Love You Madly(83)

The words were hard to hear, but they touched something inside him. Meredith definitely had her faults, Lord knew. She was strong willed, and when she had her back in a corner, she came out fighting. Her first instinct was to strike. To push away those who might have loved her.

Hell, could he blame her? Her mom taking off when she was a kid, without a word—that had to mess someone up. Husbands number one and three—and even two, though his leaving was only by death—hadn’t helped. The people Meredith cared about had a tendency to run out on her.

The truth slammed him in the chest.

He hadn’t done much better.

He’d run out on her, too. Hadn’t let her explain what had happened that night with Annabeth and the mayor. He’d just judged her and decided that she was the same old Meredith.

But he could see a little of why she might have behaved like she did. Hadn’t she mentioned walking in on her first husband in a similar compromising position? And Annabeth’s cruel words…hell. He didn’t know. It had been a lot to process.

Sure, maybe her reaction was over-the-top.

People didn’t change overnight, but little by little, they could change habits. And his sister was right. She wasn’t a selfish bastard only thinking of herself. Like his old man. She was a strong and protective mother willing to fight to the end to save her daughter. She was warm and fiery and spirited, and he—

Hell. He was pretty certain he loved her.

But the way he’d turned away from her, left her when she was vulnerable. Not helped when he could barely meet her gaze yesterday as they flew home. He’d asked her to trust him, and then he’d blown it.

Well, sitting around here wasn’t going to help the situation. He needed to see Mer. Make her realize that he was here. And not going anywhere.

His sister had picked up her cup again and was watching him over the rim with the slightest twinkle of satisfaction in those blue eyes. “Going somewhere?”

“I need to see a woman about an apology.”

“About damn time. Being a big sister can really be a lot of work sometimes.”

…

Meredith couldn’t believe she’d let Allie witness this moment, but the woman was being amazingly sympathetic, patting her back as she went on and on. The sound of the shower turning off upstairs finally brought her to her senses.

She couldn’t let Darcy see her fall apart like this.

Wiping her eyes, she grabbed a few mugs from the cupboard. “I know you like those fancy sweeteners in your coffee, but all I’ve got is half-and-half.”

Allie flinched. “Not anymore. Half-and-half is just fine.” They took their mugs to the table and took a seat. “Meredith, what you’re feeling is perfectly natural, you don’t have to be embarrassed. You’ve been under a lot of stress these past few days. If it had been Violet?” She shook her head forcefully. “I would have completely fallen apart. The first day. And to have everything come to an end with almost disastrous consequences…all I can say is the stress of it all and relief had to eventually take its toll. I’m only glad I could be here. You know, when I write about it on the school’s blog.”

Meredith stared at her in horror until she saw Allie’s bottom lip quiver and she finally burst into laughter. “I’m just kidding—jeez, I wouldn’t do that. Not anymore,” she said and laughed again. This time Meredith managed a smile, and then a chuckle.

“Saint Allie has a sense of humor. Who knew?” she said and brought her cup to her mouth.

“Wait. What? Saint Allie? You don’t really call me that, do you?”#p#分页标题#e#

Meredith smiled and took a sip of the coffee, shrugging. “Well, you’ve always had a tendency to be overly self-sacrificing. A martyr might have been more appropriate.”

Okay, this time Meredith found herself laughing as Allie watched, taking another moment to join her.

Darcy stood at the door, her mouth ajar. “What universe have I just walked into?”

Allie jumped from her chair and wrapped her arms around Darcy. “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re here and safe.” She brushed her hand down Darcy’s hair as she studied her. “You look a whole heck of a lot better than your mother. When I saw her face I nearly screamed.”

“Very funny,” Meredith shot back. “It’s not that bad.” Okay, it was actually kind of bad, with purple bruises under her cheek and a swollen eye and cracked mouth. But she wasn’t planning on posing for any portraits, so it would be fine.

Allie put her arm around Darcy’s shoulder and guided her to an empty seat. She grabbed the other cup and filled it up for Darcy.