Page 78 of Broken
“He’s right.”
A new voice has me spinning around. A voice I’ll always remember.
Avery.
She’s here.
31
AVERY
I wentto the main house first and was met by Sadie and Carly. They wanted to pull me inside and talk because they hadn’t had any opportunity while I’d been in town for the investigation. They know the truth now. All of it.
Chance told Austin and Miles, who told Carly and Sadie, what happened in Phoenix, and I was thankful I didn’t have to catch them up.
There was so much. A nightmare of a story that spanned fifteen years.
They hugged me. I cried, which isn’t a surprise since I’ cried all the way here. The person beside me on the plane kept giving me weird looks and then bought me a drink from the flight attendant.
That made me cry even more.
Being the romantics they are, Sadie and Carly pushed me out the door—never actually letting me go beyond the front porch—and toward the barn where the guys were slinging hay bales.
Equal parts excited and terrified, I made my way there, then inside. I stood in the shadows and listened to Miles and Austin rip into Chance while I ached for him.
Of course he’s angry. Of course he’s conflicted. I pushed him away. I never told him how I feel. I fucked him in a conference room at work. I told him he had a teenaged child. Mental whiplash.
I couldn’t leave him like this a second longer, so I spoke up.
And he turned.
And there’s the man I love.
“Where’s Grady?” he asks.
“With my mom.”
“He’s okay?”
I nod. “Yeah. He’ll be fine.” I look around. Miles and Austin have vanished.
“What are you doing here?” he asks.
I swallow.
“You pushed me away. I left.”
A tear slides down my cheek and he steps close and groans at the sight. With his dusty fingers, he swipes it away.
“Don’t cry. Fuck, I can’t stand it when you cry.”
“It’s my own fault. I’ve messed everything up.”
“No. My father did. Your mother.”
I nod.
“I drove you away instead of telling you the truth.”
