* * *
This was bad.Aly had been on edge for a week, and it had only gotten worse since Andy’s allergic reaction. He should have been more careful with his words when he’d first laid eyes on them at the ER. He never should have implied that he blamed her, even though he hadn’t meant it. But he hadn’t been careful, and now, no matter how many times he tried to convince her it wasn’t her fault, she didn’t believe him.
It was definitely not the time to pop the question, and he hadn’t planned to. That ring was supposed to stay in his drawer for at least a couple of months. Until she was ready.
But now…
She slammed his sock drawer and spun toward him. The second he saw her face, he knew she’d seen the ring.
A stupid part of his heart hoped she was shocked but happy.
“I can’t go with you this weekend.” Her words were flat. Robotic. And that stupid part of his heart shredded. But he couldn’t let go.
“Let’s stay home.” He started toward her, but she held out her hand and stepped away.
“No. That’s not what I mean.” She swallowed. “You and Andy should go.” With her shoulders pulled back, she fisted her hands at her sides. Frantic fear swam in her eyes. Shit. She was running.
If you love someone, let them go.
He thought back to every time he and Genni had fought. How hard she’d tried to tie him down, make him change his mind, make him want to be with her. Want to marry her. And no matter what she did, nothing changed. Shecouldn’thave changed his mind.
And he couldn’t change Aly’s.
That ripped through him like a bullet, sending pain unlike nothing he’d ever felt before ricocheting through him.
If you love someone, let them go. If they come back, they’re yours; if they don’t you, never had them to begin with.
He couldn’t imagine walking away. Couldn’t imagine never pressing his lips against her plush mouth again. He couldn’t believe he’d never make love to her again.
“But I can’t go. We can’t keep doing this.”
The words echoed around his head in a hellish loop. “I’m not going to pressure you into something you don’t want, Al.” But he pulled out his phone and shot off a text. “That’s the address if you change your mind.” Will swallowed and blinked a few times. “Take as long as you need.”
He grabbed his bag and left the room. But he left his shredded heart on the floor at her feet.
CHAPTER25
The whole carride had been silent. Neither of the boys felt like listening to the radio, and Will needed to say something, but he was having trouble mending his own heart, let alone that of the eleven-year-old next to him. The road blurred as he thought about it.
“How long does it take?” Andy asked, the sound of his voice strange to Will’s ears after hours of silence.
“Another ten minutes. Maybe fifteen.”
“No,” Andy corrected. “She said she’d do paperwork if I wanted to stay with you—to be done with her.”
Will sighed. Of course that was where Andy’s head was. But Will wasn’t ready to go there. He didn’t want to give up on her. He could forgive her panic, but he couldn’t come to terms with the idea that she was really done.
Once he’d loaded the car, he sat in the driver’s seat, waiting for Andy for a solid ten minutes. The kid had stormed out in a huff but wouldn’t talk to him. But Aly had sent a text.
Aly: I won’t take him away from you.
Giving him up was something he didn’t think he could live through. But he didn’t feel good about Aly turning him over to Will either. Andy and Aly were family, and even when things were tense, family needed each other.
“I have to have papers drawn up and petition the court,” Will explained.
“You have to decide whether you want to?” he asked.
“Yes,” Will agreed.