"What if you need me? Where would you want to work? What if I can't get to you? That won't work, Della. I can't protect you if you aren't near me." I was only adding more stress for him. He needed more time to adjust. I would give him that. He needed to heal. I would have to find a way to spend my days.

"Okay. We'll wait a couple weeks and talk about it again," I said with a smile, hoping to reassure him.

He looked relieved. That was what I had wanted. "I'll call you once this meeting is over. We'll have dinner together. I won't leave you here alone long. I swear."

I just nodded.

Woods pulled me to him and kissed me. It was a possessive kiss. Right now he needed me to be there for him. For now, that is what I would do. Be there for him.

"I love you," he whispered against my lips, and then pressed one last kiss to them.

"I love you too," I replied.

Woods left and I stayed outside on the balcony looking out at the gulf. I had missed out on life for so long and now I was learning that life was about sacrifice. Especially when you loved someone.

My phone rang this time and I picked it up from the table I'd left it on earlier. It was an unknown number. That meant one thing: it was Tripp.

"Hey," I said, sitting down on the lounge chair beside me.

"How are things?"

"Okay. Woods is adjusting," I replied.

Tripp let out a weary sigh. "I should've come home for the funeral. I just . . . I couldn't."

I didn't know what it was in Rosemary that haunted Tripp. But I knew that something did. Since he'd left he had called me twice. Both times it had been from an unknown number and both times he had seemed off. Almost depressed.

"Jace said he tried to get in contact with you and couldn't. You've changed your number."

"Yeah. I did. I needed some space."

"Jace misses you. He worries about you."

Tripp didn't respond and I didn't feel like I was the person who should push him to respond.

"I'll call him. Let him know there's no reason to worry. I shouldn't have stayed in Rosemary so long. It messes with my head. I can't go back there. There're things . . . stuff I don't like to face."

I already knew this. I had no idea what those things were but I knew that they haunted him.

"Are you working again?" he asked.

"No. Woods doesn't want me working right now. He needs me to be available for him. I'm his only source of support. His mother . . . well . . . you know how she is."

Tripp paused a moment and I wondered what he was thinking about. I really didn't want him to say something negative about Woods. "Right now he needs you. I get it. But, Della, you started this journey to live life. Don't forget that. You left one prison; don't find yourself in another."

His words sliced through me painfully. Woods was nothing like my mother. He needed me right now because he had lost his father and been thrown into a position he wasn't prepared for overnight. He wasn't trying to control me. "This is different. I'm choosing to stand beside Woods. I love him and I will be here for whatever he needs. Once he's better he'll be fine with me getting a job again."

Tripp didn't respond and we sat there for a few minutes in silence. I wondered if he disagreed or if he wasn't sure what to say to that.

"The next time I call I won't block my number. I want you to have it if you need it."

I wouldn't need his number.

"Just . . . don't give it to Jace or anyone. Please."

"Good-bye, Tripp," I replied before ending the call. I didn't want to hear his doubt and concern. He was wrong. Everything was going to be fine with Woods and me. He was very wrong.

One month later . . .

Woods

I glanced over at the phone and considered calling Della. I hadn't spoken to her in five hours. My morning had been packed with meetings and conference calls. She never complained. That bothered me. The fact was I thought she should complain. I was failing her. How was I supposed to run the Kerrington Club and take care of her? Any other woman would have been in my office throwing a fit. But never Della.

A swift knock on my door kept me from picking up the phone. I would call her in a minute. "Come in," I called out, and started looking for the papers Vince had brought me to sign earlier.

"Vince wasn't out there so I knocked." Angelina's voice wasn't what I expected to hear.

"What does Mother need now?" I asked without looking up at her. That was why she was here. At first I had been annoyed with her presence but she was helping my mother more than I could. More than I wanted to.

"She misses you. It's been over a week since you called to check on her."

Angelina was as good at guilt trips as my mother was. The two of them were so much alike. "I'll call her later today. I've got work. If that's all, please see yourself out."

"You don't have to treat me so coldly. I'm helping you the only way I know how. Every day I stay here with your mother is for you. It's all for you. I'm in love with you, Woods. I can't compete for your heart because you won't allow me in. But what is she doing for you? I don't see her helping you---"

"Enough. Don't ever put yourself on the same level as Della. I didn't ask you to take care of my mother. I can hire someone to help me if I need it. As for Della, she's the reason I get out of bed each morning, so never underestimate her importance."