Cupping his face, she pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek before gliding from the room.
He stared after her, feeling like he was missing vital pieces of the puzzle. A lifetime with Veronica? Objectively, he knew it made sense on paper. They’d always dealt well with each other, and Hunter’s life would be far more normal if they could make a real go of it together.
But that logic was cool and impersonal. Exactly the sort of reason he’d once been so good at. Now, however, there was nothing cold or calculated about his future.
Not if he had Clara.
Grabbing the letter from the bed, he scanned the contents, his heart squeezing with every word.
Walker,
By now you’ve realized I’m gone. I’m sorry I couldn’t do this in person, but I thought it might be easier on both of us to say goodbye this way. You don’t need to reply. You don’t need to call. We can let everything end in this room. Rather fitting since this is the place I most associate with our beginning.
Ten years ago, I never would have predicted where we would end up or what you would come to mean to me. This time with Hunter, and with you, will be a memory I treasure forever. You’ve woken me up, the two of you. My life will be better for this experience. Eventually. I don’t want you to think I’m leaving in anger as a woman scorned. I understand. Really, I do. You don’t need me anymore and that’s okay. All I want, all I’ve ever wanted, was for you and Hunter to be happy. Veronica is the key to that. She’s Hunter’s mom and she can be so much more for you if you’ll let her. Be the family you’ve always wanted. This is your chance. I would never want to hold you back from it.
Since I never got the chance to tell you in person, just once I wanted to say it, even if only on paper. I love you. Completely. If I loved you any less, I wouldn’t be able to do this. But I must do what is right for all of us, and that’s leaving.
Goodbye, Walker Beckett. It was a wild, wonderful ride and I wouldn’t trade a single moment of it. Be happy.
Love always,
Clara
He sank to the bed, rereading the letter again. Then again. Turbulent emotions warred within him. There was no taming the exultation at one sentence. I love you. He’d wanted to hear those words for so long. Years, it seemed. Over and over, everything in his life had always led back to Clara.
But mixed with his joy was also dread.
Goodbye, Walker Beckett.
She was gone. She’d decided to do what was best all on her own like she always did. Clara always did the right thing. Even if it broke her own heart. Even if it went against everything she’d ever wanted, she’d do the right thing. How many times in their lives had he teased her that he’d never win an argument because she was always right?
Except this time, when it counted most, she was completely and utterly wrong.
You left me. You decided what was best for me without realizing I have no life without you.
He stared unseeing at the empty room. The house was colder without her in it. Even Veronica’s presence didn’t make up the loss.
I can’t do this without her.
She might have left because she wanted to give him a chance at the family he’d never thought he wanted, but she was wrong.
She was his family. Had been for his whole adult life.
And there was no parting with her.
Letter in hand, he made his way back downstairs, his mind racing with every step. Just as she’d promised, Veronica was waiting for him. She rose gracefully when he entered the room, and he remembered why she’d caught his attention in the crowded bar in the first place. She’d been beautiful standing there with her friends, but it had been something more that drew him. A kindness that had reminded him of the one woman he couldn’t take into his arms the way he had Veronica. Even now her eyes were troubled as she took in his agitation.
“Are you okay?” she asked, moving forward. She put a hand on his arm and he stared at the long, smooth fingers without feeling the slightest twinge of desire. No matter what both women obviously thought, she was not the one who could make them a family. She wasn’t the one who could make him happy.
And he didn’t want to pretend that she was.
“Veronica…” he started.
The fingers on his arms tightened for a second before withdrawing. “You’re going after her.”
“Yes.”
“But—” Hurt flashed across her face. “We have a child together.”
“That will never change,” he said, catching her hands in his. “We will make this work together. Hunter will be raised by three parents who love him. Maybe four one day if you meet someone who makes you as complete as Clara makes me. But he won’t be raised by two.”