Risking Fate (Mitchell Family #4)(34)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I was hoping you would say that, because I already told Miranda to forgive you.

You what?

You’re not the same guy from college, Ty. Your love for them is beautiful and I can tell that they mean the world to you. I don’t think you should have kept it from her, but I get why you did it. You just need to understand that she’s hurt right now.

Does she know you’re talking to me?

Yeah, she loves you Ty. She’s just pissed. Give her some time and everything will be okay.

I’ve been sitting here wondering how I was going to live if I lost her.

When you really love someone, you get past it all. Just let her breathe. You know you get all clingy.

Don’t hate on my kindness.

Don’t worry, I still think you’re an ass**le. An ass**le that I love very much and don’t want to see fighting with his wife over a dirty skank.

I love you too. Thanks, Van. I really appreciate you being here for both of us.

You’re my family. We stick together, no matter how tough it gets, right?”

Right.

Call me tomorrow and check in.

K, bye.

Shortly after hanging up with Van, I heard the barn door creaking open. Miranda came walking in toward me and I got up and met her halfway. “Did Van call?”

“Yeah.”

She sat down across from where I stood. “I want you to tell me everything.”

I sat down and started from the beginning. I told her how I knew what Heather’s brother could do. I explained how I wanted to tell her I had to talk to Heather, but didn’t want to get her worried about nothing. I even told her everything I talked to Heather about at her house. When I finished, I looked up at her and saw she was just looking at me. “It’s the truth, Miranda. I never touched her.”

“You have to understand how she made me feel, Ty. It’s a wife’s worst fear to be called out in public like that. If you would have told me, I could have been prepared. Now she did exactly what she wanted. She caused problems between us.”

I rushed over to her, grabbing her hands into mine. “Baby, please forgive me. I won’t keep anything from you again. I swear I won’t.”

I laid my head over her stomach and finally felt her release my hands and run them through my hair. “There won’t be a next time Ty. No more secrets. They ruin marriages.”

“I promise.”

Chapter 13

Miranda

After hearing Heather’s side of the story, Amy called to check on me. It didn’t take much to convince her that Heather was a liar. Apparently, it was old news to everyone in town. Knowing that it really got to me, Amy gave me the next two days off of work.

The night of our fight, Ty was quiet. His sarcasm was replaced with sincerity and a lot of kissing up. I’m pretty sure he would have licked the toilet seat if I asked him to. I wasn’t purposely trying to make him suffer, although there was a small part that wanted him to feel bad to insure he wouldn’t do it again. The thing was, I got why he did it and I even understood why he didn’t want to tell me.

I loved my husband for wanting to protect me, but it still hurt either way. I never wanted to doubt him and the fact that I was so quick to judge, made me mad at myself. Ty’s devotion to me was something he displayed every day. Except for that one night, I knew where he was every minute.

Still, Heather was someone from his past; someone that was in love with him and after years had passed, still might be. It worried me about the lengths she would take to get Ty. Obviously, the bitch had no regard for me being very pregnant with Ty’s babies. What kind of woman would try to break up a marriage when the man is happy and expecting a child.

Maybe she hated him that much. Perhaps she finally realized that she never meant anything to him.

After Ty insisted on doing the dinner dishes, and got Bella to bed, he quietly retreated to our bedroom. I waited for a few minutes before heading in behind him.

The shower was running and I could hear that he was already inside. I needed to brush my teeth so I headed in to do so. Ty was leaned up against the shower wall. He was looking down and not saying anything. I set the toilet seat down before sitting. He looked so tired and I couldn’t blame him. I was exhausted from crying for half the day. I don’t know whether he had shed any tears, but it had definitely drained him. I also think he was punishing himself. His avoiding conversation with me was a dead giveaway.

“Ty?”

I looked toward the shower and saw him jump at the sound of my voice. “Shit! I didn’t know you were in here, Baby. You okay?”

“Can I come in there with you?”

He opened the shower door. “That’s a question you never have to ask.”

I removed my clothes while Ty watched me. He wasn’t giving me the look like he wanted to have sex. He missed me as much as I missed him. It had been only a day, but he was my very best friend and I hated not being close to him for only a minute.

When I finally got undressed, he grabbed my hand and helped me in the shower with him. Strong arms wrapped around my waist as I slid mine behind his back. “Do you really think this guy can doctor the test?”

He grabbed the shampoo and started washing my hair. “I do. Look, the lawyer’s office just needs that piece of paper. They have no reason to believe any different and with Tucker not being alive to argue, nobody would ever question that we weren’t together before. It doesn’t matter to me what our family thinks, I know they want Iz to be with us. They would never mention that it wasn’t true. This hospital documentation will prove without a doubt that I am her father. They will submit it to her lawyer and it will all be over with.”

“You make it sound easy.” I set my head against his chest.

“None of it’s been easy. It’s slowly ripping me apart inside. I’m trying to be tough and not let it show, but I can’t stop worrying about it. If this doesn’t work, I don’t know what I will do. I just can’t lose her, not any part of her.” He cupped my face with his hands again and kissed my forehead.

Ty’s lips pressed against mine and he kept them there as the water ran down our heads. “I won’t let you. No matter what happens, I won’t let anyone take that from you.”

“You keep saying that, but there are no guarantees.” He kept kissing me, even though I knew he was far from relaxed. “Tell me you forgive me. I need you so much.”

“Promise me it will never happen again.”

“I already did.” He never hesitated.