I reached across the console and took her hand.
“I’m sorry he made you feel that way.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“But being heartbroken doesn’t give you permission to hurt someone else,” I continued. “And it doesn’t mean you get to decide which boundaries matter in my home.”
She nodded.
“I know.”
“You don’t have to prove you’re desirable by making another woman uncomfortable.”
She looked at me.
“What if I don’t know how to feel desirable anymore?”
The question broke my heart a little.
I squeezed her hand.
“Then we start there. We don’t start by testing my husband.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
She laughed weakly and wiped it away.
“That sounds annoyingly reasonable.”
“I’ve had years of practice.”
“Unfortunately, it shows.”
We both smiled.
Then I grew serious.
“Kayla, I need you to understand something. I don’t expect you to recover overnight. I don’t expect you to stop missing Eric because you’ve decided he’s no longer worth your tears. But I do expect you to respect me.”
