Love Restored (Gallagher Brothers #1)(29)

And that was why he needed to tell Blake everything, to explain who he was, even if he didn’t truly understand. Not anymore.

“She’s great,” Blake said, her voice a little warmer. “I think she was just a little lonely since the guys were going on their date tonight. And I think she wanted to spin me into her web of friends or something.”

Though his heart hurt from what he’d put it through in the past couple of hours, he chuckled at the thought. “That sounds like Maya.” He sighed. “Will you come back over? Let me explain?”

She was silent for long enough that he was afraid he’d made yet another mistake. “I can do that,” she said softly. “I’m actually sitting outside Maya’s house on my phone since I was just leaving when you called. I’m sure she’s pacing in there as she moves the blinds around to see me.”

He laughed again despite the tension in the air. “See you soon?” he asked.

“Yeah. But, Graham? I don’t like drama. I don’t need it. So let’s try to keep that to a minimum.”

He didn’t answer that as he let her hang up, saying his goodbye quietly. She might not want drama, but he wasn’t sure he could avoid it, not with what he had to tell her. He raked his hand through his hair and tossed his phone on the couch. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to be with Blake, but the fact that he did feel that need told him he’d better try and make something work. He hadn’t felt that need for anyone since Candice, and even then…it was different.

When lights filled his front window, and the sound of a car pulling into his driveway reached him, he went to the door and opened it, hoping it was indeed Blake and not Candice again. He wasn’t sure he could deal with his ex-wife twice in one night. Hell, he couldn’t deal with her once in two years.

Blake got out of her car and moved toward him, a tentative frown on her face. “Hey,” she said.

“Hey.” He put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his heels. “Want to come in?”

She smiled wryly. “Yeah, I guess that would be good. I didn’t get a chance to actually come inside the first time.”

He nodded and turned to the side so she could pass him and go in first. He’d left the door open so she could walk right in if she chose. When he closed the door behind them, he once again put his hands in his pockets and studied her. She’d put on a light jacket and wore old jeans so he couldn’t see her ink, but he knew it was there. She filled out her clothes nicely, all curves with some angles that told him she could take down someone in a fight if she had to.

Or maybe that was just his thinking since he’d f*cked up already that day with her.

“I’m sorry,” he said once they’d stared at each other for far too long. “I’m sorry you had to see that, and hell, I’m sorry if I made you feel like crap when my ex-wife showed up like that.”

She tilted her head, studied his face. “I don’t think you’re the one that actually made me feel like crap. In fact, I think it was just her. You never once looked like you were happy to see her. You told me to go inside so you could get her to leave. I don’t think you hid her from me either. We’re still getting to know one another. But I have to say, it was still a jolt. And since I don’t like drama…” She shrugged. “I left.”

He swallowed hard. “I get that. I do. And I’d say I don’t know why she came here, but that would be a lie. What’s not a lie is that I didn’t expect her to come here.”

She narrowed her eyes. “She wants to be with you again?”

He shook his head. “No, not in the slightest.” He sighed. “Candice is the type of person who can’t be alone. She just can’t do it. I don’t fault her for it. Even though it grates—when we were married and now. But that’s who she is and it’s what she needs. As I’m not that person, and don’t want to be the person she needs by her side, I pushed her away.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

He laughed, but it held no humor. “Not really, but that’s what happens when two people fall out of love and end up not liking each other. We don’t hate each other, but there’s not enough there for even a little like between us.”

“Can I ask why you split up?” She shook her head. “Or if that’s not my business, I totally get it. It’s just that she mentioned she was your wife and conveniently left out the ex part.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose before meeting her gaze again. “She did that out of reflex I think. I don’t know why, honestly, but I cleared it up for her, and now I want to clear it up for you. As for why we split up…” He let out a breath then let the truth spill from him. “We split up because we couldn’t go on like we were. We had a daughter, you see. Cynthia. And she died. It was sudden, and yet not so sudden all at the same time. And when she died, I couldn’t love the woman I’d married anymore, and she couldn’t love me either. They say people do that, couples that is. They say they break up and fall apart when they lose a child. I don’t know about others, but I do know that I couldn’t be with Candice after Cynthia died. We didn’t grieve the same way, and we sure as hell didn’t live the same way.” His voice broke. “And that was the problem, I guess. The fact that I lived and my baby didn’t.” Tears stung at his eyes and he blinked them away. He would weep, would cry when he needed to, but first, he had to get it all out.