Marina gripped the cool steel within her hand. Her heart beat faster and faster as she tried to silently rehearse the words she'd use to tell Shayne the truth, or at least a version of it. The ever so slight vibration of her phone gave her a brief reprieve from her own thoughts and her eyes quickly scanned the document as it slowly appeared on her screen. She had to hope this would be enough to convince him that the story she was about to tell was true, that Dinah and Mallet were together and happy and living a life she didn't need or want to be saved from.
She held her breath as she pulled the door open and prepared for what she might find.
Shayne's head turned towards the sound of the door opening. "I thought you might've left," he said, his voice calmer, but still filled with a coldness she hadn't heard before.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay," she sighed, relishing the rare moments of honesty she could actually provide. "I never wanted to upset you. I know that you think that I was trying to keep things from you and I-"
"Marina. I know what I heard. I heard her voice and if she's there with him, I know you know that and I know you've known that, so just tell me the truth. You keep telling me you want me to be okay. You keep saying you want me to be able to move on. Don't you think I need to know the truth in order to do that?"
She swallowed hard as she gripped the phone in her hand. "You're right," she said softly. "I did know that Dinah was with Mallet, but I don't know where they are exactly. I swear to you, I don't. He hasn't told me anything too specific. It's better that way, for all of us. The only reason I've even been talking to him is because I promised him that I'd keep him updated on Henry and everything that's been going on and then lately …" She stopped, feeling her heartbeat increasing again. "Lately I've been so worried about you that I've been asking him about maybe coming back to town … about them coming back."
The flash of hope in his eyes made her stomach lurch. She knew that Mallet was right. There was nothing good that would come from Shayne knowing the whole truth. He'd look for her. He'd never give up, and his family would never give up on finding him which meant all of them would suffer.
"Marina." The calmness that had been present in him mere moments ago seemed to vanish before her eyes. "Did he say they'd come back? Did you tell him that you could try to help with the legal stuff or maybe I could go to them. She wouldn't have to come back here. I could …" His legs swung off the edge of the bed, his entire being poised to go to her, just as she knew he would be.
"Shayne." She touched his arm gently. "There's something you should know."
The serious expression now on her face sent a wave of dread through him. "What? What is it, Marina? She's okay though, right? If Mallet's with her, he's keeping her safe. He wouldn't let anything happen to her, would he?" He was on his feet before she could stop him, his frenetic pacing resuming almost involuntarily. "What am I saying?" he muttered. "Mallet couldn't keep Henry safe. He couldn't protect Dinah when they were married. Why would I think he could keep her safe now? I have to find her. I have to help her."
"Shayne, it's not that. Dinah's fine. She's not in any danger. Mallet's taking care of her. He'll keep her safe. I know that you don't think much of him, but he'll do anything to protect the people he loves and he loves Dinah. He always has. He always will. He gave up everything to go be with her, to take care of her, to make sure that she'd be okay. You don't need to worry about her. She's good. She's happy. They both are." Her hand trembled as she held out her phone towards him.
"What is that?" His voice was somber as he took the phone in his hand.
Everything in her wanted to stop at that moment, to run from the room, and forget everything, to let the chips fall where they may and … But then she remembered her little boy, the same little boy whose face lit up when he saw his father, the little boy that had cried for so many nights after Mallet had gone, his heart broken, but his mind too young to understand the situation.
"Dinah and Mallet are together, Shayne. That's why I didn't want to tell you she was with him. I know you wanted to find her. I know you wanted to know that she was okay, but I thought it would be even worse to know that she's okay without you. She and Mallet have a life together. They've created new identities. They have a home." She drew in a deep breath. "They're married, and if you look at that." She pointed at the phone that was still gripped in his hand. "That's the marriage license."
"That's … It's not their names … This could be anybody's document. I …" He shook his head, his mind refusing to process the words she'd said.
"Look at the signature, Shayne. That's her handwriting. You know that."
She watched as a mix of pain and resignation flashed in his eyes. "Even if it is," he managed, the deep baritone cadence of his voice breaking slightly, "That doesn't mean that any of this is real. They're doing what they have to do there. They would have to lie about a lot of things to fly under the radar, so this is probably just …"
"Shayne. I talked to him and her. She wanted me to tell you that she's happy and that Mallet is taking really good care of her. She wanted me to tell you that she's where she wants to be and that the best thing you can do for her is to be happy here and be a good father to Henry. That's what she's always wanted for you."
The internal battle was waging. That much was obvious. His face contorted as his mind jumped between acceptance and denial. "You know, Dinah helped bring Henry back here. She found him and I think that's how it was supposed to be. She wants to know that he's being taken care of. She wants to know that he's got a good, loving father here. You've told me before how important it was to her that you have a chance to be a part of Henry's life. You have that chance now. You can be the father Henry needs, the father you've always wanted to be, but to do that, you're going to have to be willing to let Dinah go. You're going to have to do what's best for Henry."
He was quiet for a moment as his eyes stared down at the image on the phone. Slowly, he placed it on the bed and reached for his jacket that now lay across the back of the chair. "I hear you," he said quietly. "I'm ready to get out of here. I've always hated hospitals. Maybe we can grab something to eat to take back to your place and I can put Henry to bed."
She felt the air leave her body in a long sigh of relief. Her son would have his father after all.
"Come on." He sat down at the table before reaching out to take her hand. "Just try a little bit. You've barely eaten anything all day."
"Maybe later, okay?" Her eyes met his briefly, the light within them now gone.
"You've been saying that for the last couple hours. It is later." He tried to smile as he ducked his head to meet her gaze and lightly pushed the bowl of soup towards her. "So come on, a deal's a deal."
"I said later," she snapped, her hand slapping the bowl and sloshing the hot liquid across the table.
He stood quickly, returning with a towel and wordlessly wiping up the broth.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You're allowed to be angry with me, you know? You don't have to keep letting me be like this and just say nothing. I know that your life has been ruined too and …" She watched as he lowered himself into his chair, the look on his face every bit as pained as if she'd slapped him across the face. "I mean," she stuttered. "Not ruined … just …" The tears began to flow again and she felt hopeless to stop them.
"Hey." His arms were around her in seconds and he felt her entire body shake with sobs she seemingly couldn't control. "I'm not angry with you. I know that this has to be 10,000 times harder for you than it is for me, so you're allowed to feel however you feel."
"Not with you." She shook her head as she leaned against his chest. "You're doing everything you can to help me and I feel like all I've done is complain and make you feel like I think my life is horrible and I don't think that. That's not how I feel."
"I know that." He pulled away a bit, forcing her to look at him. His fingertips lightly brushed the tears off her cheeks before pushing the hair away from her face. "This is hard. It's hard to leave things behind. It's hard to leave people behind, but we've got a lot to look forward to, right?"
She smiled as she felt his hand gently rest on her belly.
"I know I'm not this little one's father, but that doesn't mean that I won't love him or her just as much as if I were, and as for you …" He smiled, as he let his hand rest against her cheek.
"I feel the same way," she managed. "And I appreciate everything that you're doing here. I know that you'll be an amazing father and I'm so grateful to be here with you. I love you. You have always been willing to do whatever it took to make me happy and I just want you to be happy too."
"I am happy, Dinah. I'm happy to be here with you and this baby and I know that it's not perfect but I promise I'll make it as close to perfect as I can."
She closed her eyes and let him hold her tight.