between our lips, and closed my eyes.

My phone ringing had me jumping out of his arms, and I swore I heard Jace groan a little.

We both held our breath and looked over to Elliot, still asleep in his bed. I relaxed a little, licked my dry lips and pulled away from him, ignoring the way he was looking at me. I ignored the disappointment I saw in his eyes, because I was feeling the same way, too.

I pulled out my phone from my jeans pocket, frowning a little when I saw Ethan’s name.

“Sorry. It’s my brother. And this might be important.”

Jace nodded, though he didn’t move away or move me off his lap, and honestly, I didn’t want to get off. He was comfortable and warm, and despite all he kept from me, I didn’t want to be so far away from him.

“Ethan? Is everything okay?”

I could hear Ethan’s heavy breathing on the other end of the line before he spoke. “No, Evelyn. It’s Dad. He had a heart attack and we’re at the hospital now. I think… I don’t want to worry you, because I think everything will be okay, but they won’t tell me anything and it’s been a while.”

“What?” I moved off Jace’s lap and toward the chair.

“Yeah. Can you come home?”

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