Page 192 of The Reason I Married Him
She understands.
The last thing I want right now is a crowd, staring at me as I try to get myself together.
“Thank you,” I say, keeping my head tilted down.
They offer their goodbyes, and when they’re gone, I feel Wyatt turn my head toward him. “You okay?” he asks softly.
“Yup,” I answer as I take a deep breath. “I should actually get back?—”
“Aubree.”
My eyes meet his. “Yes?” I ask.
His hand presses against my cheek, and his thumb rubs across my skin as he says, “You can be yourself with me. You don’t need to swallow the emotions. You can let them out.”
“I’m fine,” I say despite my throat tightening again.
“I know you’re fine. You’re strong. One of the strongest people I know, but even the strong are allowed to feel weak for a moment.”
My lip trembles.
My eyes water.
And before I can stop myself, another tear rolls down my cheek.
He smiles softly, bringing me into his chest. I wrap my arms around him and allow myself tofeelat this moment, on the back deck of The Cliffs where anyone could see me fall apart.
But for some reason, as I rest my head against Wyatt, shame doesn’t eclipse me.
But rather, comfort and peace start to surround me.
Relief.
Like for the first time in my life, I don’t have to put up a wall. I can let it crumble because nothing bad will happen to me, not when I’m in Wyatt’s arms.
“Echo, are you busy?”I ask as I step up to her bee house, well, more like a shack. She’s in the midst of expanding.
“Nothing I can’t step away from,” she says as she removes her work gloves and turns toward me. “Everything okay?”
I glance over my back to make sure Wyatt is nowhere near us, and I tug on her arm and move toward the back of the bee house. “Echo, I think there’s a problem.”
“A problem with what?” she asks, her face growing concerned.
“With me.”
“Okay,” she drags out. “Care to explain?”
I twist my hands together and whisper, “I’m falling for Wyatt, like . . . really falling for him.”
A smile plays on her lips as she says, “I knew it.”
“What?” I ask, surprised. “Oh God, is it obvious?”
“Not to anyone else, but to someone who knows your situation, yes, it’s obvious. I’ve watched you slowly become warmer around him. I’ve watched you hold his hand. Lean into him. I’ve watched the way you look at him. I told myself I was imagining it, but it seems I wasn’t.”
I lean against the bee house and press my hand to my forehead. “Oh God, do you think he’s noticed?”
“Probably not,” Echo says. “And so what if he does?”
