Page 46 of Her Christmas Wish

The expression on her face...he’d seen it before, too. A mixture of sorrow and something more. Not horror. Nothing as acute as that. But a total lack of understanding, for sure. Like maybe she was looking at a creature from outer space.

Almost as though there was something wrong with him.

Only this time, he didn’t feel threatened. He no longer needed her to see him in his best light. Didn’t have to feel like he had to downplay the details of who he’d been, where he’d come from. He’d never lied to her, or Scott, about his youth. They knew the basics.

In that moment, with her looking at him as though there was no wall separating past from present, he said, “When I was growing up, everything in my home, every possession I had, had a price tag on it. Any given day, any given thing could disappear if money was needed for groceries or to keep the electric on.” He wasn’t looking for sympathy. He was about to be a very rich man again, whether she got him his income savings back or not. Some part of him just needed to clear up a mistake from the past.

Not for her.

But for himself. He was done selling his own truths short.

“Any time I quit playing with a toy for more than a couple of weeks, it was put up for sale. Either with a sign on it in the front yard, or through word of mouth.”

Her mouth hung open, her eyes wide with the horror he’d escaped earlier. “I’m so sorry, Gray, I had no idea...you never said...”

He cut her off with a wave of the hand. “I’m fine with it, Sage. That’s the point. I learned young that I’d have what I needed to survive, and the rest...the wants...they were dispensable. But I also learned that things could be replaced. Through my own hard work.”

Speaking of things he wanted, he held out his hand, looking at the folder on her lap. With a quick glance down, she picked it up. Held it out toward him. But when he’d taken hold, would have pulled it away, she held on to her side. Placing her free hand over his.

“Your surfboard meant more to me than the earrings, Gray,” she said softly, shocking his equilibrium straight to hell. She’d remembered.

He met her gaze. Couldn’t look away.

“It meant more to me because you’d worked so hard to get it. You were so proud of it, used it all the time. It was more than a surfboard. It was a reward for your dedication and hard work and you deserved that joy.”

Her words, her eyes, her touch... Gray was starting to flounder again.

As though she was reading his thoughts, she said, “I still have those earrings. I kept them because they’re a symbol to me of hard work and dedication—and the joy to be gained from both.”

As she finished, she squeezed his hand.

And Gray got hard.

Chapter Fourteen

Using her newfound closure to get her through the meeting with Gray, Sage shut her office door behind him the second he exited. Sagged back against it.

Why hadn’t he told her?

The question had been ripping at her heart for the past hour.

Even as her brain had focused on the business at hand.

Gray had spent his entire childhood having had his possessions sold out from beneath him—his toys even?

As shocking as that was, the fact that he hadn’t shared the experience with her...

Sage made it back to the couch. Sat. Felt the start of tears and didn’t stop them. Instead, she buried her face, holding her forehead with her fists, and rocked.

Trying to assimilate. To be then and now.

To understand. How could she have loved the man as completely, as wholeheartedly, as deeply, as she’d thought she had, and notknown?

She’d asked about the surfboard. He’d shrugged her off. She’d let him.

Why had she let him?

Sitting up, she stared at his empty chair.