Rhett broke off, scrubbed a hand over his face. “He never spoke about what happened next, but over time Lou Ellen and I pieced together the facts. He didn’t have an EpiPen—why would he?—and they didn’t carry cell phones. And so she died at the edge of a meadow, right at sunset, choking for breath, in his arms.”
“Oh, Rhett. There are no words.” Her voice dropped to a pained whisper. Her heart fractured at how broken the tragedy had left him. Even all these years later, self-hatred shook his voice. Grief was isolating. While her own family tragedy wasn’t of this magnitude, in some small way she understood why he’d built such an iron-clad protective casing, despite having such a kindhearted nature. “Your poor mom. Your dad. What happened, it wasn’t your fault.”
“But if I’d behaved differently, had better control of my actions, she’d still be here. Doc grew into a different person without her. Mama teased him in ways no one else was allowed. She’d call him a windbag, but then they’d kiss. They touched each other all the time. When I was little, I hated it, thought it was embarrassing if friends were over. But now, I know what they shared was rare and powerful. In my last relationship I tried to force something that wasn’t there. At the time I thought it was because I owed Birdie to keep trying, but now, who knows, maybe the truth was I didn’t want to lose anyone else in my life.”
He held himself so carefully still, as if the alternative was cracking into countless pieces. “Come here.” She opened her arms. “Rest your head a minute.”
He lowered to her chest. “I hear your heartbeat.”
She stroked his hair. Eventually he continued to speak. “After Mama passed, I quit pre-med. Doc went nuclear, tried to bully me into seeing things his way. But I wouldn’t have it. Told him that staying true to myself, becoming a vet, was my way to honor Mama.”
“That’s sweet. What did he say?”
“That I wasn’t his son. So I thanked him for raising me. For providing for me until that point. Then I went out. Got this tattoo and drank myself senseless with Beau down by the river bottoms.”
The dull hurt in his voice made her physically ill. “How could he treat you that way?”
“With hindsight and a decade of maturity, I’d say Dad was wild with grief, but too stubborn to retract his words. After I opened my practice he told me, via Lou Ellen, that he’d never darken the door to my clinic. I sent back word that I wasn’t going to lose sleep over the fact. We’ve never spoken since unless absolutely necessary.”
“Why’s he so angry?
“He’s mad that Mama’s gone, and he can’t be angry at her, so I’m the emotional punching bag. It’s fine. I can take it.” He sighed. “Besides, I’d rather have him pissed off at me than at her memory. Let the old man have that much at least.”
“But it isn’t fair.” Her brain cells misfired at the illogicalness of it all, the sheer waste of a precious family relationship flushed down the toilet. “Any father should be proud to claim you as his own.”
“It’s the way it is.” He shrugged. “Some things never change.”
“But that’s it.” She needed him to feel better, she had to find a way to help fix this, to make him see. “People do change. Look at me falling for Kitty. I’m proof.”
“This is more than getting over a fear of dogs, Pepper.” He didn’t sound angry, more resigned.
“People can change. It’s just easier not to.” Her quiet protest fell on deaf ears. He wasn’t ready to hear it, and that fact had to be okay.
“I can think of lots of other topics I’d rather discuss,” he said dryly. “Like how to best get you naked for starters.” He rose and braced his arms on either side of her. His woodsy smell was as delicious as ever, but had grown familiar, too. A comfort. And if he wanted distraction, she could offer him comfort in kind.
She played up her exasperated huff and was rewarded when the tension around his eyes eased. His gentle exhalation was felt rather than heard, and she purred as the delicious heat from his breath stole up her neck.
“And I like all these little sounds even better.” His mouth curved in a soft, sexy smile. “Hey, I have a confession to make.”
He sounded deadly serious. “Her heart stuttered as the emotional barometer shifted. “What?”
“A few nights after you moved in, I got home late. I’d been sailing with Beau and was wiped. I intended to crawl straight to bed. Didn’t even bother brushing my teeth or turning on a light. And there you were, over that fence, in your room in a pair of tiny pink shorts belting Gloria Gaynor lyrics into a hairbrush, how you would survive.”
“You heard that?” She clapped a hand over her mouth. That might have well been the night she YouTubed the “Twerking for Beginners” workout video. The only silver lining to this situation was absolution. Clear the air.
“This is mortifying, but I have a confession as well.”
She owned up to the towel incident, and his chest lifted with a chuckle. “We’ve been dumber than a bag of rocks. But we’ve grown smarter because now we do this.” He kissed her to the edge of crazy and slid a hand under the back of her skirt.
The trouble was that as Pepper let him deepen the kiss, stroking her tongue against his with a raw-edged hunger, she didn’t feel all that smart. It was like she’d popped the lid off Pandora’s box and all the emotions she’d kept locked away were breaking free. Self-sufficiency and autonomy had sailed her through many a life storm, but the more Rhett dropped his guard and exposed his sensitive underbelly, the more her own vulnerability grew.
She was uncertain where they were headed, but eventually they’d hit a dead end. Because as much as she adored Rhett’s companionship, his gruff humor, that ragged sound tearing from his throat as she worked her hand under his belt and teased her fingers against his hot velvet skin, thick with throbbing veins, this wasn’t real life. It was a summer fling. And soon, she’d have to leave Love Street.
He nipped the edge of her earlobe with a sweet sting that made her cry out. Yes, she’d be leaving, but until that day—she gasped as he drove her back against the headboard—she’d focus on coming. Every other option came with some kind of string. And if they tangled up, it would be hard to break free.
