“I felt proposing to Angelina would help me heal. What I didn't realize was that the vacuum you left was so big that no one else would be able to fill it.”
He searched my eyes.
“I regret the proposal, Mabel, as much as I regret hurting you.”
The proposal was the reason I'd stayed away when I found out I was pregnant. Even now, I wasn't sure what would happen if he learned the truth.
But this wasn't the time to think about that. It was Ruth's big night, and I wasn't going to let my complicated history with Alec cast a shadow over her celebration.
I looked away. “It's not your fault, really. It's been six long years, but the memory of that morning still hurt me.”
“I'm sorry. Let me make it up to you.”
“I forgive you,” I said and drew a shaky breath. “Because you were as innocent as I
