Chapter 88

Kimber’s heart stuttered and wept all at once. “Oh my—That’s terrible.”

“What’s worse is, I think Deke believed he was solely responsible and heaped the guilt on himself. I think he still does. And I think he’s been terrified for years that he might be responsible for another woman’s death.” The story was awful. Beyond tragic. A waste of a young girl’s promise, her grieving, vindictive family, the fracturing of a young man’s sense of self and worth.

No one healed. And now she was bringing a baby into the picture.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re not angry with me?”

“For being honest about Deke’s past?”

He winced. “For not being honest about my…issue sooner.” Mad? No. She had no real cause to feel betrayed. His inability to have children was something that shamed him. Even in the midst of all the drama of Deke and Luc’s argument, she’d seen the humiliation on his face and felt more than a pang of his hurt and loss for something he wanted so desperately