at Max.
Seeing the unfriendly exchange, Carson turned on his son. “That wasn’t your decision to make.”
“Take it easy, Dad.” Brody put up his hands. “Max just misunderstood my reservations. If I can have a couple minutes with him in private, I’ll explain myself better.”
While Rachel and Carson headed for the reception area, Max followed Brody down the hall and into his office, wondering what sort of scheme Rachel’s ex would come up with now to save his hide.
To Max’s surprise, Brody opened his briefcase and took out an envelope.
He tossed it at Max. “Here it is. A hundred grand. Count it if you want.”
Max did. “Looks like it’s all here.”
“This means we’re done. You’ll leave me alone?”
“As long as you leave Rachel and Hailey alone, you’ll never hear from me again.”
“Good.”
As he neared the lobby, Max caught Rachel’s eye and gave her a tiny nod. Her eyes brightened with unshed tears. His heart turned over in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and hug her hurt away. But with Carson looking on, Max limited himself to a brief smile.
“Did you get Hailey’s money back?” she quizzed the instant they emerged into the hot Mississippi afternoon.
He handed her the envelope. “A hundred thousand. Just what you asked for.”
She pulled out twenty thousand and gave him back the balance.
“I don’t think Brody wants to risk his comfortable little world collapsing around him,” he said, watching her face as she held her sister’s money.
“I probably could have gotten back all the money you paid him.”
Rachel shook her head. “I couldn’t spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to reappear because he thinks he was cheated out of what’s rightfully his.” She gave him a sad smile. “You won’t be around to protect me forever.”
They started their relationship again with the understanding that it was temporary, but it stung hearing her talk about a future without him in it.
“If he’s so bad, why did you go back to him after we met?”
“I went back to him because he said he’d tell Hailey why I really married him. I didn’t want her to be ashamed of me.”
“Sweetheart, she loves you, and she’s proud of you. Nothing you did could change that.”
“But I couldn’t take care of her. She was my responsibility and I was failing.”
“You were barely able to take care of yourself.” Max wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her. “Cut yourself some slack. You did the best you could. No one could fault you for that.”
They hadn’t gone more than a mile before Max glanced over and saw Rachel’s cheeks were wet with tears. He pulled into the first parking lot he came to and parked the car. The instant he shut off the ignition, she leaned against his shoulder. Max twisted in his seat and drew her into his arms.
“It’s going to be okay now,” he said. “He’ll never bother you again.”
Cupping her head, he nuzzled her cheek and absorbed her shudders against his chest. He soothed her with long caresses up and down her back until her breath settled into a steady rhythm.
“I can’t believe it’s really over.” She rested her head on his shoulder for a minute longer, before pushing away and wiping her cheeks. “Take me home.”
While Max drove back to the airport, Rachel got on her cell phone and gave Hailey a blow-by-blow of the confrontation with Carson and Brody. He only half listened to her voice. The other half of his attention chewed on his reaction to Rachel asking him to take her home.
He knew she meant home to Houston and her house. But he couldn’t shake the bone-deep longing to take her back to a home that they’d make together. What was he thinking? Living together? Marriage? Was he ready to take that step? And with Rachel?
His mind cleared.
Of course with Rachel. He’d loved her since the moment they’d met. He’d been thinking of a future with her. No wonder he’d been so crushed to discover she was already married. That she loved someone else.
And now?
Was he ready to let go of past mistakes and start anew? He was. But first he had to settle a little unfinished business with his father. Max knew he’d never be able to move into the future with the old resentment chained to his ankles like a concrete block. He owed Rachel a fresh start.
As the plane lifted off the ground and low clouds obscured her view of Biloxi, Rachel let her head fall back against the seat. She could have been one of those clouds, as light as she felt at the moment. Today, a chapter of her life had ended. A door closed between past and present. She never had to return to Biloxi or think about Brody ever again.
She glanced at the man beside her. Seeing him in action earlier had made her glad he was on her side. He’d been decisive and intimidating. She’d enjoyed watching him outclass her ex-husband. For the first time in ten years she felt completely free.
“You’re smiling,” Max said, taking her hand and grazing his lips across her knuckle.
“Savoring the victory.”
“I had no idea your divorce had been that contentious.”
“My entire marriage was that way. When Brody was losing, he was miserable and made everyone around him the same way.”
“No wonder you got out.”
“I didn’t love him.”
Max nodded. “After all you’d been through, I understand why you wouldn’t.”
“Not in the end.” The need to unburden herself was probably going to backfire, but he had seen part of the truth. He might as well know it all. “From the start.” She plunged on, needing Max to understand what she’d gone through. “I know it was wrong, but you have to understand how it was. I was afraid. I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be able to keep feeding us, much less send Hailey to college. When Brody came along, he seemed nice and wanted to help. I told myself I was in love with him when he proposed, but I think I was so relieved at the idea of having a real home again, I lied to myself and to him. I used him.”
“People get married for all sorts of reasons. Not all of them are right.” Max’s eyes were clear and free of reproach.
“You don’t hate me?” Rachel couldn’t believe she’d been wrong all along. “I married a man I didn’t love because I was scared and wanted financial security. Don’t you think that makes me a terrible person?”
“No.” Max frowned. “Is that what you’ve been worried about all this time? That if I knew you’d made a mistake at twenty that it
