red hill - jamie mcguire

“Wow, I’m sorry,” he whispered, stumbling backward. “I can’t believe I just did that.”
“It’s okay,” I said, reaching out for him, desperate to make him feel better.
“I can’t do this to Dana.”
My eyes filled with tears. “You’re not doing anything wrong. I know you loved her, but Dana’s not
here.”
“But Bryce is.”
His words sliced through me like an axe. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, but I was.
“We’re going all the way to Shallot again,” he said. “I’ve got an early morning and a long day, and
when we get back, Skeeter wants to dig ditches around the perimeter. I need to rest.”
I nodded, stepping backward a few times before finally opening the door. It would have been just
my luck to run into someone, maybe even Bryce, as I retreated into the living room with wet cheeks.
When I walked in, I was alone. Nathan and Zoe had more than likely heard us go outside, and
probably heard us yelling. Everyone probably heard us yelling.
I wiped my eyes quickly, and took a few steps toward the laundry room. I could hear Scarlet’s
whisper in my mind. I wouldn’t. If she were still married to Andrew and stuck in this house with him
and Nathan, maybe she would.
I lost my nerve, and then crept back into my bedroom, took one look at Bryce sleeping on my side
of the bed, and sat in the chair in the corner. He usually fell asleep fairly quickly after his head hit the
pillow, so he did that when he was waiting for me to come to bed, knowing he would wake up when I
pulled the covers back to crawl in to my side. I wasn’t sure if I’d stayed with him so long because I
loved him, or if I just didn’t have a good enough reason to ask for an ending. Either way, I was
crawling in bed with the man who loved me, wishing he was the man I loved.