A little hurt went through her. “You knew but didn’t tell me?”
“In the early days I only suspected. He knew a whole lot about firearms, and he moved way too well for a professor,” Mel explained. “By the time Nate and Zane and Rafe and Cam showed up, Henry was better at hiding that side of himself. Laura was too wounded to truly look at him. And Rye was a small-town sheriff. He didn’t know what a true predator looked like. I watched him real carefully in the beginning, but there was only one thing I knew besides the fact that he’d either been military or Agency.”
“What was that?”
“I knew that he loved you. That whatever had been in his heart that pushed him into that darkness had been replaced with love for you.”
She wanted to believe him. “But he’s very good at acting.”
“That’s what I’m telling you. He’s not as good as he thinks he is,” Mel replied. “Not if you know what to look for. Has he done anything besides this to make you think he doesn’t love you?”
“No, but he’s killed like a hundred people, and he knows my stance on the death penalty.”
Mel shrugged. “Which is why he didn’t tell you in the first place, honey. Do you still love him?”
That was an easy question to answer. “Yes, but I worry I don’t know him. I worry that I only think I love him because he was the first man to pay attention to me.”
“Sometimes you get lucky. I didn’t. I had to try a couple of times before I met a woman who could love me. I had a fiancée back in my military days, but that ended real poorly, if you know what I mean. And then there was the alien queen,” he said with a sigh. “Royalty is hard.”
And sometimes it was difficult to find the kernels of wisdom that lay in between Mel’s alien stories. “Most people don’t get lucky. Most people do have to kiss a couple of frogs before they find their prince. What if Henry’s a frog?”
Mel’s gaze went somber. “And what if you’re folding the first minute you run into real trouble?”
That wasn’t fair. “I’ve had trouble in my life, Mel.”
“Good. Then you know this is a dent in your bumper and not a complete loss. It feels like real trouble, but it’s not. You know a real marriage doesn’t stop because you wrote the words happily ever after. Sometimes there’s happiness and then not. Sometimes you don’t solve all your problems with a handy kidnapping. Sometimes it takes just holding on until you get through the storm.”
She felt her eyes widen. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? “What are you talking about?”
Mel stood. “Those books you write. I told you. I see more than you think I do. And don’t worry. Laura won’t figure it out. She knows something is up, but she hasn’t narrowed it down. And I will not apologize for liking romance novels. Cassidy got me into them. They’re soothing, and yes, sometimes they are arousing.”
Mel knew? “There’s nothing wrong with that.” She shook her head. “How long have you known?”
“Oh, I figured it out a while back. Got interested in how you afforded things, since Henry left all his money behind. His money, his career, his apartment. His past.” Mel tipped his hat her way. “You think about what I said. You want some big revelation to sweep you up, but sometimes real love gets fixed by giving something time, by letting the day-to-day world bind you together again. If you do the work, maybe you can find your way back. Now, I’m going to get some dinner. I think he’ll take care of you for the rest of the night.”
She glanced behind her and then she was on her feet because Henry was walking their way. He looked big and safe and alive. He had his duffel over his shoulder, so he hadn’t even gone to the cabin to drop off his bags. He’d come straight here to look for her.
He stopped and stared at her like he wasn’t sure of his welcome.
“Follow your instincts, Nell.” Mel waved Henry’s way. “You spend a lot of time in your head. Do what your heart is telling you to do. Start there and give all of this time. I have faith in the two of you.”
Her instinct told her the man she loved was alive and he was home and they could figure out the rest later.
The father of her child was standing right there looking like he would die if she rejected him.
Some stories didn’t pan out the way she thought they would. Life was like that, too. She didn’t have to say yes or no right now. She just had to say what was in her heart.
She’d been in this very pavilion the first time he’d come back to her. She’d cried then, too. No matter what happened, she would always be happy to see this man.
Through her tears, she ran to him and into his open arms.
* * * *
He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Henry closed the door to their cabin and locked it while Nell stood in the living room looking like she couldn’t quite figure out what to do.
He’d done this to her. Nell was assertive. Nell was sure of herself and her beliefs, and his lies had knocked her for a loop.
But had it only been his lies? Or had this been a perfect storm of his lies and the one thing he’d ever seen intimidate his wife—becoming a mom.
“Are you hungry? I didn’t know you were coming home tonight.” Nell turned back to the kitchen. “I still have some of what Cassidy made for me. And there’s leftover soup.”
“I ate on the plane.” Young Taggart had done well for himself. He and Tennessee had come in on a private plane, and they’d been willing to drop him
