The Giving Heart by Toni Blake

Author:Toni Blake
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2019-08-07T15:50:48+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

FROM WHERE LILA SAT, Beck’s eyes appeared to blaze with rage. “He what? Oh my God, honey—are you okay? Did you press charges? Where is he now? Behind bars, I hope—and if not, he might wish he was if I ever get hold of him.”

His reaction almost overwhelmed her—a rush of emotion came whooshing over her like a gust of wintry northern Michigan wind. She wanted to answer all his questions—even though the answers were kind of awful. She wanted to hug him—for caring, and even if he couldn’t really beat Simon up for her, she kind of liked the sentiment. But mostly, she just wanted to express her profound gratitude.

“Thank you, Beck—so, so much,” she said, setting her pie aside on the coffee table and spontaneously reaching for Miss Kitty, who was innocently padding past on the floor. She drew the docile cat up into her lap and hugged her close without quite knowing why.

Beck looked bewildered. “For what?”

“For believing me,” she said simply. And then, like a breath she’d been holding for a very long time, a bunch of words came flooding out of her. “The only person I told didn’t believe me. Because everyone thinks he’s so wonderful. I thought he was wonderful, too. Really wonderful. But he’s not. And no one wants to know that. No one wants to find out that a man who helps so many people in so many ways is just a great big Harvey Weinstein underneath it all. And that’s why she didn’t believe me.”

“Who?”

“Whitney. My best friend. She works for him, too. Got me the job, in fact. And I know she just couldn’t quite believe he could do something like that, but I couldn’t believe it, either. Part of me still can’t. Part of me still wants to find some way to explain it all away and turn him back into the man I thought he was.

“But at the same time, she’s my best friend. And when I went to her after it happened, totally freaked out, she accused me of exaggerating the whole thing. Or it being my fault. She threw both of those at me. I couldn’t believe she’d do that to me. It was—and still is—awful.

“So...to answer your question, no, I’m really not okay. And yes, I’m not even a nice enough person to have come here only to give Meg some time away. I came because I lost my job, and I lost my friend, and I lost my dignity. And no place is better for making you feel far away from the rest of the world than Summer Island.”

In one sense, she felt sick. To go back there in her heart and mind—back to Simon’s house, back to the utter shock and revulsion of it all. But another part of her felt free—free in a way she didn’t even know existed until that moment. Because up until that night at Simon’s house, she’d never felt particularly trapped in life. But what happened there had trapped her, caged her, leaving her helpless and alone.

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