Page 22 of Revived My Heart

“I know,” she told me, touching my leg. “I just don’t know why.”

“Dixon scared me.”

“My son? Because he threatened you?”

The look of surprise on her face was priceless, and I chuckled but shook my head.

“Man is smart, and he’d probably knock me down a good few times, but I could take him. He scared me because he really thought there should be more to us. And that had me worried that you might want more when I wasn’t ready to give more.”

Her mouth opened, creating an ‘o’ shape and I saw the realization in her eyes.

“Mason, I never asked for more.”

“You’re right, you didn’t. But you could have, and you should. You deserve to have a man to want to be with you, to want to give you his all.”

“Tell me something, do you want me to date someone else? Or even sleep with someone else?” she questioned and I glared at her.

“Hell no, you’re mine.”

Her brow lifted and I knew exactly what this sounded like.

“Okay, fine, yes, I don’t want to share, but I don’t know if I’m ready to date you.”

“Let’s get something straight here,” she said, taking my hand. “I don’t want to date. I don’t have time to date, Mason. My life is full with the running of a business. And I’m beyond fine with what we are, regardless of what my son says. He doesn’t control my life, no matter what he thinks.

“Now, I know you have a love for your late wife that will never go away, and I can respect that. I also don’t ever want you to be in a place where you have to think it’s one or the other. And I certainly don’t want you in a place where you could resent me because I made you think or feel like you needed to be in a relationship with me.”

“That is all the thing. I pulled away because I thought you deserved someone else. Someone, who even down the road when you were ready, would be a good fit for you. But then the more I thought about it, the more I knew no one could handle you the way I could.”

I watched as her head tilted as she looked at me, and I knew the questions she had. Because none of what I just said was making sense, given my actions.

“I came to terms with losing my wife. And while I loved her, and while I thought for the longest time, I couldn’t do another relationship, that I couldn’t find another woman to love as much as I loved her, I was wrong.

“You see, the more I thought about giving you up, the more I thought about what your son said about treating you right, about being real and honest, the more I realized I could love two women. That my wife wouldn’t have wanted me to be alone. That I could find someone as wonderful as she was but in a different way.

“I realized that woman was you, Patty. That all that you were was everything I wanted for my future.”

I watched with a grin as her mouth opened and closed, the words unable to come. After several moments, she finally shook her head, her hand cupping my cheek.

“Mason, that’s all really sweet, but I don’t want to compete with a ghost either.”

I chuckled. I could see why she thought. I think there were plenty of times I did compare, and probably even stated it too. But the crux of the matter was Patty was better than my first wife in many ways.

“You won’t be.”

“I can’t just take your word for it when you still have all your pictures up of her, Mason. I know that was holding you back from a relationship.”

“I put them away. My life with her is gone, and when you’re ready for that relationship that I know you want, I want to be the man you have it with. In fact, I demand to be the man you have that with.”

“Oh, demanding now,” she sassed.

She was swaying, I could see it on her face, but there was still something holding her back from saying yes. I wasn’t asking for a relationship, she wasn’t there, it was evident, but there was something creeping in the back of her eyes that she hadn’t told me about.

And while I wanted to push, there was something holding me back. Maybe that’s what she needed because she took a deep breath and then took my hands.

“Thank you for telling me this. It means so much and I can’t even explain. But let me share why I’m a little more hesitant to jump into a relationship and why Dixon is so protective of me.”

~ Patty ~