“Michael and Adam also, to some extent, needed someone to blame,” Heath continued.
Julia had never thought of it in those terms. She realized Hillary and Marie had probably felt the same way.
“Michael had no idea Lee had sent you those distasteful text messages. If he did, he conveniently forgot about them. All he could see was the loss of his family as he knew it, and he found it easy to blame you for the ones you sent Lee. That gave him all the incentive he needed to focus his anger on you.”
“And Hillary and Marie…” She had never thought of her daughters’ anger toward their father in those terms. It embarrassed her that Heath knew about her part in this fiasco. But still better that he recognized her own role in this mess.
“Yes? What about them?” he prompted, when she didn’t finish.
“They were hurt and angry at their father. He became the focus of their resentment. They saw my pain and were helpless to ease it. Deep down, I think they even might have believed their anger would somehow manipulate him to leave Laura and come back to me. Even as young adults, they wanted their family to remain intact.”
“That sounds logical.”
While Julia had been at the beach, her thoughts had drifted toward Hillary and the wedding. For weeks she’d held on to the hope that their daughter’s marriage would be the bridge to bring her girls and their father back together. She’d done all she could to facilitate that happening, to no avail.
Instead, Hillary’s engagement had lit off a series of pipe bombs. Her ex-husband’s refusal to work toward reconciliation with small steps had led to one emotional explosion after another. Instead of easing them toward forgiveness, his attempts at manipulation had stoked the fires of their discontent and bitterness.
Julia no longer believed Eddie was capable of understanding their daughters’ sense of pain and loss. She didn’t blame him completely, because she hadn’t truly accepted it herself until now, when she could see that their anger was as deep as Michael’s was toward her.
Gently squeezing Heath’s hand, Julia asked, “Do you think there’s any way Michael and Adam will ever accept me?”
Heath shook his head. “I don’t know. I wish I could look into the future and reassure you that sometime down the road our families will come together without all this anger and resentment. Unfortunately, I don’t have a crystal ball.”
“I know.”
“I will tell you that no matter how my children feel, I am not losing you.”
She closed her eyes, letting the love she felt for this man fall over her like a protective shield.
“Please tell me that while you were at the ocean, thinking over everything, you reached the same conclusion, because, Julia, I’m telling you right now, I will fight for you. When my marriage fell apart, I let it, but I won’t make that mistake with us.”
She had reached that same decision. While it was painful to accept that she might never have a relationship with Heath’s sons, she would have him, and he was more than enough.
“I’m yours, my love.”
His relief was obvious.
The doorbell rang and Heath looked to Julia. “Are you expecting anyone?”
She shook her head. They both rose to their feet, and Heath moved into the living room while she went to answer the doorbell.
As soon as the door opened, Eddie stormed into the room like an avenging angel. When he saw Heath he nearly exploded.
“Get out of my way.” With his hands knotted into fists, he raced toward Heath, shoving hard against Heath’s chest with both hands.
Shocked, Heath stumbled backward and fell against the sofa.
“Eddie?” Julia yelled. He was out of control.
He whirled around to face her. “Is it true?” he demanded.
“Is what true?” She didn’t have a clue what he was talking about. “Eddie, for the love of heaven, what has gotten into you?”
“If you’d listened to the voicemail I sent, you’d know.”
“I was away. What happened? What’s wrong?”
Eddie’s heated gaze remained locked on Heath. “Hillary asked Heath to escort her down the aisle.”
Chapter 25
“What?” Julia said, too stunned to do anything more than look at Heath.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t know?”
“I didn’t, Eddie, I swear.”
“I don’t believe you. Not for a minute. No doubt you put Hillary up to this—”
“That’s enough,” Heath said, cutting Eddie off. He stood protectively in front of Julia.