My husband was in love with me.
I’d never been more certain of anything until today.
Jared was in love with me … and maybe last night he finally realized that. And it scared the shit out of him and then my parents said something and it just all got twisted up in his head, and he thought he had to offer me a way out?
Jared might come across as this solid, stalwart Scot who didn’t need anything but his farm … but Jared’s heart had been broken before most of us even knew a heart could be broken.
I must scare the absolute shit out of him.
Staring up at my parents’ vacation home, the pull to turn around and drive back to my husband was intense. But first I needed all the information. I needed to know what my parents had said to make him think I might not want him for much longer.
The door to the house opened just as I got out of the Wrangler. Aria stood there, arms crossed, as I hurried up the porch steps. “I thought you weren’t coming.” Her eyes narrowed. “You’ve been crying.”
“I need to talk to Mamma and Dad.”
“Okay. What’s going on?” Aria pushed open the door, stepping aside to let me in.
Instead of answering, I stormed past her, through the spacious hall and into the open-plan kitchen-living room that faced toward the sea.
My parents were seated at the dining table with North.
Great. I didn’t exactly want an audience for this, but I wasn’t stopping for pleasantries.
“What did you say to Jared last night?” I demanded.
Dad’s expression tightened as he shot a look at Mamma. So she was the culprit, huh? Not surprising. I focused on her. Mamma took a sip of wine with an insouciant European shrug, and I wanted to empty the contents of her glass all over her. “What did you say?” I yelled.
“Allegra.” Aria came to stand beside me. “Calm down.”
“If Mamma came between you and North, would you calm down?”
My sister shot Mamma a horrified look. “Mamma, you didn’t?”
In answer, my mother released her wineglass and stood up, but only to brace her palms on the table. She pinned me with her dark stare. “You are a spoiled child playing house, and that man needed to know who and what you are before you ruined him.”
It was even worse than I’d thought.
“Mamma!” Aria snapped. “That’s completely unfair!”
Tears burned in my eyes.
“Is it? She put us through hell as a teenager, and she lives a life as a vagabond with no clear focus, from what I can see. Your sister had opportunities others would die for. She could have been a model or an actress. Instead, she marries a man so she can stay in a country just because she is afraid to be far from her big sister.”
“Chiara,” my dad bit out. “Stop.”
“We all know Allegra has been impulsive in the past.” Aria’s words made me flinch, my gaze zeroing in on my father who appeared suddenly winded by my look of betrayal. “But she is a successful artist now and not flitting around like a vagabond. And I do believe she and Jared are making a real go of their marriage. Even if they aren’t, she’s an adult, and it’s none of our goddamn business. Mamma, you had no right to interfere.”
Mamma and Aria argued back and forth, and I barely heard the words because I was watching my father. He wore a strange look as he stared back.
Then abruptly, Dad stood. “I need to tell you something.” His voice was loud enough to cut through the arguing. Mamma and Aria instantly shut up.
“Wes?” Mamma frowned.
He shook his head at her. And I suddenly recognized the emotion on his face.
Shame.
“Jared was right last night. We’ve been gaslighting our own child.”
