Behind The Proposal novel Chapter 54

"You've finally realized you love her and Jass?" his grandpa asked gently.

"Yes," he admitted and looked between his mum and Grandpa.

"I wish you'd known that four months ago, sweetheart," his mum put a hand to his cheek and looked into his eyes. "I wish you could've seen what we saw that first night."

"Which was?" Surely it hadn't been that obvious back then?

"Love. From both of you," she smiled. "I've never seen you look at a woman like that. I had almost given up hope."

"Of what?"

"You, and Gabe... You boys have never been serious with women. You see them as a bit of fun, more an object, and a sex toy than a woman to be loved."

"Mum!" Tom hissed, totally stunned by what she'd said, and in front of Grandpa.

"Oh, come on, Tom, you're thirty-seven years old, do you really think any of us would believe you were still a virgin?" she chuckled. "I'd always hoped one day you'd find that one woman that would change all that."

He looked away and closed his eyes, totally stunned. He'd never talked about sex with his mother, apart from the embarrassing birds and bees talk they'd had when he'd been about fourteen. He so did not want to be discussing his sex life with her or Grandpa. "I never treat women like... sex toys," he cringed, barely able to say the words.

"We're not the two blind mice, Thomas," Grandpa argued. "And Sophie -"

Then he turned to them both, angry. "Sophie was never like that."

"But that's exactly how you treated her," Jeni pointed out. "It was just a deal to you."

He sighed heavily, knowing she was right. "I know and I'm angry at myself for everything that happened. But it was more than that. Right from the start."

"Good luck," his mum called out and he paused in the doorway.

"Hopefully, I won't need it."

"Can I do anything for you?" Kim asked, placing a cup of tea in front of Sophie as she sat at the table, thinking about how her life had fallen apart in the past few weeks.

"No," Sophie shook her head despondently. She missed him like crazy. She still loved him, even after everything he'd done. He hadn't even denied it - that he'd used her to get what he wanted. He'd even said he had never loved her. It felt like he'd ripped her heart right out of her chest and left an empty ache in its place. One that she didn't think she'd ever be able to fill.

She'd even lost Tom's family the moment she'd kicked him out of her house. Both Jeni and Dani had called her numerous times in the past four weeks to make sure she was okay, but she knew she couldn't continue to be part of their lives. They were Tom's family, not hers. She didn't really have a family anymore. She'd lost Tom. She wasn't speaking to her parents. She had her sister - or rather cousin. The whole thing made her head spin. The only thing that had helped was a diary and some photos that her dad had sent her that had been her mother's. At least she was getting to know the woman who'd given birth to her. And she wasn't anywhere near as bad as her mum had led her to believe.

Sophie tried to do what she'd always done -put Jasmine first and just keep going. She couldn't afford to let her feelings to get in the way of her responsibility as a mother. Or take it out on Jasmine. The poor kid was hurting probably more than Sophie. She missed her Daddy terribly and couldn't understand why he wasn't there or why he wouldn't come visit her. She cried for him and threw tantrums daily and Sophie was nearing the end of her patience and sanity. She knew that Jasmine would get over it. It was better to have some short term pain now than have years of pain later on when she realised that her Daddy didn't really love her.