Her words gutted me.
“Surprised, are you? That I could want to go back to a man who’d hurt me? That I could be that weak?”
“Cora, I don’t think you’re weak.”
She shook her head, letting out a sound of disbelief. “Your eyes say something differently.”
“Cora, I—”
“I never did,” she continued. “But there were times when I’d think back and remember the man I married, the husband he used to be and wonder if maybe he could be that again, you know? It’s not so absurd—for a woman to go back. We can’t shake those memories. We can’t stop thinking we can fix them.”
“Why didn’t you?” I finally asked, realizing how little we’d actually talked in our time together. How little I knew of this woman I loved so much.
“Lizzie,” she said. “I thought I’d done a good job of sheltering her from everything that was going on in our marriage. I didn’t want her to be raised in a house like that. I didn’t want her to grow up, knowing her father was a monster.”
I exhaled, a defeated sigh escaping my lips. “So, why invite him back into her life now? He’s still a monster.”
“Because he’s not a monster to her. And I won’t let him be.”
A frustrated hand ran through my hair. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be okay with that. I don’t know if I can forgive what he did to you.”
Resigned eyes met mine as she gave a firm nod. “It’s not your job to forgive him. It’s mine. And this isn’t about forgiving or forgetting; it’s about Lizzie.”
And, with that, she walked away, leaving me with an impossible decision.
A lifetime with Cora and Lizzie—and Blake.
Every major life event. Every memory.
He’d be there.
Family gatherings, birthdays, graduation. Lizzie’s wedding.
He’d always be there.
Tainting our lives with his presence. Reminding me of everything he had done to the woman I loved.
But what other choice did I have?
To walk away?
To leave her, knowing he’d be there instead?
No, I couldn’t do that either.
So, I’d endure. I’d endure him for Cora. For Lizzie.
And for the future I saw ahead of us.
“You okay, man?” Jake asked me as he took a place next to me in front of the mirror, both of us adjusting our ties, as the noonday sun streamed through the windows of the yellow room of the inn.
“Yeah,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that question? It is your big day after all.”
He smiled at me through the mirror, a great big ear-to-ear grin. “I’m great. Been looking forward to this for a damn long time. That, and Molly and I grabbed a quickie in the closet before the guests arrived.”
A quick wink, and he went off in search of his jacket.
“Isn’t that against the rules? Seeing each other before the wedding? As the best man, shouldn’t I have prevented that or something?”
