The Sweetest Love (Love Conquers All Book 5) by Victoria Wells Page A

entire contents in what seemed like one swallow. Setting the glass down on the rickety coffee table, he got down to the reason he had asked to come in.
    Running a hand down his clean shaven face, he shifted his body so that they were face to face. He ignored the lump he settled on that was beyond uncomfortable.
    “Roxy, I can’t tell you how sorry I am for the way I treated you when you were a kid.”
    “It’s okay—”
    She attempted to say to halt his apology, but was stopped by him putting a finger to her lips. “Let me finish.”
    Taking her hand in his, he interlocked their fingers. He began by telling her he wasn’t pleased at all by his parents having a baby, but after Abby came along he fell in love with her. She smiled at him when he shared with her how he doted on her as a toddler.
    A feeling of sadness overcame her when he told her he felt as if he was pushed into a corner and forgotten when his baby sister started showing signs of being ill. Their entire lives had begun to center around Abby’s wants and needs.
    He admitted to being thrilled when Roxy came along as his sister’s playmate. He felt Roxy stiffen when he told her it was soon replaced by more bitterness and anger because she had begun taking attention from his parents that should have been for him.
    Rubbing his hands down his face, he let out a deep breath. “Now as a grown man I understand that my parents’ actions weren’t intentional and that they were just so thankful that Abby had you for a friend.”
    Taking another deep breath, he confessed, “I misunderstood everything. I never knew my mom blamed herself for Abby getting sick. I didn’t understand that my parents gave her so much attention because they knew she didn’t have a lot of time left with us.”
    During family counseling Adam learned his parents had a disagreement the morning of the accident. Nelson had wanted to stay home, relax and watch sports that Saturday afternoon. He had tried persuading Brenda to put off their family outing until Sunday after church. But Brenda had dug her heels in, going on and on about them needing to take the kids to the carnival near the Philadelphia Zoo. To keep the peace, Nelson had given in to his wife’s demands.
    The raw emotion in Adam’s voice was killing her. “It wasn’t her fault. But when the doctors were upfront about Abby’s prognosis the guilt nearly killed my mom. My dad tried like crazy to get her to believe the blame was at the feet of the drunken driver and car seat manufacturer. But she wouldn’t hear it.”
    Her eyes dropped to their intertwined fingers. Her heart shattered into a million pieces for Mr. and Mrs. West. To know your child was slowly dying and there was nothing you could do about it had to be beyond devastating. To lose a child at such a young age was just so against God’s law of nature.
    She didn’t know she was crying until her tears splattered on their skin. “That’s why your mom and dad gave her so much attention. They knew their little girl would never grow up. It wasn’t that they didn’t love you, Adam. Ms. Brenda and Mr. Nelson knew they would always have you,” she said quietly.
    He reached up to wipe away her tears only to have more follow. “I know that now,” he said just as quietly.
    Disengaging their fingers, he wrapped his arms around Roxy. Willingly, she settled into his warm embrace. Agreeing to let him have his say about the past was a good thing. She had always only seen things from her perspective. He wasn’t a mean, brutish tormentor. He simply was a helpless, hurting child.
    Silence enveloped them like a cozy comforter. Holding her so close felt so right, he could sit there, lumpy futon and all, and hold her all night. But he knew he should get going. On the walk from the lounge to his place, she mentioned she had a date with her mother in the morning.
    Brushing his lips across her forehead as if it was the most natural thing to do, he said, “I should get going. I know