Free No Longer Mine by Shiloh Walker

rather keep it that way.
    “Your dad.” A faint smile curled his lips. “How’s he doing?”
    “Good. Actually, he’s better than he’s been in a long time.” The past five years had been sober ones for Jack Kline, something Nikki still couldn’t quite believe. But then again, he’d had one hell of a wake-up call. When your twenty-year-old, formerly healthy daughter collapses right in front of you, it tends to scare even the most stalwart of men.
    “That’s good. I’ve seen your books. Bought them, as a matter of fact. Congratulations, Nikki. You did exactly what you said you would do,” he told her, his eyes gleaming. “I’m proud of you.” She just stared at him, careful not to let him see that those words had any effect on her. They shouldn’t. Not at all. But they did. In a flat voice that she hoped covered her chaotic emotions, she told him,
    “I couldn’t care less if you’re proud of me or not. I didn’t do it for you. It wasn’t about you or for you. It never was.”
    With a careless shrug, Nikki added, “You never really cared all that much about it anyway. It has nothing to do with you.”
    His mouth spasmed slightly and he said wearily, “No. I don’t guess it does.” He studied her again, his eyes narrowed and intense. “Yeah,” he finally said quietly, as though to himself. “I guess you have changed.”
    “It’s to be expected, I’d think. I’m not the person I used to be, any more than you are the person I thought I knew,” Nikki said. “I certainly never would have expected what you did to me. Or expect you to hide it the way you did. I wonder, if Jamie hadn’t gotten pregnant, would you ever have told me?”
    “No,” Wade said, clearly and without hesitation. “I wanted to. Hell, it was killing me inside. But I couldn’t lose you. It was the wrong decision. I know that now. Hell, I knew then. But if she hadn’t been pregnant, you never would have known.” His eyes met hers straight on, unblinking and steady.
    Looking away, Nikki absently rubbed the back of her neck. Why did it still hurt so much? Hadn’t enough time passed for her to be over this by now, over him? “Well, at least you can be honest about it now,” she said quietly. “But it’s a little late.” Closing her eyes, she summoned up her strength. Then she looked back at him coolly. “What are you doing here, Wade?” 44
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    No Longer Mine
    “I guess I wanted to apologize,” he told her, turning away. He walked to the edge of the verandah and braced his elbows on the railing. A breeze lifted the edges of his hair, tugging at them, while the sun gleamed down on it. Broad shoulders strained at the seams of his shirt. His voice was lower as he spoke again. “I made a lot of mistakes with you, Nikki. I hurt you. And I’m sorrier than you will ever know.” Nikki’s eyes closed briefly and she lowered her head. Pressing her fingers to her eyes, she thought, Sorry…? He is sorry?
    With a sigh she looked back at him, her eyes searching for something she couldn’t quite define. She had experienced too much grief in her life over the past few years to wish it on another, even somebody who had hurt her as much as he had.
    He meant it. Wade looked…tired. As if the past few years hadn’t been easy on him. Despite what had happened, she hadn’t wished him ill. She had never wanted him to be unhappy.
    He was though. There was unhappiness in those dark eyes, in every line of his body.
    Nikki moved out of the doorway, shutting it behind her. In her bare feet, she padded over to the porch swing and sat. Drawing a knee to her chest, she studied him. “Apology accepted, Wade.”
    “Just like that?” he asked, turning to face her. With disbelief in his eyes, he stared at her, watching her closely. “Aren’t you going to rant and rave, or give me the cold shoulder?”
    “It’s in the past now, Wade. I’ve never wished you ill. It just wasn’t meant to be with us, and I’ve