The sun was setting by the time I ended up at the creek—because of course I did. It's where I always went when the world got too heavy. I'd grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the tack room—Dad's good stuff that he thought he'd hidden well enough—and settled on the flat rock that jutted out over the water.
Boots off, jeans rolled up, feet in the water that was still cold despite the warm day. The whiskey burned pleasant and familiar, and I tried not to think about how many times Ivy and I had sat on this same rock, planning a future that had turned to ash.
"Figured I'd find you here."
I didn't jump. Liam had always moved quiet as a ghost, even before his Texas Ranger training had made him professionally sneaky.
"Go away."
Instead, he settled beside me, stealing the whiskey bottle and taking a healthy pull. "That was something, wasn't it?"
"What?"
"Her presentation. Come on, Wyatt. Even you have to admit that was impressive as hell."
I grunted, taking the bottle back.
"Forty percent increase in profits," Liam continued. "Without losing our heritage lines. That's not just good, that's revolutionary."
"She learned from the best," I muttered before I could stop myself. "Dad taught her everything about bloodlines when we were kids."
"And she took that knowledge and built something more. Built herself into one of the best in the business." He paused, studying me. "That has to count for something."
"Does it? She still left when she could have done that from here. Could have built that expertise right here at Blackwood, with me." I shook my head. "Something drove her away, and we both know that something was me.”
"Her old man was a mean drunk," Liam said slowly.
"Yeah, he was.” I thought about those last weeks before she left. The bruises she'd explained away. The way she'd flinched when her father's truck pulled up. The careful distance she'd kept between us and her house.
"I think an eighteen-year-old girl might make desperate choices if she were scared enough. And she was scared, Wyatt. Terrified when I caught her in your room that night. That kind of fear doesn’t just spring up from nowhere.”
I always suspected, but when I’d ask, she’d tell me that everything was fine. I shouldn’t have listened. I wrung my hand around the bottle, wishing it were Art Garrison’s neck. “She could have told me.Shouldhave told me. I would have protected her."
Liam scoffed. ”How? By beating the hell out of him? Getting arrested? Throwing away your future?" He took the bottle back. "Maybeshewas protectingyou."
"That wasn't her choice to make."
"No," he agreed. "It wasn't. But scared kids don't always make the best choices."
We sat in silence for a while, passing the bottle back and forth, watching the moon rise over the water. I wanted to reject what he was suggesting, wanted to hold onto my anger because it was easier than considering alternatives. That Ivy had kept her abuse hidden from me for years. But doubt crept in like water through cracks.
"She was terrified of him," I admitted quietly. "Her dad. I saw it, but I didn't... I thought I could fix it. Thought if we just got married, got her away from him, it would be okay."
"Maybe she thought differently. Maybe she thought he'd come after you. Or her mom. Or that you'd do something that couldn't be undone."
"So she ran? That was her solution?” I couldn’t hide the pain in my voice. Not after interacting with her again today. Not with Liam.
"I don't know, brother. I'm just saying maybe there's more to the story than you know."
I thought about her standing at our table today, brilliant and professional and completely in control. She'd built herself into something formidable. But underneath all that polish, when she'd looked at me, I'd seen something that might have been regret. Or guilt. Or maybe I was just seeing what I wanted to see.
"Doesn't matter," I said finally. "What's done is done."
"Is it? She's here now."
"For the job. She'll finish her contract and go back to Dallas and her fancy life."
"Maybe. Or maybe this is a chance for both of you to get some closure. To finally have the conversation you should have had years ago."
