The door clicked shut behind me, and the silence of the hotel room pressed in. I could still feel the sting of his words, the way he’d looked at me after all these years. He told me he never wanted to see me again, but I knew that wasn’t true. He was still the same Nate, the man who had been my whole world until that terrible accident tore us apart.
Five years. Five long years of recovery, and he was finally walking again, but the pain in his eyes was still raw. The next morning, I found myself watching him from a distance at the Westside Golf Club. He moved with a careful confidence, his swing smooth despite the years in a wheelchair.
I remembered when I first pushed him to try it again, afraid he’d never find joy in it. He had asked me then, his voice rough, if I really wanted him to play. I did. I just didn’t realize then how much my choice would cost us.
I saw her then, a woman draped on his arm, laughing. Diana. It was a sting I hadn’t prepared for. I approached, my voice tight.
“Hudson, I need to use the restroom,” I said to my own date, but my eyes were on Nate. Diana shot me a venomous look. “You still have feelings for him,” she accused. I couldn’t deny it, but I told her we were just business partners now.
She didn’t believe me. She warned me to stay away from her fiance. The tension followed me back to the theater, where I was rehearsing for my ballet. My daughter, Sawyer, was in the wings, watching.
She was the one good thing that came from that time, a little boy with Nate’s eyes and my stubbornness. “Mommy, who were you talking to a while ago? ” he asked. I told him he was mistaken, but he knew I was hiding something.
Later, Diana cornered me again, her words dripped with accusation. She had moved into the villa Nate and I once shared. “I’ve had enough of your little tricks,” she said, and I snapped back, telling her to stay out of it. I didn’t need anyone’s support.
She threatened to have me kicked out of the troupe, but I just laughed. I wasn’t going to let her scare me. That night, I went to see Nate. I was tired of the games, the pretending.
“Please, Nate, can we just let each other go? ” I asked, my heart pounding. He looked at me, and for a moment, I saw the boy I loved. But then he told me he was tired of my little tricks too.
He asked me why I was really there, and I couldn’t tell him the truth. Not yet. Not about Sawyer. I noticed toys in his villa, a child’s drawing, and my heart ached.
“It’s my mom’s keepsake,” he said, and I almost broke down. The next day, everything changed. Blake showed up, a smug look on his face. He told Nate he knew about the past, about the accident.
He blamed me. “Because of you, we went through such pain for 5 years,” Blake spat at me. I didn’t deny it. I couldn’t.
I was the one who had made the call that night, the one who chose to leave him in the hospital. I was the one who had to let him go. But now, with Blake bringing up old wounds, I saw a fire in Nate’s eyes. “Mom, I won’t marry anyone else unless it’s Beth,” he said, startling even his mother.
He looked at me, and I felt a spark of hope I hadn’t dared to feel in years. He was choosing me. Despite everything, he was choosing me. I had to tell him about Sawyer.
I had to tell him the truth. That his son was waiting at home, a perfect little copy of him. But as I opened my mouth, I froze. I remembered the pain I’d caused, the years of silence.
I looked into his eyes, and I knew I couldn’t lose him again. Not now. Not ever. I took a breath, my hand trembling, and I whispered, “Nate, there’s something I have to tell you.
“
