Her Forever Hero

Had she known what was happening, she would have had more time to prepare, more time to face the man she hated so much. But it was too late to kick herself now. The damage was done. Jimmy had managed to catch her off guard at a party with reporters present.

Grace’s humiliation would be complete when her face was splashed across the society pages for being a bitter ex, and her career most likely had just gone down the drain. So much time put into something that was gone in one weak moment.

“Are you still in love with him?” Cam asked.

That broke Grace out of her reverie, and she turned to look at him. “How in the world could you ask me that?”

That’s when she noticed that he seemed to be holding himself together by a very thin thread. She didn’t understand why he was so upset. If anyone should be upset at this point, it was certainly her.

“No, I’m not in love with him. I’ve never been in love with him,” she snapped, not in the mood to coddle Cam while she was feeling her own hurts.

“That’s bullshit and you know it, Grace. You were with him when you were still supposed to be mine,” he growled, his anger rising.

“What in the world are you talking about, Cam?”

Her anger drained in her confusion. She was also grateful for the privacy glass between them and the driver, although she wasn’t so sure it was soundproof.

“I saw you with him. I came home my first vacation from school and I saw you with Jimmy Wells behind my father’s barn, and he was kissing you.”

Grace was silent as she processed his words. “I never cheated on you, Cam. I wouldn’t have done that. I loved you,” she said, trying to think of what he was talking about.

“Don’t insult me by lying, Grace. I saw you!” he yelled.

“When?” Her voice was quiet. Maybe he didn’t notice how quiet, but it was very, very quiet as she waited for his response.

“It was the beginning of summer after my first year of law school. We were supposed to get all summer together. I got home early and came searching for you. I found you—in the arms of another guy.”

Grace’s eyes flooded with tears, but she managed to push them back before she let them fall. What good was it to rehash this? Why were they doing this to each other?

“You told me you were staying there that summer to work,” she said instead of asking all the questions she wanted to ask.

“After finding my girlfriend making out with another guy, I wanted to be as far from this farm as possible, so I went back and worked all summer near campus.”

“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” she asked.

“I was young and stupid—and ticked off,” he said, his voice draining of anger. “Look, I told myself this didn’t matter, that I wasn’t going to dredge up the past, but I was just so angry . . .” He took a breath. “Seeing Jimmy just brought out the worst in me. I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t cheat on you. I didn’t even entertain the idea of doing such a thing.”

“Grace!” he shouted, then stopped. When he spoke again, he was more in control. “I saw you kissing him.”

She had to think for a minute to remember that summer. Jimmy had kissed her. But it hadn’t been a wanted kiss and she’d immediately pushed him away.

“I didn’t date Jimmy until I knew you were gone, until you dumped me on the phone and then I heard rumors of all the girls you were dating. Then I only dated him because I was lonely . . .” Her voice trailed off. This hurt so much more than she wanted to admit, even to herself.

“No . . .” He stopped again. “The kiss . . .”

“If it was at the beginning of summer, he did kiss me, and I stopped him. I didn’t want it,” she told him. “But then you came back . . .”

“I was pissed and I wanted to prove something.” Cam hung his head in shame.

They were both silent for several more minutes. Then Grace had to say something. “We had sex, and I thought everything was fixed and then you were supposed to come back in a couple of months for the dance. But I didn’t hear from you again.”

Cam didn’t say anything for so long that she didn’t know if he was going to answer. Her heart was breaking all over again as she remembered that painful time. She was so confused, so frightened, and she was all alone.

“I was saying good-bye to you in one way and thinking that I was getting what was owed to me in another. I was young, Grace. I was an idiot. I shouldn’t have done that,” he finally said.

“I guess we were both pretty foolish, weren’t we?” she said, unable to keep the tears from her voice this time.

“I’m so sorry for hurting you.”

They weren’t looking at each other, and Grace was trying desperately not to fall apart, but when his hand reached across the space between them and grasped hers, she wasn’t able to hold back the tears anymore.

They pulled up to Cam’s house without saying another word. The driver opened the door and he helped her out. Her feet felt leaden as she walked up his steps and inside his house.

This night was ending so much less brilliantly than she’d planned. They’d started with smiles and were ending with tears. Why did life have to be so difficult? Why did there always have to be these roadblocks?

“I am sorry, Grace. I was hurting,” Cam said, taking her hand again before she climbed up the stairs.

“Me, too, Cam. I guess we both made assumptions that we can’t take back,” she said, unable to make eye contact with him.