“I’m going,” she said.
It was dead true, what he’d told her earlier. She put distance between them at every opportunity.
She scooped up the wooden box and let herself out. A few steps onto the porch, she stopped and looked back. “It sucks, the things we found out about Alexis just now. You have every right to be upset. Once, someone I thought was good turned out to be bad—”
“Who? What happened?”
“My advice is to experience the feelings,” she went on as if she hadn’t heard his questions. “Sit with them and let them settle.”
He watched her go.
Hedidfeel upset. About Alexis, yes.
But more so about Remy.
ChapterTwelve
“Hey Siri,” Fiona said the following day in the direction of her dashboard. Smoothly, she steered her Aston Martin SUV along the country road leading to her house as sunset painted the sky with shades of pink and blue. “Send a text message to Jude Camden.”
“What would you like to say?” Siri prompted.
“Badmouth your father to your brother all you want but be sure to convince Jeremiah that I am stellar.” Jude was such a straight arrow that she knew he wouldn’t badmouth Felix to Jeremiah. He’d tell Jeremiah the truth about his father. Problem was, he’d tell his brother the truth about her, too, which left her on edge. No one knew your faults as well as your closest family members. And she really, really needed her oldest child to reestablish contact with her.
As soon as she’d realized that Jeremiah had not returned to civilization when he was scheduled to do so, fear had erupted inside her like lava—neon red and seething. She’d told herself that he was fine, a grown man in his thirties who was entitled to extend his vacation if he wanted. If only she’d learned how tobelievethe healthy things she told herself to believe. Instead, she’d slept little and popped some anti-anxiety pills to get by until the hospital had called to say that Jeremiah had resurfaced. But then she’d arrived in his hospital room and her son did not remember her. Her! The person who’d given him life. He also didn’t appear to trust her or like her. He’d gone so far as tokick her out. Since then, he hadn't contacted her, so the lava remained stubbornly in the pit of her stomach. No longer erupting, but definitely bubbling.
How much longer was this going to go on? Both his ban of her and his amnesia?
Patience had never been her strong suit.
And now she also had her epiphany regarding the eclipse and Isobel to deal with. For thirty-five years, she had not reached out to Isobel. Not once. Partly because of her pride, partly because of her guilt. But as the days had passed since reading the article about the eclipse, she’d grown more certain that the time had come to break the stalemate. As the party who’d wronged the other, she, of course, must be the one to act, to extend a humble olive branch, to apologize.
Writing a letter seemed best. So now it was just a matter of gathering her courage and making it happen.
Two turns later, Siri read Jude’s reply text aloud.You’re stellar?
Children. So foolishly slow to appreciate their parents’ merits.
As she slowed to turn onto her drive, she saw a bike propped on its kickstand near her entrance. A fit man with pale gray hair and a pale gray beard leaned against the stone wall that housed her gate, arms crossed.
A loitering stranger was the very last thing she needed on this Monday evening. What to do? Opening her gate would grant him access, which she did not want. However, she was on her way home after a long day of work. Hesitating outside her own property? Also something she did not want.
She came to a stop and, with a pang of comprehension, realized that this was not a stranger. This was Burke Ainsley. It had been three or four years since she’d seen him. The beard was new and his hair was more silver than she remembered. He’d dressed in a long-sleeved gray exercise shirt pushed up at the forearms and lightweight hiking pants. God bless him for having the sense not to wear biker shorts, which were, to her way of thinking, nothing more than elongated Speedos.
She tapped a button and her window zipped down. “Are you a stalker or are you Burke Ainsley? Please confirm so I’ll know how to proceed.”
A smile etched lines and warmth into his tanned face. “Do you want me to be a stalker, or do you want me to be Burke Ainsley?” He walked up to her car. “Your answer will help me know how to proceed.”
“I’d prefer for you to be Burke Ainsley.”
“Lucky for me, that’s who I am. Do you want me to present my driver’s license?”
“That won’t be necessary. I recognize your irreverence.”
He chuckled. “I was out for a ride and this stretch of road started to look familiar. I remembered coming to that dinner party you hosted years ago. I needed to stop for a minute and hydrate anyway, so I rang the bell.”
“I’m glad I caught you. Would you like to hydrate up at the house?”
“I would.”
