“We’ve never had a chance to talk… since everything happened.”

  “You mean since she found out that you kept her and the father who adored her apart for twenty-five years and never would’ve fixed it unless my brother had uncovered your deception? Is that what you want to talk to her about?”

  Mia wanted to cheer as she listened to her wonderful husband go to bat for her. He would be richly rewarded for that later. Wade knew better than anyone how much Mia had suffered after finding out what her mother had done—and how hard she’d worked to forge a meaningful relationship with her father.

  “I… There are things… Things she doesn’t know.”

  “She knows everything she needs to know, and she doesn’t want to see you. I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing, but if you’d have asked first, she would’ve told you not to come.”

  “Is this you speaking for her? Is this what you want or what she wants?” Deb asked with a hint of hostility in her tone now.

  “She speaks for herself. She doesn’t need me or anyone else to do it for her, except for when something might hurt her. I won’t let you hurt her again.”

  Oh, how Mia loved him. Even more than she had a few minutes ago, and she wouldn’t have thought that was possible.

  “I need you to leave now. You’re not welcome here, now or in the future. You made your choices, and now Mia has made hers. If she wants to speak to you at some point, she’ll let you know. Otherwise, you need to respect her wishes and her privacy.”

  “Tell her… Tell her I love her, and I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

  Wade said nothing in response. He waited for them to get back in their car and stayed outside until they had driven off.

  Mia opened the door for him and threw herself into his arms.

  Thankfully, he was ready for her and wrapped her up in a tight hug.

  “You were so perfect.” She kissed his face and then his lips. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

  “You’re very welcome, sweetheart. She has no right to show up here unannounced and try to force you into a showdown.”

  “No, she doesn’t, but I appreciate you handling it for me so I didn’t have to. I probably would’ve buckled and hated myself for that later.”

  “Like I said, if or when you talk to her, it should be on your schedule, not hers.”

  “I’ll talk to her at some point,” Mia said, sighing. “I’m just not ready yet, and I’m not sure when I will be.”

  Wade hugged her close again. “She did a terrible thing to you—and to Cabot. Both of you are still dealing with the fallout. I don’t blame you for not being ready to deal with her yet.”

  “I feel the most sorry for him. I had no idea, for all that time, that someone was missing. What he went through…” She shuddered. “I can’t even imagine.”

  “I know, honey. It’s unbearable. Will you tell him she was here?”

  “I suppose I’ll have to, but I’ll wait until they get back from Bermuda. I really hope he and Izzy have a wonderful time together.”

  “I do, too. How cool is it that they met because of us?”

  “It’s super cool, but I’m done talking about anyone except you.”

  “What about me?”

  “You need to be rewarded for taking one for the team.”

  He pulled back to gaze down at her with eyes full of love and desire. “There’re rewards?”

  She took him by the hand and returned to the sofa, gesturing for him to sit so she could straddle his lap and kiss him. “Oh yes. The very best kind of rewards.”

  * * *

  Izzy had never seen Cabot like this—closed off, remote, quiet, brooding. Of all the people to run into on their way out of town! Ugh. The poor guy. Just when he was starting to make a new life for himself, the past smacked him in the face, reminding him he’d never truly be free of it.

  She didn’t know what to do or say to help him, so she kept quiet and let him work through it in his own way and time. Anxiety pinged at her, making her wonder if this would derail him—and them. She’d gotten caught up in their talk about the future, about the babies they would have and the life they would share. It would totally suck to discover the foundation they’d built was made of sand and would crumble at the first sign of trouble.

  Although she understood this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill kind of trouble. This was the thermonuclear, asteroid-crashing-into-earth kind of trouble and was bound to set him back for a time. But would he come back from it? That was the question with no answer, not yet, anyway. As far as Izzy knew, that was the first time he’d laid eyes on the woman since she’d taken off with their child.

  What would that be like, to see someone who’d betrayed you so completely, decades later? Izzy knew how it’d felt to find out her dad had only come to visit her because he wanted something from her mother. That’d hurt her, but it hadn’t broken her. She’d learned to expect nothing from him, so it wasn’t possible for him to break her.

  But Cabot had no warning before seeing the woman who’d ruined his life, and it must’ve been like a baseball bat to the gut to realize it was her.

  He didn’t say a word for the entire three-hour flight. He declined drinks and food. His arms were crossed, his gaze set dead ahead. If he blinked, Izzy never saw it while she drank orange juice and coffee and enjoyed a hot breakfast, which then sat in her stomach like a brick.

  They landed, disembarked into bright, warm sunshine and walked like zombies to the terminal, went through Customs and found the shuttle to their resort. All without exchanging a single word. Izzy told herself to look out the window, to take in the scenery, but how could she do that when the turmoil inside her demanded her full attention?

  They were greeted at the resort, given cool, lemon-scented towels to freshen up and a fruity rum drink that hit the spot. A chatty young man escorted them and their luggage to a gorgeous waterfront suite. Cabot thanked him, handed him a twenty and closed the door behind the man after he left. He walked outside to the patio that overlooked the pool and the beach in the distance and lowered himself onto a lounge chair.

