Forgive me.
She’d forgiven Emilio for lying about the poems. For not trusting her love for him. For dying and leaving her to raise their daughter alone. Could she forgive Bryan for his lie?
Yes, she could. His lie came from fear, just as Emilio’s had. Her husband had been afraid of looking like a lesser man in her eyes. Bryan was afraid of reliving his parents’ mistakes. Even she had been afraid. Afraid to take a hard look at her marriage and realize it was not as perfect as she remembered.
The fact that Bryan, a teacher and man of letters, had such a hard time finding the right words to express his remorse moved her immeasurably.
Of course, he’d have to earn her trust again. Prove that he’d be honest from now on. But yes, she could forgive.
She turned to Mr. Miłosc. “Excuse me. Can you tell me when this was purchased?”
Mr. Miłosc raised his bushy eyebrows. “This morning.”
Just this morning. Bryan didn’t have classes until the afternoon. Maybe he was still at home. She could try calling him, catch him before he left for work…
“Do you happen to remember how long ago he left?”
The eyebrows rose higher. “He’s still here. In the back.”
Her heart gave a bump. “Thank you,” she murmured, folding the last letter and slipping it back between the pages.
Swallowing hard, she moved along the narrow shelves toward the back of the shop. Bryan, seated on a velvet loveseat, stood when she approached. His face was pale. He waited for her, shifting his weight from one foot to foot to the other. He looked like a man before the bench, awaiting judgment. Ready to face the consequences but praying for mercy.
When she reached him, he handed her a folded sheet of paper. “There’s one more.”
Gloria opened the note and read it. It fell from her hand and fluttered to the floor as she reached for him. He balked momentarily, the guilty man who couldn’t quite believe he’d been pardoned. Then he grabbed her and crushed her in his arms.
The note lay open where anyone could read it. On it were only three words.
I love you.
About the Author
Nona Raines is a former librarian who lives in upstate New York with her many pets. She’s currently working on her next novel between walking the dog and shooing the cats off the laptop. Her transgender romance
His Kind of Woman
was nominated for the 2014 DABWAHA sponsored by the Dear Author and Smart Bitches, Trashy Books review blogs. Her most recent work for The Wild Rose Press, Inc. is the erotic romance novella
Read to Me
and contemporary romance novella
Don’t Let Go
.
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Visit Nona at
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To chat with Nona Raines and other Wild Rose Press authors of erotic romance, join us at www.groups.yahoo.com/group/thewilderroses.
Thank you for purchasing this
publication of The Wild Rose Press, Inc.