“And that’s my fault?” She looked at him like he’d kicked a puppy. This was going from bad to worse.
“No. I didn’t mean it like that. I was distracted, and it’s on my shoulders. But I can’t stop thinking about you and it’s doing my head in. Maybe if I wasn’t on the island and didn’t know you were so close, I could get on with things.”
She dropped her head and kicked at the driveway for a moment. When she looked up, sadness flattened her gorgeous lips and tears hung on her lashes. “I’m soiled goods, Liam. You don’t want me.”
Soiled goods? What the hell did that even mean? “I don’t understand. You’re Aggie, the same girl I’ve always loved.”
She shook her head and jammed her hands in her pockets. “No, I’m not. Trust me on this.” She licked her lips and looked everywhere but at him before she spoke again. “I was sexually assaulted.”
He stood with his mouth open, the words stuck in his throat. Sexually assaulted? No, not his Aggie. How…why…?
Tears ran freely down her cheeks. “I haven’t told anyone but April and Bradley. Now you. I’d appreciate it if you could keep it to yourself. My father wouldn’t take it well.” She sniffed and lifted her chin as if defiant.
“Someone raped you?” How could that happen to her? He tried to think of something sensible and kind to say but his mind couldn’t get past her words. How could he not have known this before? How did she think it was okay to suffer in silence like this?
Aggie kept silent, her misery hanging over her like a dark cloud.
“Are you okay?”
She snorted and wiped a hand over her face. “I wake up every day. Is that good enough?”
Get your words right, Liam. “I mean physically, emotionally. Is there something I can do for you?”
Aggie shrugged. “No.”
“That’s why you left Seattle suddenly, wasn’t it? Why you came home and bought the bakery.”
She played the tip of her shoe in the gravel instead of looking at him. “Yeah.”
“And you think that’s going to put me off? That it should change things between us?” He stepped closer, his arms out to hold her, but she moved away as if she couldn’t bear his touch right now. “Aggie, you should’ve told me sooner.”
A spark of defiance lit up her eyes. “Why? So you wouldn’t have had to be my wedding partner? Or maybe so you could’ve kicked me out of your bed before things went too far.”
He understood why she was bitter but it wasn’t his fault. He wasn’t the one who’d done wrong by her. “Why are you acting like this?”
Her back straightened and he waited for her to strike out. Instead she spat out the words that had just as much impact as a punch to his gut. “Like what? A woman with a tarnished reputation? That offend you, Liam?” The anger burned in her eyes, but there was no way either of them could let this go now that it was in the open.
He was gutted she thought he was like that. “Do you really think I’d do that to you? I love you. I always have. This makes no difference to me apart from the fact that I want to tear the bastard from limb to limb. Did you report it?”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips and she turned away. “No.”
No? “Why not? Why let him get away with it?” But even he knew that almost half of sexual assaults never got reported.
She spun around to look at him and brushed a hand across her cheeks, spreading the tears over her flushed skin. “Because it was dark and I didn’t see his face.”
“But there had to be something you remembered. Anything to help the police find him.”
“He smelled bad and told me I was pretty. That’s not enough to go on, Liam.”
“Surely there was something else. His clothing, a hat—anything.”
“Nope. Not a thing.”
“Not one person heard you scream? Nobody walked past and saw anything? Nobody came to your rescue?” He couldn’t believe it. It shouldn’t be so easy for an assailant to get away with it.
“No. And before you ask, no, I wasn’t dressed slutty; I was in my work uniform—black pants and a white shirt. I didn’t walk in dark places or flirt with anyone. I couldn’t scream because my throat locked up in panic. I couldn’t do a thing to save myself, and it wasn’t like I didn’t want to. I didn’t ask for it, Liam. It just happened.”
How could she think he’d even give that idea room in his head? “I never thought you would. Don’t go putting words into my mouth.” He reached for her again and this time she let him touch her. “I know what it’s like. I dealt with cases in Seattle emergency rooms. Every time a women reports a rape, people ask how short was her skirt. Was she drunk? What did she do that made him do it? I understand that mentality but I don’t agree with it.”
“So you say now, but I’m not going to risk that you might change your mind.”
He ignored that, more concerned about how she’d shouldered all of this on her own. “So all this time, you’ve blamed yourself for what happened, and you didn’t tell anyone apart from April because you were worried they’d
