Thea let out a groan.She hadn’t planned on revealing that much to Eugenia.
“I don’t want everyone in town to know,” she said, her voice almost pleading.“I don’t need it getting back to Roan.”
Even though Roan had apologized…she didn’t want to cause any more issues.
“I won’t say anything,” Eugenia said with a sigh, patting the back of Thea’s hand.“I am capable of occasionally not saying anything, you know.”
“Are you?”Thea teased.“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you keep a secret since I came.”
“You have no idea how many are trapped in this old noggin,” Eugenia said, tapping her finger against the side of her head.“There are many things that I don’t share with the town.Of course, there are many things that I do,” she added with an impish grin.“So perhaps it’s best to not believe me.”
Thea laughed, and they both stood as the door opened and another customer walked in.
“Thank you,” Thea said, impulsively leaning over to give the old woman a hug.“It means a lot to me.”
“I know,” Eugenia said with an airy smile.“That’s why I came.”
“Thea,” someone called, and Thea laughed as she made her way back behind the counter to serve her next customer.
If Eugenia was taking the time to tell her this…perhaps it was another sign that she should give into her feelings for Nathaniel.
She watched pensively as Eugenia left, heading back to the library where she should have been all along.
Maybe it was time to take her place where she should have been all along, too—with Nathaniel.
Chapter twelve
Nat
Natsatontheside of the river, his feet in the cool water.
It had been a while since he’d been out here.It wasn’t pleasant in the winter, but whenever he needed to think, this was his favorite place to do so.It had always been his place, where he hid away when the world was too much—when he grew tired of pretending that everything was fine.
Things with Thea were changing so rapidly, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of them.And even stranger than that was the fact that Roan had apologized, when he’d never known Roan to apologize in his entire life.
He’d spent all his time with their father, who had never apologized, either—for anything.
Nathaniel watched the breeze blowing through the tall grass and took a deep breath of the scent of the water.
It smelled like his childhood.
Everything else might have changed, but the river was still the same, and that was peaceful in and of itself.
He was so engrossed in watching the running water that it surprised him when someone sat down beside him.He looked up to see Roan, and his heart sank.How had his brother found him?This had always been his sacred space.He didn’t want his brother to know where it was.
But then a voice whispered that if Roan had changed enough to apologize, perhaps it wasn’t the end of the world that he had found Nathaniel’s hiding spot.
The brothers sat in quiet for a few minutes before Roan cleared his throat.
“I’m sure you have questions,” he said, taking his boots off and putting his feet into the river.
“Only a few,” Nat said with a chuckle.
Roan waited.
The birds chirped and the water rushed by, and Nathaniel took a deep breath.
“Why did you hate me when we were growing up?”he asked, turning his full attention to his older brother.