  Izzy wasn’t sure what to do, so she sat next to him. “What can I do?”

  He looked at her as if he’d never seen her before, sending a chill down her spine even though the air was warm. “Nothing. It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Right, okay. Don’t worry about it when you haven’t said a word to me in hours, and we’re on vacation together for the next week. What do I have to worry about?”

  “I’m sorry. Obviously, the last thing I expected today was to see her. I’m just… Well, I don’t know what I am, but seeing her fucked me up.”

  “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

  He shrugged. “Every time I think I’ve moved on, I find out otherwise. That’s how it’s gone for all this time.”

  “You’re not alone with it, Cabot. You have Mia and me and your family.”

  “This is what the setbacks look like, Isabella. I’d understand if it’s too much for you. It’s too much for me.”

  “It’s not too much, as long as you keep talking to me.”

  “What’s there to say? I saw my ex-wife today for the first time since she abducted my daughter and got away with it. She’s probably with Mia now, having a grand reunion.”

  “You really think their reunion is going to be grand after what Mia knows about her now?”

  He shrugged. “Who knows? She’s still the person who raised her.”

  “Why don’t we go home? We can go to Vermont and see Mia and make sure she’s all right.”

  “She’s fine. She has her husband. There’s nothing we can do there. She doesn’t need me.”

  Izzy didn’t believe that for a second, but figured there was no point in arguing with him. “Do you want to take a walk and get something to eat?”

  “Nah, I’m not hungry, but you go ahead.”

  The man who hadn’t left her side in weeks was now willing to let her roam a resort by herself. She didn’t know this version of him or how to respond to him. “If that’s what you want.”

  He had no response to that, so she went inside.

  His phone, which he’d left on the counter in the kitchen, rang with a call from Emily. Acting on impulse, Izzy grabbed the phone and took it with her into the bathroom.

  “Hey, it’s Izzy.”

  “Is everything all right? I texted Cabot to make sure you guys got there okay, but he didn’t reply.”

  “He saw Deb at Logan.”

  “What? Oh my God! What the hell was she doing there?”

  “He asked her that, but she didn’t reply, just kept moving with the guy she was with.”

  “Did he call Mia?”

  “He did. If she’s headed to Vermont, Mia was unaware of it.”

  “Oh Lord.”

  “I don’t know what to do with him, Emily. He’s barely said a word to me since he saw her, and he’s really…”

  “Mean and nasty?”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “That’s how he gets. I’m sorry you’re having to see him that way. That bitch did some serious damage to him. I was hoping having Mia back in his life would repair it, but I realized a while ago that it’s not going to be that simple, especially since Deb basically got away with what she did to him—and Mia.”

  “What should I expect?”

  “When the dark moods hit, he sort of disappears into himself for a time.”

  “How long of a time?”

  “It varies. It can last days, weeks, even a couple of months once.”

  Izzy felt her heart sink as gritty reality came swooping in, the way it always did when things were going well in her life. “I’m not sure what I should do.”

  “I don’t know what to say,” Emily said with a sigh. “He can be completely unreachable when he gets like this.”

  “I’m not one to cut and run at the first sign of trouble, but this might be bigger than I can handle.”

  “You should tell him that. It might make a difference to hear that from you.”

  “I’m not sure it would. He barely seems to know I’m even here.”

  Emily moaned with distress. “I’m so sorry, Izzy. As you well know, this isn’t him. This isn’t how he usually is.”

  “No, it isn’t, but it also is him, part of him, anyway. He tried to warn me about it, but I didn’t grasp the full extent.”

  “How could you? Until you experience it firsthand, it’s sort of hard to understand.” Emily made a sound of frustration. “God, I hate that this happened when he was so happy with you. It was such a big deal for him to go to Vermont after your accident and then to stay on with you after you got home. And the vacation… It was all so promising.”

  “Yes, it was.”

  “Izzy… I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you consider just giving it a day or two and see how he is before you decide anything?”

  “I’m not going to leave him because things got complicated.”

  “This goes beyond complicated, as you probably can see for yourself. Seeing her triggered all the bad stuff that he works so hard to keep at arm’s length with his frantic schedule. Whenever something happens—like a lead in the search for Mia that didn’t pan out, her birthday, the spring she would’ve graduated from high school—it just comes rushing back like a tsunami that overtakes him for a time before he finds the wherewithal to battle it back—again. It’s been that way from the beginning of this nightmare.”

  “All those difficult things probably have nothing on seeing the person who caused all this for the first time since it happened,” Izzy said, her heart sinking.

  “I would imagine so. And he’s probably worried about Mia having to deal with her.”

  “I suggested we go home to Vermont and be there for her, but he says she doesn’t need him. She has her husband.”

  “It’s probably best for him to be nowhere near there if Deb is around.”

  “Yes, I suppose you’re right about that. The way he spoke to her… I couldn’t believe he was the same man.”

