Page 193 - It Ends with Us

Chapter Twenty-One

“I’m hea ding out. You need me to do any thi ng el se?”
I look up from the paper work and sha ke my hea d. “Tha nk you,
Serena . See you tomorro w.”
She no ds and walks away, lea ving the door to my offic e open.

Allysa’s last day was two week s ago. She’s due any day no w. I ha ve
two other full-time em ployees , Serena and Lucy.
Yes . That Lucy.
She’s been marri ed for a couple of mont hs no w and came in
looking for a job two week s ago. It’s actually worked out pret ty wel l.

She kee ps hers el f busy, and if I’m here when she is, I just keep my
offic e door shu t so I don’t ha ve to listen to her sing .
It’s been almost a mont h sinc e the inc ident on the stairs. Even with
ev er ythi ng R yle told me about hi s chi ldho od, the forgiven es s was still
ha rd to come by.
I know R yle ha s a tem per. I saw it the firs t ni ght we met , bef ore we
ev er ev en spoke a word to ea ch other. I saw it tha t awful ni ght in my

kitchen. I saw it when he found the pho ne nu mber in my pho ne case.
But I also see the differenc e bet ween R yle and my father.
R yle is compassiona te. He does thi ng s my father nev er would ha ve
done. He donat es to cha rity, he cares about other peo ple, he puts me
bef ore ever ythi ng . R yle would nev er in a million yea rs make me park
in the drivew ay whi le he took the garage.

I ha ve to remi nd mysel f of tho se thi ng s. Somet imes the girl ins ide
of me— the daught er of my father—i s rea lly opini ona ted . She tel ls me
I sho uldn’t ha ve forgiven hi m. She tel ls me I sho uld ha ve lef t the firs t
time. And somet imes I bel iev e tha t voice. But then the side of me tha t
kno ws R yle und ers tand s tha t marri ages aren’ t per fec t. Somet imes
there are moment s tha t both parties reg ret . And I wond er ho w I’d
feel about mysel f ha d I just lef t hi m after tha t firs t inc ident . He nev er

sho uld ha ve pushed me, but I also did thi ng s I wasn’t proud of. And if