Page 30 of Secrets of the Past (Secrets of Mustang Island #3)

I t was the annual Billfish Pachanga in Port Aransas and she’d let her friends talk her into attending.

The community center buzzed with voices and laughter, the kind of small-island party where everyone seemed to know everyone.

Strings of white lights looped across the ceiling, and music pulsed from a corner speaker.

Nicole had almost stayed home, but Paige had insisted, and now here she was with her friends clustered around a table near the dance floor.

Crystal looked radiant in her flowing maternity dress, ginger ale in hand. Paige nursed her ever-present glass of water, scanning the crowd like a queen surveying her court. Amanda was already on her second mojito, teasing Jennifer about the guy in the navy blazer who couldn’t stop staring at her.

Nicole tried to smile, tried to be present, but the weight of the last few weeks sat heavily in her chest. Even here, surrounded by her friends, she felt fragile, like a shell that would crack if anyone pressed too hard.

“Stop brooding,” Paige said, nudging her. “You’ll wrinkle.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “Thank you for your concern.”

Jennifer leaned in, her dark eyes glinting. “She’s not brooding. She’s sulking.”

“I’m not—” Nicole began, but Amanda cut her off with a laugh.

“Yes, you are. You’ve got that tragic heroine vibe going. Like you’re waiting for Mr. Darcy to appear in the fog and declare undying love.”

Crystal patted Nicole’s arm. “Or maybe she’s waiting for Tripp Masterson to walk in and ruin her night.”

Nicole’s stomach twisted. “He wouldn’t come here.”

Paige smirked. “Oh, wouldn’t he?”

Before Nicole could ask what she meant, the crowd near the door shifted, and conversation dipped like a wave pulling back. She didn’t have to look to know. Her pulse told her. Her skin told her.

Tripp.

He stood just inside the entrance, scanning the room. No tie, his shirt open at the collar, his jacket slung casually over his shoulder. He looked less like the polished attorney and more like the boy she’d once run away with, older, harder, but still the only man her heart had ever recognized.

“Speak of the devil,” Jennifer murmured.

“Oh, he’s no devil,” Amanda said. “Not with that jawline.”

Paige elbowed Nicole. “Well? Don’t just sit there. Go talk to him.”

Nicole’s throat closed. “No.”

But Tripp had already spotted her. His gaze locked, unshakable, and the rest of the room fell away. He started toward her, his stride steady, unstoppable, like he’d crossed the ocean to reach her.

Nicole’s heart pounded so hard, she thought everyone must hear it.

It had been a week since their parents ripped the mask off and revealed the plan that had torn them apart. A week of sleepless nights, her mind gnawing on every fear that the past would never loosen its grip on them. And yet here he was, walking toward her—and every nerve in her body screamed yes.

God help her, she still wanted him more than air.

When he reached the table, her friends made a production of excusing themselves, Paige dragging Amanda toward the dance floor, Jennifer suddenly “remembering” she needed to refresh her drink, Crystal claiming she had to use the restroom, though Nicole knew she’d just been.

In seconds, it was just the two of them.

“Nicole,” he said, his voice low, the way he used to say it when no one else was around.

What was she supposed to do? His mother despised her with every breath, and yet Nicole loved this man more than life itself.

A part of her was finished, finished trying to win over a woman who would never accept her.

All she wanted was Tripp. To hell with family ties.

But even as the thought hardened inside her, she couldn’t ignore the truth, his mother still had the power to make their lives a living hell.

She looked up at him, forcing steel into her spine. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I had to be.”

The words hung between them, raw and unpolished.

“Tripp—” she began, but he held up a hand.

“Please. Let me talk before you send me away again.”

She swallowed hard, her pulse racing. “Fine.”

He pulled out the chair across from her and sat, leaning forward, elbows braced on his knees, his eyes never leaving hers.

“I’m done with her,” he said. “With Suzanne. With everything she’s used to keep me in her grip. I moved out. Packed my bags. I’m living in a hotel near the pier. I have a real estate agent looking for a property for me to buy.”

Nicole’s breath caught.

Paige had been right. He’d moved out and completely separated himself from his mother.

“I resigned from the firm,” he went on, his voice steady, resolute. “She tried to talk me out of it, threatened, begged. I didn’t care. I walked away. For the first time in my life, I am not living under her shadow. And I’m not going back.”

He was proving, in the only way that mattered, that they were more important. Hope swelled in her chest, fierce and trembling. This, this was what she had longed for, what she had prayed for.

Maybe, finally, they had a real chance.

Nicole’s chest ached, hope clawing its way into her heart, but fear sat heavier. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I need you to know,” he said, his eyes blazing. “I need you to know I’m not the same boy who let her tear us apart. You don’t know how much I regret not finding you and talking to you before I signed those papers. But I promise you, I will fight with everything I have. For you. For us.”

“I have the same feelings. I wish I had spoken to you. But I was so young and so angry and hurt.”

Tears burned her eyes. “Tripp?—”

He shook his head, leaning closer. “No, listen. I’m not asking you to forgive overnight.

I’m not asking you to forget twenty years of pain.

But I am asking you to believe me when I say I choose you.

I’ll always choose you. I don’t care if she never speaks to me again.

I don’t care if she disowns me, sells the house, or burns the firm to the ground.

None of it matters if I don’t have you. And I choose you. ”

Nicole’s tears spilled, hot and unstoppable.

Tripp’s voice broke then, softer but fierce. “We lost half our lives because of them. I don’t want to lose another day. I want you, Nic. Just you. Marry me again. This time, no secrets. No parents. No interference. Just us.”

Her breath hitched, her heart torn between terror and longing. “Tripp… I choose you. But Suzanne said she’ll never accept me. That our children—” Her voice broke. “That our children would never be loved.”

“Our children will be very loved by us. I can’t wait for us to have babies.” His jaw clenched. “We don’t give her the chance. She’ll never touch our children. She’ll never touch you. Not again. I won’t let her.”

Nicole stared at him, her whole body trembling. She wanted to believe. God, she wanted to. And she knew that no matter what, she would always love him. It would always be Tripp.

Tripp reached across the table, took her hand, and pressed it to his chest. His heartbeat thundered beneath her palm. “Do you feel that? That’s yours. It’s always been yours.”

The music swelled in the background, couples laughing and dancing, but Nicole heard only the thrum of his heart, the raw truth in his eyes.

For a long moment, she couldn’t speak. Then, through the tears, her lips curved. “You’re insane.”

He smiled, a shaky, desperate smile. “So marry me.”

Her laughter broke, half-sob, half-joy. “Tripp?—”

“Not later,” he said, standing, tugging her up with him. “Now. Tonight. Before anyone else tries to stop us. Let’s elope.”

Gasps rippled from a nearby table. Someone whistled. Nicole barely noticed. Her friends were suddenly there again, surrounding her, their faces beaming. Somehow, she got the feeling they knew about this little setup.

“Do it!” Paige whispered fiercely.

“Say yes!” Amanda squealed.

Crystal wiped at her eyes. “Go, Nicole.”

Jennifer lifted her glass in salute. “About damn time.”

Nicole looked at Tripp, at the boy she had loved, at the man who had finally broken free, and she knew this was the moment she’d been waiting for.

She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you.”

The room erupted in cheers, laughter, and applause, but Tripp pulled her into his arms, his mouth finding hers in a kiss that silenced everything else.

For the first time in twenty years, Nicole felt whole.