Marriage Reunited

CHAPTER TEN

"It must have been a hell of a lot more than silly if it drove you away from me," he countered. There was silence for a few moments and he could see the indecision written all over her face as she debated whether to tell him the truth. He waited silently, even though what he really wanted to do was force her to tell him everything. All of a sudden he felt like he was living in the dark, surrounded by secrets and lies.

"It sound ridiculous now," she said finally. He kept his unwavering gaze fixed firmly on her. She said one thing but he could see that she meant another. She might want him to believe that whatever she'd thought was stupid but he could see in her eyes that she still thought there was a glimmer of truth to it. That look killed him because he couldn't understand what the hell he'd done that she could think so badly of him.

"Just tell me," he said in as calm a voice as he could manage. Lilly took a deep steadying breath and turned slightly away from him as she gazed out at the view but he knew that she wasn't seeing anything other than the past.

"My father never liked you. He told me that it was because he could see that I loved you," Lilly said in an emotionless voice. Connor frowned at what she was saying because wasn't it every dads dream to have someone fall head over heels in love with their daughter?

"Why was that a bad thing?" Connor asked. Lilly turned to him though he could tell that she was still looking at the past.

"Because he'd loved my mother deeply and she'd ripped his heart out and stomped on it until there was nothing left," Lilly explained in that toneless voice. Connor frowned again because she still wasn't making any sense.

"That was your parents, that wasn't us."

"My father thought it would be," Lilly said and things started to click in to place for Connor.

"He never thought I was good enough for you," Connor said. Lilly gave a wan smile at that even as a tear slipped free and trailed down her cheek.

"That was the problem. He thought you were too good for me. My father had loved my mother with everything he had and she'd turned around and destroyed every part of the good man he once was. He knew that I'd fallen for you long before I did and he thought that you would be the one who would destroy me. He told me that he thought you would one day turn on me and crush my heart and take away all the good parts that made me who I was," Lilly said as the tears flowed faster. Connor only just stopped himself from taking her in to his arms. He hated to see her in so much pain but he needed to understand and this could be his only chance.

"Why would your father think I would do that to you? I love all the things that make you who you are and I would never have destroyed one part of that," he ground out. Lilly gave a harsh laugh that sounded like nails scraping down a chalkboard to him.

"He thought that our relationship was doomed to destroy me. The funniest part is that it wasn't you who destroyed all the goodness in me, it was him."

"What do you mean?" Connor asked. He didn't know what the hell she was going on about but she wasn't making any sense.

"My father was the reason that I lost our baby and I will never forgive him for that," Lilly said and Connor could only watch in stunned silence as Lilly got up and ran back to the room, leaving him sitting there more confused than ever.

Connor stayed where he was for a few moments as he tried to work out what the hell Lilly had been going on about. He'd understood that somehow her father was to blame for her leaving him but he had no idea how and he definitely had no idea how her father could possibly be to blame for what had happened to their baby. He especially didn't understand why she'd left instead of just talking to him about it. He wanted to be the quiet, supportive husband who didn't push too far and didn't make her any more upset than she already was. The problem was that he wasn't feeling like the supportive husband right now, instead he was feeling like the idiot whose wife had abandoned him and was still lying to him even after all this time. He daren't go after her just yet because he wasn't sure what his reaction would be. He wanted to go to her and haul her in to his arms and offer all his strength and comfort. The problem was that he had the suspicion that he would be more likely to fly off the handle and demand answers that she wasn't prepared to give.