Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(49)
Author: Jennifer Foor

She got up on her knees and put her hands on her hips. “You think that movin’ her out is goin’ to help?”

“Right now she thinks that she’s in control. She’s purposely trying to hurt me, because I hurt her. I get it, and if I could take it back or make things better, I’d do whatever it took. We’ve tried being nice and even taking away her favorite things. Nothing has changed and you know it. Even Colt agreed that if we send her away she’ll realize what she’s giving up. I’m not doing it because I don’t want her around. I’m doing it because I want my daughter back.” I could feel myself starting to get emotional, and it was stupid to hide my feelings from someone that could read me the way she could. “Miranda, I don’t have to tell you how much I love Iz. She’s my sunshine. Without her in my life, I feel like I can’t breathe. This silence between us is killing me. I can’t take knowing she’s in the next room resenting everything I’ve ever done for her. I hate all of this. Can you honestly tell me that we have any other options?”

She shrugged and looked down, and I looked away to wipe my eyes.

“Have you considered that this plan of yours won’t work? Ty, I can see how hurt you are, and I’m hurt too. I want Bella back as much as you do. I just don’t want to get my hopes up and have this not work. I don’t want to count on it, because I know how much it hurts when it doesn’t go the right way.”

I climbed on the bed and put my hands on her knees. “Baby, I won’t stop trying until things get back to the way they were before. I can’t let myself.”

Miranda pulled away and lay back down. She flipped over and hugged her pillow. Sobs followed, and I knew she needed time to think. I don’t think she was angry at my plan. She was just hurt that I’d arranged it without her.

After a couple minutes, when I realized that she wasn’t going to discuss it anymore, I climbed under the covers and decided to try to get some sleep.

I wish it would have been easy to close my eyes and pretend that everything was going to go as planned. After talking to my wife, I was more convinced that this plan of mine could go as badly as all the other things we’d tried before it.

If Izzy wanted to separate herself from me, I was going to give her the space she wanted. I was going to send her as far away as I could and hope and pray that it would bring her back to me. I had to try this, because if I had to spend one more day of her hating me and doing everything she could to hurt me, I was going to lose my mind.

For hours I lay awake, just staring at the ceiling. The more I thought about things, the more anxious I’d become. Now my wife was furious with me, so much so that she’d gone to bed and refused to talk it out, after we’d promised never to go to bed angry. We were supposed to be having a romantic getaway, and instead we were ending it like two people that didn’t want to be near each other.

I was afraid of this, afraid of losing my wife because I let my own selfish emotions get in the way. We should have been working together to solve things, but I found myself pulling away from everyone.

I looked over at my sleeping wife and ran my fingers through her blonde hair. She meant so much to me, my whole family did. I didn’t want to be estranged from any of them. My boys needed their father and my wife needed her husband. I just wished that my daughter needed her daddy, the way I needed her.

Chapter 32

Miranda

I wasn’t just angry that Ty had called Colt and Van. I was hurt that he’d not included me in his plan.

The next morning I woke up, anxious to get on the road and get home. I didn’t want to piddle around at the beach when I knew what awaited us.

Ty was quiet, offering to drive, but saying nothing as we loaded up the car and got on our way. I hated that we were fighting when it was more obvious than ever that we needed to stick together. Bella was determined to form a wedge between us, and we were letting it happen, without even realizing that it was.

Even if I didn’t agree with Ty’s idea, I felt obligated to see it through, because I would have done anything to make things go back to the way they were before.

I cuddled up next to him as he drove, and finally after about an hour, I’d made my decision. “Are you sure Colt and Van are okay with all this?”

He clenched his jaw. “They said they’d do anything to help us.”

“She’s expectin’ to be punished when she gets home, so I guess we can tell her then.”

“At first she’s probably going to act happy about it. I’ve tried to prepare myself for that.”

He was right. She’d want to be with Noah and be away from us. It could only be expected. “I know, but I trust you, Ty. If you think this could bring her back to us, I’m willin’ to try it.”

He reached over and grabbed my hand, but kept his eyes on the road. “Thank you, baby. I felt like shit last night over it. The last thing I wanted to do was upset you. I don’t want to fight, not with you or our daughter.”

How was it that we were going through such drama? What had we done to deserve it? I thought we’d been through enough when Bella had gotten sick. I figured that our problems were over when she’d started getting better. Now, we had another catastrophe on our hands. “I don’t want to fight either, especially considerin’ that I’m goin’ to be a mess until she’s back home with us.”

He squeezed my hand and looked over at me for a second. “We’ll get through this.”

“I hope so.” It hurt to think about how all of this had happened and how we’d gotten so desperate to find a resolution. I would have been able to wait until she stopped being mad at me, but Ty was so broken up over Bella. He couldn’t stand feeling lost any longer. If there was even the slightest chance that she’d love him again, he had to go through with it.

We arrived home a couple hours later. I could tell he was exhausted, and he’d admitted that he hadn’t gotten much sleep. My mother and John had called to say that they would be another hour, so Ty went to lie down.

I sat in my living room, looking around at the pictures on the walls. Ty and Bella were so happy in all of them. In each family photo she was either on his lap or holding his hand. It broke my heart to think about that bond being broken, and I knew he was suffering more than I could ever imagine.

Ty had told me how Colt wanted him to drive Bella to Kentucky. It made sense, considering that she’d have to speak to him at some point during that long ride.