Page 115 of Antagonist

I stare at the ground. “Fletcher doesn’t want my help. He doesn’t need me.” I scoff. “Especially now that he’s going to Europe. Fran said so herself.”

“Ugh, that woman,” Stella says with a sour voice. “What do you mean he’s going to Europe? What about you two?”

I look at Stella, but instead of pity, all I see is kindness and understanding.

“Why didn’t we work out, Stel?”

She shrugs. “Because you loved me the way you thought I needed to be loved.”

“I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or a good thing,” I confess.

“It’s not a bad thing, Harrison. But we both needed and deserved more.” She holds my hands in hers. “When Tate came back into your life, I knew it wasn’t just my gut feeling talking.”

“I loved Tate as much as I loved you, Stel. You know that, right?”

She smiles and nods. “But you loved him in a way I could never match up. The way you looked at Tate…it was like you lost something you could never get back.”

“But we were happy, and we were in love, weren’t we? I didn’t make it up. I loved you, Stella.”

She smiles and raises her hand to my face, caressing it like she did so many times in the past. “Yes, we were, but there can be different degrees of being in love. Different intensities. I know you loved me and carried on loving me for a long time. But if I’d been enough for you, we’d still be together.”

“You were the one who ended our marriage.”

“Because we both deserved better. We can still love each other forever, and we have a beautiful daughter together. But we deserve to be swept off our feet by someone who is going to be our forever person.”

“Is Mike that person for you?”

She blushes. “He might be. Is Fletcher that person for you?”

I look down. “I thought he was, but maybeIam not that person for him.”

“Talk to him, Harrison. Only he can end things with you.”

I give her a hug. “I really am sorry…about us.”

“What are you sorry for? We got Megan out of it. We still have a great relationship, and the sex, if you remember, was quite spectacular. I’m not going to regret that.”

I roll my eyes and feel relieved that things really are okay between us.

“Can I ask you why you were so difficult when we split up?”

She holds me tighter. “Because you are loyal to a fault. If I hadn’t pushed you away, you’d have come back over and over again. You’d have wanted to make things right.”

“Megan needed both her parents.”

“Shehasboth parents, and she’s a healthy and balanced child. She knows we care about each other. Imagine how it would be if we fought and bickered just for the sake of being together for her. She would never forgive us.”

I smile and kiss her hair. “We made a pretty terrific kid, didn’t we?”

“We sure did. Now go home and rest. The morning will bring a new perspective on everything.”

I nod. “Can we spend the day together tomorrow? Me, you, and Megan?”

“Absolutely.”

“I love you, Stel,” I say with all my heart.

“Love you too, Hare Bear.”