“I was scared,” Roan admitted.“I knew there was a chance you would find out what I had done, and I didn’t want it to come to light.It was purely selfish of me,” he admitted with a grimace.“I was worried about what it would do to the tavern, too, although those fears seem to be completely unfounded.”
“I told you it wouldn’t hurt it,” Nathaniel muttered.“You didn’t want to listen.”
“No,” Roan admitted.“I never wanted to listen to you.You were Mother’s favorite, and Father had left the tavern to me, and I thought that I should be the one who had all the answers when it came to the tavern.And I’m sorry that I allowed that to poison our relationship as brothers.”
Nathaniel looked skeptical.“That’s, what, the fourth apology you’ve made in as many minutes?”he asked.“What happened to my real brother?”
Roan and Abigail looked at each other, and a world of meaning passed between them in that moment.
“I don’t know that you would believe me if I told you,” Roan said, turning back to his brother.“But I wanted to ask if you would be willing to come over for dinner.Abigail and I would love to talk to you.And you, too,” he said, turning to Thea.“If you want to join us.I know there’s nothing I can do, but I would love to try to make it up to you both.”
Thea turned to Nathaniel.She would go, if he would.
It would take time to process the fact that he hadn’t stopped writing to her.He had proven over and over in the past years, since she’d arrived in the Northlands, that he was willing to do whatever it took to win her back—and if their separation hadn’t been his doing in the first place, the least she could do was go to dinner with his brother and hear him out.
“I…I suppose that could be arranged,” Nathaniel said with a sigh.“Now hand over that bag and get out of here.You’re holding up the line.”
Thea blinked and looked around Roan and Abigail to see a line three people deep.
Abigail let out a small laugh.“I think I need to try one of these muffins I’ve heard so much about,” she said.“May I try your blueberry?”
“Blueberries.My favorite,” Thea said with a smile as she reached into the case to get one out.
Roan reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins, and Thea waved him away.
“It’s on the house,” she said.
Nathaniel turned to her and frowned.“The least he can do is pay for a muffin,” he announced, reaching over to swipe the coins out of his brother’s hands.
Thea and Abigail laughed together and waved as Roan and Abigail turned to leave, Abigail’s muffin in hand.
“We need to talk,” Nat said, looking down at her seriously.
“I know,” she said.“Let’s help these customers first.”
Because customers couldn’t wait, even if everything else in her world had just turned upside down.
Chapter eight
Nat
Thedoorclosedbehindhis brother, and Nathaniel let out a sigh of relief once they were gone.
Roan had taken his letters.
In his wildest dreams, he never could’ve imagined that Roan would do such a thing.
If he had suspected, he might have gone searching for the letters, because clearly there were more in the bag than the ones he’d written, which meant Thea had written to him.And she had written a lot, despite never receiving an answer.
Bitterness rolled in his gut as he watched Thea’s face for a hint of what she was feeling.She wouldn’t look at him, turning away to help a customer as she wrestled with whatever feelings she had.
It was nearly an hour before they were able to stop working.
“You need an assistant,” Nathaniel said, leaning against the counter and taking a deep breath.“I can’t imagine how you’ve been handling all of this on your own for so long.”
“It has gotten busy,” Thea admitted, leaning against the wall across from him, almost avoiding his gaze.
“We need to talk about it,” he said softly.
