“You’re in love with her,” I said quietly.
Henry froze, and I didn’t let him deflect.
“That’s why you never settled down. You never dated anyone seriously after you started work for my dad. You blamed the demands of the job, but that’s not it. It’s because Lucia’s been it for you since… what? Since Dad hired you? Since she started bringing you coffee when you pulled all-nighters watching over me in the hospital?”
His jaw flexed. For a long moment, he didn’t speak.
Then, he sighed.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It does,” I said. “It matters a hell of a lot. She matters. You matter.”
He looked away, throat working, refusing to rise to the bait.
“I’m not blind, Henry. I’ve watched you watch her for years. The way you light up when she walks into a room. The way you step in front of any threat — real or imagined — before it gets within ten feet of her.”
He exhaled slowly.
“She’s married, Ben.”
“She’s leaving him,” I countered. “And even if she wasn’t, that wouldn’t change how you feel.”
Silence stretched between us. Finally, he met my eyes.
“You’re a perceptive little shit when you’re not drowning in your own mess.”
I gave a humorless smile.
“Takes one to know one.”
He shook his head, but some of the tension eased from his shoulders.
“She’s family,” he said gruffly. “That’s all.”
“Bullshit,” I said softly. “But okay. We’ll table it… for now.”
He didn’t argue. We stepped out into the cold.
“The lodge—” I started.
“I’ll have the skeleton crew lock up, then head over to Ashgrove House to get it ready for you,” he said. “Everyone else gets sent home with pay until we see how the situations with Vivian and Lucia’s husband shake out. No one stays here alone while this is going on.”
I nodded.
“Good. The fewer people around if things go sideways, the better.”
I glanced back toward the east wing study one last time. The drawer was closed. The letters were waiting. If Chrissy came looking — if Henry managed to get one of the skeleton crew members to get that key to her — maybe she’d find them.
If not… at least I’d gotten what I needed to say off my chest.
I turned away and followed Henry out into the cold.
Lucia needed us now, and for the first time in days, I had something to do besides bleed, and regret all my life choices.
I wasn’t okay, not even close, but I was moving, and that was a start.
Chapter
