My shoulders relaxed, maybe from his words, maybe from his arms, maybe from the scent of Old Spice body wash and something a little like Old English furniture polish that always clung to him. Because that was what I was afraid of, really, wasn’t it? At my core? Being alone? And a knowing coursed through me. He was right. If he had fought me that night on the beach, if he had refused to walk away, we would still be together. I loved him so fiercely that I wasn’t only protecting him. I was protecting myself from losing another man I loved.

He pulled away from me. “I’m strong, Al,” he said. “You can depend on me. I love you and I want you, but the last three hundred forty-one days have taught me something: I don’t need you.”

I wondered what those words would have sounded like to any other woman. Grace would have been offended, I was certain. But the most delicious feeling washed over me. Julie needed me. Brenna and Jamie and Audrey needed me. To a lesser extent, Grace and Charlotte needed me. I had enough of being needed. I wanted to be wanted. I loved my day-to-day existence, taking care of the people in my home. But it was a different kind of love, one that came with stress and structure. What Elliott was offering me was something entirely different. And I understood then that, as much as I loved him, I had always underestimated him.

I realized, looking into his eyes as the waves crashed on the shore, that he saw me in a way that I hadn’t fully recognized. That simple sentence had changed everything.

Elliott took my hands in his. “I’m patient, Alice,” he said. “I know you have a lot of scars, and that’s okay. I can wait until you’re ready. But I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not going to leave you again.”

I never asked for what I wanted anymore, but, for the first time in a long time, I found myself pleading with God that Elliott would finally be the one who got to stay.

Iris Shameless

Chloe leaned over her desk and said, “Psst.” I turned and realized that she was leaning over partly so I’d hear her, and partly because it gave her amazing cleavage in her white uniform blouse that she had unbuttoned one button below uniform policy and Greg Saunders—who she had a massive crush on—sat on the other side of me. I glanced at him quickly. Yup. He was looking. “You are shameless,” I whispered, leaning closer to her.

She smiled. “I know. Are you nervous about this afternoon?”

“Nah,” I said. “Going to see my dad in jail is no big deal. Ordinary, really.”

She laughed. “Okay. Well, good. As long as you aren’t nervous…” She rolled her eyes.