Emily shook her head. “No, don’t apologize. I just hope your lawyer can make him pay for what he said.”
In a daze, Amy made her way back outside to collect her coat and purse. Kate walked her to the college campus, her phone pressed to her ear the entire time. Since she was speaking ina low and rapid-fire tone, Amy couldn’t make out anything her lawyer was saying. Nor was she sure she wanted to know all of the intricacies that went into the case.
All she wanted was to go home, crawl under the covers, and hide from the world.
Instead, she was forced to sit through her creative writing course, with William doing his best to draw her into conversation with his witty remarks while she kept replaying Eric’s words in her head. Over and over, she heard his vicious tone, and each time, she felt smaller than the last.
The worst part was believing that he wasn’t wrong.
She was just a woman who’d fallen in love with the wrong man and allowed him to manipulate her for most of her life.
Who was she to have the moral high ground?
By the end of the lecture, while the professor droned on, she was sick to her stomach. Moments later, before he ended the class, she stumbled out, blindly pushing her way through the crowd until she reached the front lawn. There, she stood, buried her face in her hands, and tried to think past the pounding in her ears.
When her phone rang, Amy nearly jumped out of her skin.
William appeared next to her, red-faced and with his eyebrows drawn together. “Is everything okay?”
Amy pressed her lips together and shook her head. With trembling hands, she pressed the phone to her ear and held her breath. She could barely make out the words Kate was saying until her knees gave out, and she sank against William, who lost his footing and stumbled back. His arms came up around her to steady the both of them, and Amy’s shoulders shook.
She didn’t realize she was crying till William took the phone out of her hands and held her to him. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be okay.”
“He’s going to sign the papers,” Amy repeated, the words sounding foreign even to her own ears and her voice growing higher and happier with each utterance. “I can’t believe it.”
William’s shoulders sagged. “So, congratulations are in order, then?”
Amy laughed through her tears and drew back. “Oh, I’ve ruined your shirt. I’m so sorry.”
William waved her comment away, his expression softening. “Don’t worry about it. Jack’s been telling me I need to retire the flannel look. He’ll probably thank you for this.”
Amy laughed again, and it sounded freer. “I just can’t believe that I…that he…”
Her heart was too full to finish the sentence.
Before she knew what she was doing, Amy was calling Emily to tell her the good news. A short while later, she was still apologizing profusely to William, her face hot with embarrassment, when Emily pulled up in her car. She offered William an enthusiastic wave and pushed the passenger door open. As soon as Amy’s seat belt clicked into place, Emily turned up the music and peeled away from the curb with a screech.
Emily pulled into an empty parking spot outside of O’Malley’s and turned to Amy with a bright grin. “I can’t believe it’s finally over.”
Amy’s mouth hurt from smiling so much. “Me neither.”
Emily pushed her door open and waited for Amy. “We need to have a proper celebration once the papers are signed. I’ll talk to the rest of the family. Everyone is going to be so thrilled.”
Amy pushed the door open and stumbled in, breathless and giddy with impatience and excitement. “I’m just happy I get to put that part of my life behind me.”
For the first time in weeks, Eric didn’t loom over her future, darkening it with his presence.
As the two of them sat down for lunch, complete with a bottle of champagne, Amy wondered if this was the kind of life she had to look forward to.
Full of possibilities and hope and joy.
And completely free of Eric Taylor.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I’m so happy you’re all here.” Amy drew Lucas and Sylvie in for a hug and lingered.
Over their shoulders, she saw Sylvie’s husband, Stan, wrestling with a duffel bag. He offered her a wave, then paused to help Lucas’s wife, Susan, with the large cooler. Smiling and laughing, the two of them walked up the front porch and joined in on the large hug.
