“I wasn’t going to put more pain on her,” he answered letting his free hand slide around her waist. “We argued, I pushed, and in the end, we got engaged.”
“Holy shit,” Tyler said. “But that doesn’t explain what the hell you meant this morning.”
“I’ve been trying everything I could to keep Dani from falling down into that place again. I thought we’d gotten past it but…”
“But he found the prescription for antidepressants that I didn’t fill,” Dani finished for him. “He was worried because I’d gone back to talk to the therapist. She’d prescribed them but I didn’t fill them. He was also worried because what I’d tried last time.”
“No, I don’t buy it. Why would he be yelling at you to act like his wife, saying he’ll do whatever he wants if he was worried about you?” Tyler asked.
“Because Dani hates it when I tell her what to do,” Luke told him. “You’ve walked into our fights before. I wanted my wife back. I wanted her to argue and stand up to me the way she always has when I try and give her orders.”
“Then why did you go after Ty the way you did?” Angela stated.
“Because I’ve been pissed off at him for the better part of a week and I’m sick and tired of having to defend myself to my family. I would never hurt Dani, the only thing I want is to make sure she stays safe, plus it was a hell of a lot better to punch him than the wall.”
“You’re serious?” Tyler asked staring at Dani. “You seriously tried…no…”
“I can give you the name of the therapist I’ve been seeing. I stopped after we’d gotten married, and things had cleared. Then I lost the baby and I guess it was too much.”
“Oh Dani,” Joan sighed hugging her tightly. “And now?”
“I’m okay; I swear. Luke and I are okay, aren’t we?” she said glancing back at him.
“Always,” he agreed, “I didn’t want to betray Dani. We’ve had enough struggles; we didn’t want more.”
“And we walked into the middle of something and jumped to the wrong conclusion, but Luke you’ve got to admit that what we heard…it sounded like…as if…” Angela said shrugging unsure of what to say.
“Like I was a total ass who beat my wife—that will never happen. I love Dani and the only thing I want is to make sure that she’s safe. I completely overreacted this morning to finding out she’d been seeing the therapist again and that she hadn’t filled the medication. Then my mind wondered if the reason she had the prescription in her bag was because she was going to fill it and…”
“That’s not going to happen ever again Luke,” she told him turning to look at him. “I’m here; I’m not going anywhere. I only had it with me for my appointment tomorrow. I was going to admit that I hadn’t filled it and see what she said.”
“Jesus,” Tyler laughed rubbing his hand over his face. “Dani, I’m sorry if what I let slip made things worse for you. Luke…”
“Forget it,” he said pulling Dani down into his arms. “There’s only one thing that matters to me.”
“We’ll let you two have some space,” Wren stated shooing the others out of the room. “Dani, we’ll go grab you all some things from the house.”
“Oh, your purse,” Joan said pulling it off her shoulder. “We locked the house and I grabbed this. Your keys are inside.”
“Thanks Joan, Wren,” she said with a light smile, sighing with relief when they closed the door behind them.
“I can’t believe you told them that,” Luke stated running his hand down her cheek. “Bold move, telling them that…they could find the record of your ER visit from when the sleeping pills sent you into anaphylactic shock, and I suppose they might buy that you actually didn’t know you were allergic to them, but claiming to be seeing a therapist now…”
“It’s not that far from the truth. I did see a therapist after we lost the baby, and she did give me a prescription. That’s how I found the lawyer; they’re housed in the same building.”
“You never said.”
“Why would I Luke, when we lost the baby, we weren’t…you hated me.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever really hated you, Dani. I hated what you did but I could never understand why, it wasn’t you.”
“And now?” she asked feeling her heart stall with hope.
“I can’t let you go. You’re too deep in my life, too important to me to let you go. That’s why I went nuts hearing about the lawyer, thinking that you were planning on leaving…I can’t imagine not having you beside me at night, not after the last two months.”
“I’m not going anywhere, being with you isn’t just about the sex Luke, though it’s always been great. I know when I’m with you I’m safe. I don’t have to worry about someone coming after me and it lets me open up.”
Luke kissed her wishing she’d be able to tell him that staying with him was for more than the sex and safety. He wanted her heart, wanted her to love him the way he did her. The nurses coming to check on him interrupted them and he loved the way her cheeks flushed.