ELIJAH
Goddammit.
I slump against the wall after she leaves. She was entirely correct. I did it because I was jealous, and selfish. I did it because I’ve spent the entire day seething over his presence and the way he treated her. That fucking look he gave her when she took a piece of cake nearly ended me. I stayed away from them all night just to keep myself in check.
Ididtry to ruin it. She deserves the things he could give her—a great career and a family—but she also deserves to be with someone she loves, and someone who worships the fucking ground she walks on. That’s not him.
It’s me. Both those things are me. But it would be so fucking selfish to let her take the risk—I know how returning to Oak Bluff, even occasionally, would work out for her—and we’d never have a normal life together otherwise. It might be decades until we’re in the same place.
I head downstairs. I’ll find a way to apologize at the after-party, if I can persuade her to hear me out.
That’s a bigif.
Why would she, after the shit I said to her? After the way I’ve jerked her around?
Betty is in the foyer, drooping with fatigue. She asks me to help her out to the cottage next door. Summoning a civility I barely possess, I tell her I’d be happy to do it.
Betty is hobbling along beside me, gripping my arm for support as we walk along the gravel path. “I shouldn’t have worn these heels,” Betty says. “They’re nothing next to the ones Easton had on, though, are they?”
I wince. Easton looked like a million bucks in those shoes. Especially when her dress was around her waist.
“Right,” I say absently.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you two,” she says. “Well, I do know, to some extent, but Carol keeps telling me it’s complicated. But we spent two full days bored to tears, so I hope you figure things out.”
I glance at her. “Which days?”
“That road trip we took! Carol said you needed time alone, so we went to some hideous golf resort Paul has a timeshare at. I don’t even golf.”
I laugh. Easton would never in a million years believe that my grandmother was doing that tohelpus.
“You do realize,” Betty says, “that she’s as in love with you as you are with her, though, right?”
“Yeah,” I say softly.
She nods, fiddling with her key. “I figured you did. I just wanted to be sure. I can’t believe I ever tried to help her win back that jackass. Try not to be an idiot, okay? You can figure this out.”
My laughter fades, and my answering smile is stiff. “It’s not that simple.”
“I’ll bet it’s a lot more simple than you’re telling yourself it is,” she counters.
It isn’t, though. Easton needs to be kept as far from Oak Bluff as possible, and that’s all there is to it. I’m willing to give up anything for her, and I am. I’m givingherup, when she’s the thing I want most.
I go back to the reception tent, but the table where Easton sat is empty. I find my grandmother, who is wrapping pieces of cake in paper napkins for some reason.
“Have you seen Easton?” I ask.
My grandmother’s gaze rises from her stack of cake slices, her eyes sad for me. “She left, honey. She seemed to be arguing with her boyfriend, and they took off.”
Fuck.
I thought for sure she’d be at the after-party...she’s Kelsey’s maid of honor. Is her absence related to me? Jesus, I hope not.
I was jealous, and yeah, I was trying to make a point—that she shouldn’t be with Thomas, even if it meant being alone—but did I drive her toward him instead?
“He treats her like a child,” I say. “Did you notice that?”
She raises a brow. “He’s not the only one.”
