Page 83 of Barron's Second Chance
She took a peek at him. His head was bent, jaw clenched, and hands were in tight fists on his lap.
"I thought, 'well, Barron didn't think I was good enough, but these people do.'"
She saw him flinch, the tip of his nose looking a bit red.
"I did a lot of things I'm not proud of. It wasn't until Sofia visited me and called me out on it that I sought help."
"That's why she hates me so much," he said, his voice a little hoarse. "I mean, apart from the obvious. She saw the aftermath of what I did, the pain it caused."
"Possibly," she shrugged. "I realized I hadn't dealt with the depression that came after our breakup, and that's what made me susceptible to making terrible choices. So I got help, cut off toxic friends, and became teetotal for a while."
She stared blankly at a photo frame of her Mom and herself across the room as memories of those dark times seeped through her psyche. "I started therapy to deal with the depression and also because a lot of things triggered me still. Like the pool," she added.
She felt Barron tense at her words and give what sounded like a choked gasp next to her.
She licked her dry lips, wanting to get it all out in one go. "Obviously, I've been to a lot of pool parties over the years now, but, there was a time when I couldn't even look at a picture of a pool without having a mini breakdown," she confessed.
Barron groaned and bent his head, elbows on his legs. He looked to be in such deep despair that she decided not to continue. It wasn't doing either of them any good to drag this up again, especially after the day she had today.
Eden watched him sitting there with his head in his hands until the silence became heavy and too much for her.
"Hey, it's okay. What doesn't kill you and all that," she tried to joke.
Still, Barron was quiet until finally, he lifted his head towards her. His eyes were wet, and his mouth was turned down in sorrow.
"I realized something today," he gruffly said. "I've been all talk. I've told you that I've changed and demanded that you talk to me - demanded that you listen to my explanations without even a thought of how it would affect you." He shook his head in disgust. "I haven't gone out of my way to show you that I've changed. That I'm not that same selfish guy. I just assumed you would figure out that I've grown up, gotten wiser."
She frowned at him, unsure where he was going with this.
"I let Tracey go today."
She jolted at that perplexing announcement.Thatshe wasn't expecting. "What?"
"I also banned Lissa from The Homestead."
"Wha-what?" She shook her head, his comments briefly stupefying her.
"Obviously, I can't make up for fucking up the first time," he told her as he clasped her clammy hands in his, "but I can make you as comfortable and protected as possible when you come back to visit. Even if you never take me back, I want you to know I'm putting you first. Like you should've been all along."
"So you fired Tracey and banned Lissa?" She slowly repeated, trying to wrap her head around his speech.
"Lissa's come to The Homestead a lot over the years. Sometimes to start arguments with me and other times to try and pick me up."
His hand squeezed hers as he sensed how uneasy the turn in conversation made her.
"I'vealwaysturned her down or just plain ignored her. Her antics that night nearly cost me my second chance with you. I realized that I've always gone easy on her and never set that line in the sand. That her flirtations are one hundred percent not wanted nor reciprocated. Her coming to my office that night, which isn't the first time she's tried to do that, is enough to have her banned."
She licked her dry lips. "A-and Tracey?"
He shook his head. "Her attitude hasn't been the greatest, not only to me but to the staff and customers. Granted, some of the blame lies at my feet, but I sincerely apologized to her and explained where my head was at. Her cornering you at my office and spouting off," his mouth twisted in anger, "I should've fired her straightaway."
"How did she take it?"
Barron smiled as he lifted a hand to push an errant strand of hair behind her ear.
"Always my soft-hearted girl," he murmured. "She was pissed. But she told me that she was planning on leaving town anyway. Actually, what she said was, 'fuck you and this fucking podunk town.' But don't worry, my love, I gave her severance pay and told Ian to give her a good reference. The last couple of months aside, she was a good worker."
He cupped her cheeks in his hands. "I'm so sorry for all the hurt and pain I caused you. And I'm sorry for fucking things up so much since you've been home."
