Gansett After Dark by Marie Force Page A

didn’t want to add to your burden.”
    “You’re never a burden to me.”
    “I was afraid it would change how you felt about me to hear I was having doubts about being a wife and mother.”
    “Steph… God, how could you be afraid of that? Don’t you know how essential you are to me? Everything that happens, from the minute I get up until the minute I go to bed with you, I want to share with you. A thousand times a day I wonder what you’re doing, what you would say about whatever I’m doing, things I need to tell you… Your voice is in my head—always. There’s nothing you could say or do or feel that would make me want anyone else’s voice in my head. When are you going to realize that?”
    She blinked back the tears she’d worked so hard to keep at bay while she bared her soul to him. But, as always, his words had incredible power over her. The things he said to her… “Deep inside, I knew it was wrong of me not to share my worries with you. I also knew that you’d want to fix what was wrong, because that’s what you always do. From the very beginning, you’ve wanted to fix what was wrong for me.”  
    Because she couldn’t resist touching him when he was lying so close to her, she unbuttoned his shirt and laid her hand on his chest. The steady beat of his heart under her palm calmed her like nothing else could. “Charlie took Sarah home with him tonight.”
    His hand covered hers. “Really? Good for them.”
    “He has this amazing second chance because of you.”
    “I just made a phone call. Dan gets the credit for freeing him.”
    “You get half the credit, because without that phone call, there would’ve been no Dan Torrington to the rescue.”
    “We’re both glad we were able to right a terrible wrong—for Charlie and for you.”
    “I don’t want to be afraid anymore, Grant, but it’s almost like I don’t know how not to be. I’ve spent most of my life afraid of one thing or another. It’s a hard habit to break.”
    “I have every confidence that you’re capable of anything you set your mind to doing. If you decide that fear isn’t going to run your life anymore, then I have no doubt you’ll make that happen. You’re the strongest person I’ve ever met.”
    “No, I’m not.”
    “Yes, you are. You have no idea how much everyone admires you for what you’ve been able to accomplish all on your own.”
    “You admire me,” she said with a laugh. “Who’s the one with the Academy Award?”
    “That’s nothing compared to the huge accomplishment of fighting to overturn a conviction that never should’ve happened in the first place.”
    “At which I was hugely unsuccessful until you came along and made that phone call.”
    “Steph… Come on. Why can everyone see this but you? You’re the hero of this story, not me. Not Dan. You. If you hadn’t kept fighting, I would’ve never known about Charlie or his situation. If you hadn’t cared about him more than you cared about yourself, he’d still be sitting in that prison. You need to take most of the credit for freeing him, and you need to free yourself by letting go of the past and embracing the future.”
    “I’m trying. You have no idea how hard I’m trying.”
    “I know you are. When you and I are together, there’s nothing we can’t handle.”
    “I was on my way to believing that when the accident happened, and I had a whole day to contemplate how I’d ever manage to live without you.”
    “Ah Christ,” he said with a sigh. “And then I came back a total wreck, and all the focus was on me when you were dying inside. I’m sorry, honey. I should’ve paid more attention to how traumatizing it was for you.”
    “It was way worse for you.”
    “That’s not necessarily true.” He pulled her in closer to him, his lips pressed to her forehead. “God, I love you so much. I had no idea it was possible to love anyone as much as I love you. And the thought of you worried or afraid for all this time, and me not