“Are you kidding me? I missed it. That day at the lake wasn’t enough.”
I set the papers down slowly, like they might catch fire in my hands.
“You were fresh out of prison when we met?” I asked quietly.
Hudson gave a dry, mirthless laugh. “Fresh out. Trying to start over. I was grateful when Gray took a chance on me. Thought I was doing okay. Then you came along. Gorgeous and cocky and way too good for a guy like me. I didn’t plan on falling for you. Didn’t plan on anything. That’s why I was so fucking careless with your heart in the beginning. But then you made me believe in things I’d already buried, and when I started dreaming again of a life with you, someone reminded me that I was trash and you were practically royalty here in Bristlecone Springs.”
My gaze drifted to the rubber-banded wad of cash still in the box, and the breath in my lungs escaped. The money…
I frowned, my mind doing loops. “Hudson, that’s a lot of cash.” I swallowed and met his eyes. “Why couldn’t you pay for your groceries today? If you’ve got that much stashed away, what are you saving it for?”
“It’s not mine,” he said quietly. “I never asked for it, and I haven’t spent a dollar of it in four years.”
A flicker of heat rose in my chest. The kind that warned me something else was coming. I clenched the court documents in my lap like they might anchor me.
“These,” I said, voice low, “these look like somebody investigated you. Was it… my dad?”
The thought of my father doing something so despicable was hard to wrap my head around. It felt all wrong. Dad wasn’t that kind of man. He was the father who toldyou to be discreet while slipping you a pack of condoms to ensure you were being safe.
Hudson’s throat bobbed. He didn’t answer.
I sat up straighter, tension spreading through my shoulders. “Who was it, Hud?”
“Your mom.”
I blinked. “My—what?”
“She came to see me. Right after you left for college.” His voice wavered, and he reached over, placing a hand on my thigh. “She was upset that you didn’t stay with her and Carter that summer like you used to. I guess we weren’t as discreet as we thought because she knew exactly who I was and what I was doing with you.”
I shook my head, trying to make it make sense. “She hired someone to dig up your past?”
“She came with receipts. My record, the mugshots, the porn. Threw it all in my face. She didn’t think I was good enough to lick your boots.” A short laugh escaped him. “She wasn’t wrong. She told me I was too old for you. That you were infatuated with me, and I would ruin your life.”
“She threatened you?”
“More like heavily suggested I leave you alone. Then she tossed that cash at me to seal the deal because she figured I was an opportunist and only got with you for the Magnuson wealth.”
I was speechless.
“I didn’t know what to do. I was already sick at the thought of you knowing everything about my past. And then… Heather told me she was pregnant. She was positive it was mine because before we had sex that night, she’d been reborn in the church and hadn’t been with anyone for a while.”
Now it all made sense—the way he’d caved in and not explained when I confronted him.
“I was drowning, Matt. Your mom’s visit, Heather’s news—I made the call. I thought… I thought it was the kindest thing I could do for you. Walk away. Spare you.”
My ears rang. My thoughts spun.
“My mom did this?” I asked, still stunned. “She made this decision for me? All of you did. You. Her. None of you bothered to check in with me to see what I wanted.”
“Matt, please don’t be mad at her.” Hudson’s voice cracked. “She was being a mother and trying to protect you.”
“From the man I loved?” I stood abruptly, the room spinning. “She didn’t give me a choice, and neither did you!”
My jaw clenched so hard it hurt. I took a few steps away, needing distance. So much had happened, and nobody had bothered to tell me.
Behind me, the shuffle of feet came near. Hudson wrapped his arms around my waist, slow and cautious as though giving me the chance to push him away. A kiss, featherlight and trembling, landed at the base of my neck.
“You were nineteen,” he whispered. “I was twenty-five. Some people would have said we didn’t belong together in the first place. That I had no business being with someone that young. You had your whole future ahead of you, Matt. What right did I have to drag you down with me? With all this baggage?”
