Page 51 of Free to Judge (Amaryllis Heritage #2)

CHAPTER FIFTY

As Aunt Em helps me dress, I recall the nights Declan and I spent getting to know one another.

We went from strangers to enemies to friends to…more.

My heart thuds in my chest so hard I’m certain it must be visible in the plunging V of the dress I’m in. Over the last two weeks, I’ve been trying to close the gap Declan punched in my chest first by pushing me away after we made love, then by being photographed with that stripper.

“Kalie,” Aunt Em reprimands me. I glance at her reflection in the mirror. “Peter and your mother are already downstairs. Are you ready? You’re running late.”

“Sorry, Aunt Em.” I smooth the fine material of my dress down and turn from the mirror to face her.

Something of my emotions must show on my face because hers softens. “The only thing you should be ‘sorry’ for is not letting us in when we knew you needed us. You were out of touch for two weeks too long, sweetheart.”

She draws me into a hug. When she pulls away, her hands fall to my shoulders. “Don’t make that mistake again, Kalie. Not with Declan. Not with anyone.”

Shaking my head, I murmur, “I was willing to risk everything to stand up for him, be with him.”

“And a photo changed that?” she questions.

“What changed was the fact he walked out on me. He didn’t protect us by telling me something like that could be a possibility.”

“Kalie, do you love him?”

“It isn’t that I love him, Aunt Em. It’s that I don’t know how to stop.” I make my way to the door, determined to get through tonight.

After that, I don’t know what comes next.