Paper Bride ✔️ (Book 4 - DP Series - COMPLETE)

32. You Guys Are Dumb

So I do.

We chatter for nearly two hours before there's a knock on the door and Seth peaks in on us curled up on the guest bed. We both swing our gazes to him, our smiles being the only greeting we offer.

"Lunch is about ready," he tells us.

We both mutter an okay and then begin scooting our way off the bed.

"How are you two doing?" Hope suddenly asks just as I'm about to stand. I freeze, settling my body weight back onto the bed and turning to look at my inquisitive sister.

"Better, I think, " I tell her honestly. She doesn't know anything, and yet, there's something in her gaze that makes me think she's aware of more than she should be.

"Mom told me about your little meltdown at dinner a couple of weeks ago."

I groan, cupping my forehead with one hand and digging my fingers into my temples. "Yeah," I sigh. "Not my best moment." Suddenly I'm wanting to cry again as I realize that that's the very last memory that I'll ever have of her. Why couldn't it have been a good one? I gaze down at the carpeted floor, my eyes trained on a mysterious stain to the left of the closet door. "We haven't been doing real great," I suddenly say.

I'm almost shocked by my own announcement. I'd sort of been hoping that Seth and I could get our problems figured out before anyone questioned how we were doing. I wanted to just glide through our problems unnoticed until we could fix them ourselves. I guess that's not going to be happening, because the next thing I know, I'm spilling everything to Hope.

She sits nodding and smiling as I spill all the details. I tell her about the divorce papers and Seth's odd behavior. I tell her about Tracy and our heated moment at the cabin when she'd suddenly texted and ruined everything. I tell her how I'm dealing with it and how he seems to be wanting to reverse the damage we've done to each other.

"So, what'd he say about the divorce papers when you mentioned them?" she asks once I've finished talking. I glance up at her, slightly startled by the question.

"Uh." I scratch the side of my head, offering a lopsided smile."He said he was using them as, like, an experiment. It was his way of adjusting to the possibility of me divorcing him."

"Merc," she growls. "You bonehead!" I stare at her wide-eyed as she turns her body to face me straight on and I get the feeling that a scolding is coming. "You two are both so stupid. Have you never heard of this new concept of talking? Gosh," she swings a hand up in the air with exasperation. "Clearly, you two need to figure your crap out if you're both thinking the other is wanting a divorce. Gosh, you guys are dumb. Just tell him what you're feeling. Or are you one of those girls who expects him to read your mind?"

"I did tell him how I feel, and he said nothing," I groan, flopping back on the bed to stare at the ceiling. "It's just that—It's like we've forgotten how to communicate."

"Well, here's a bright idea for you," she says, standing and offering a hand out to me. "Learn."

I let her tug me upwards, my body limp with the draining thought of actually expressing all my emotions to Seth. It sounds horrible. I don't want him to see my vulnerable side. Sure, I've admitted I love him, but there's so much more to it than that. We have so much to catch up on and so much to figure out. It's conversations like that where I'll be forced to let go of all my pride. I don't want to let go of my pride when he's so unwilling to do so himself. I don't want to. I just don't want to.

And yet, I know it's the only way to fix things.

"By the way," she says as she starts to turn the doorknob. I stop and glance to the side at her, a look of expectation on my face as I wait for her to continue. "He loves you."

"What?" I actually laugh at this. It's just so ludicrous because he sure doesn't act like a man in love. Yesterday and today have been the only times that I've questioned his devotion to me, but I've realized that he's just pitying me. He's showing concern and kindness to a person he cares for. That doesn't mean he loves me. It just means he cares. If he loved me he would have uttered those words in response to my own.

"What put that stupid idea in your head?" I guffaw as I begin walking again, ready to pass through the doorway.

"Seth did."

I stop again, wide eyes swinging to pin her in place. I'm shooting questions at her with my eyes. I don't verbalize any of them but she seems to catch on. With a prideful smirk, she just shrugs and shuffles past me. But, just as she gets to the top of the stairs at the end of the hallway, she turns with an expression wise beyond her years and offers a genuine smile before she allows three life-changing words to vibrate past her lips...

"He told me so."