  “I wouldn’t have blamed him if he tried to murder her right there in public where anyone could see him.”

  “He sounded as if he could have.”

  “He never would, because she’s Mia’s mother, but God, he must want to.”

  “I’m not sure what I should do here, Emily.”

  “Just stay close to him. Be there, but give him space. When he’s ready, he’ll talk to you, but it might take a while.”

  “I can do that.”

  “I’m here if I can help. Give me your number so we can communicate directly.”

  Izzy recited her phone number.

  “I’ll text you so you have mine.”

  “Thank you, Emily.”

  “Oh gosh, thank you, Izzy. It’s been so great to see Cabot moving toward something lovely with you. I just hope he can get back to that sooner rather than later.”

  “Me, too. I’ll do what I can to get him there, and I’ll keep you posted.”

  “Thank you. Give him my love if you get the chance.”

  “I will. Talk soon.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “I don’t know why they call it heartbreak. It feels like every other part of my body is broken, too.” —Terri Guillemets

  Izzy ended the call feeling like she understood what she was up against a little better than she had before she talked to Emily. If only she knew what to do about it. For now, she would take Emily’s advice to stay close and to be there if he needed her while also staying focused on her own recovery.

  After she returned Cabot’s phone to the counter in the kitchen, she went to unpack her suitcase and take a shower. She applied some makeup to cover the last of the bruises on her face and emerged from the bathroom wearing one of her sister’s cute dresses and flip-flops, her broken arm in the sling, determined to take a look around at the place she would call home for the next week.

  She found Cabot right where she’d left him on the patio. “I’m going to take a walk.”

  “Okay.”

  Izzy wanted to ask him to come with her, but knew it would be pointless, so she went alone to explore the lush grounds. After walking for a short time, she began to tire, so she headed for the restaurant by the pool and took a seat at one of the tables. She ordered a piña colada and a salad, enjoying both as she watched the action at the pool.

  After she’d sat for a long while, she withdrew her phone from her bag and called Noah’s house, hoping to talk to Vanessa.

  She answered on the third ring, sounding out of breath.

  “I’m not interrupting anything important, am I?” Izzy asked.

  “Not yet,” Vanessa said with a laugh. “We just got back to Noah’s.”

  “We did, did we?”

  “Uh-huh. We got to meet Elliott today, and Mom made dinner for everyone.”

  “Oh! How was it?”

  “It went really well. He’s absolutely adorable, and Noah is so great with him.”

  “I can’t wait to meet him.”

  “You’ll love him.”

  “I have no doubt. So, things are going well?”

  “Very well. If they were any better, I might spontaneously combust into a Disney movie with singing animals.”

  Izzy laughed at that. “I heard you’re going back to New York with Troy.”

  “He asked me to, and I figured why not? He’s the best thing to happen to me in like forever, and there’s nothing keeping me here or in Boston. We’re going to see what transpires.”

  “I’m glad it’s going well for one of us.”

  “Uh-oh. Aren’t you guys in paradise by now?”

  “Yep, but paradise isn’t turning out so great.” She filled her sister in on what’d happened at the airport and how Cabot had reacted. “He’s withdrawn into himself, and it’s like he’s a million miles away. His sister says this is how it goes when the past resurfaces, so I guess it’s normal for him.”

  “But not for you.”

  “I have no idea how to handle it.”

  “Of all the freaking people for him to see in the airport.”

  “I know, right? What are the odds? But today’s a year since Hunter uncovered the fake SSN, and we figure Mia’s mother gave it a year.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. Part of me wants to just go home. It’s so weird to be away from both our homes dealing with something like this. I wish we hadn’t come here, but I didn’t realize right away that it was going to be this bad.”

  “I think you need to decide, Iz. Are you in this with him, for better or worse, come what may? Or is this too much for you to deal with? No one would blame you if it was. It’s a lot. He’s clearly dealing with deep-seated trauma that can resurface at any time, without warning, and derail his life and yours for who knows how long. Are you prepared to live like that?”

  “I just don’t know. A few days ago, we were talking about having kids together, and now…”

  “Do you love him?”

  “I do. I think I have since the day I met him. That was one of the most magical days of my entire life. He’s been so great since the accident, barely leaving my side for days on end and insisting on caring for me at home. He’s so sweet and funny and smart and handsome… He’s everything I’ve ever wanted and thought I’d never find.”

  “Then you stick it out, and you wait him out. You let him do what he needs to in order to process this and hope that when he comes through the other side of it, he’ll still want the same things he did before.”

  “And if he doesn’t?”

  “Then you’ll know what you need to do. You’re not so far into this that you can’t get out if that’s what’s best for you.”

  The thought of leaving Cabot, of never seeing him again, of not having the life they’d dreamed about, brought tears to her eyes. “I hate this. Things were going so well.”

  “Honestly, Iz, I would’ve been shocked if you didn’t discover some residual fallout from what he went through for all those years when Mia was missing. Finding her and having her back in his life doesn’t mitigate the trauma of it all.”