Chapter Nine
Why was Axel bringing up the past?
Although, Haley couldn’t blame him, really. He deserved a better explanation than it wasn’t you, it was me.
She pulled out the brats from where she’d rested them in the coals. “I think they’re done.” She handed them to him. “You know I don’t have family. And while I liked the idea of a family, I didn’t have a clue about how to be family. I shouldn’t have run the way I did, and I… regret it very much.”
He looked at her sharply, a mix of sadness and relief on his face, then turned to dig out the beans. Her stomach flipped as an ache settled in her midsection. She’d rehearsed this in her head a thousand times, but now that she had the opportunity to explain herself, fear sliced through her. “I thought about contacting you, but I didn’t see t
