Andie jumped to her feet. “Listen, I think we all know that this isn’t really about us. It’s about Richard, Ava, and Maverick.” She spun to look Richard in the eye. “And since you insist on doing everything on the planetexcepttalk things out with Ava—”
“She hasn’t reached out to me either,” Richard inserted.
“I suggest you at least work things out with theonlyother person this concerns.” Andie shot a look at Maverick before setting her gaze back on him.
“You know,” Emmitt said as he came to a stand. “I liked you a lot better when Ava was here. I should have known she was the reason you were so different. Now you’re back to your ornery, bossy—"
“Controlling,”hissed Maverick.
“Andie has a good point,” Memphis blurted. “This doesn’t really involve us. So let’s get lost and let Maverick and Richard hash this out.”
Trenton waved Richard over as the rest of the group made their way to the door. “Hey,” he said under his breath. “You know that if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be fixing to get on one knee for Andie. In fact, I’d have likely lost her forever.” Trenton shook off a shiver before continuing.
“When you and I talked in the pub that day, you taught me that sometimes people have very good reasons for covering the truth. I don’t think that’s a motto that should make it onto a mug anytime soon, but itistrue. And I think you owe it to Avaandyourself to find out just why she would keep something like that from you.”
Shards of desperation pierced the layers he’d put up to protect himself. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought of calling her a million times. Or going straight out to her hotel to speak to her in person.
But he hadn’t actually done either of those things. Instead, he’d kept an eye on her location through a tracking app on his phone. An app they’d each downloaded a few weeks back so they could see one another’s whereabouts. At the time, it’d been a silly indulgence; they were never far from one another. But it was fun to see the dots—his and hers—come closer and closer as they met up in the night.
Now that they were apart, he used it to assure himself that she was safe and sound at The Corner Hotel in town. He knew she’d walked to Jack’s Hardwareonce, thePub and Grilltwice,andto Lee’s Marketthree times since she’d left. She’d gone on walks along the boardwalk each morning and each afternoon too. Once, she went later, when twilight came. It took everything in Richard to refrain from texting her and telling her to turn back around; it would be dark soon and it wasn’t safe. Instead, he’d driven right into town and curbed the adjacent side of the boardwalk until she was safely home.
He’d expected to fight off the urge to follow her up to her hotel and hash it out. Or to be waiting on the bench for her as she passed by and beg her for answers. But that urge hadn’t even come. How could it when he was terrified of what those answers might be?
But now curiosity was taking the lead. Not the pleasant sort that fanned at the fun behind a good mystery. This was more of a frenzied ache, a desperation to hear why in heaven’s name she’d hide this part of her life. Even still, he wasn’t sure he could take hearing the truth. It was like voluntarily walking beneath a dangling wrecking ball, pulling the lever, and waiting to get obliterated.
But it was possible that Trenton was right. Perhaps she had a good reason for hiding her past from him. And how much could she love this guy if she didn’t care that he was out of her life?
But maybe she did care. Maybe she was sick about having a life without him. Sick enough to force a relationship with the guy who showed the most interest in her.
“Trenton, you coming?” Emmitt hollered from beyond the cabin door.
“Just a minute,” Trenton replied.
The interaction made Richard realize that Trenton was still waiting for a reply. He’d given him something to think about. Perhaps she had a good reason to hide the truth. And perhaps heshouldgive her a chance to explain. If she cared to. “Thanks, man,” he finally said with a nod. “I’m considering it.”
“That-a-guy.” Trenton gave him a side hug while cupping hands with him. “And hey,” Trenton added under his breath as he leaned in. “Next Friday’s gonna be the day.”
He could tell by the shift in his tone just what Trenton was referring to. “Awesome,” Richard said, relieved that the birthday debacle hadn’t delayed the proposal for long. “Hey, I really am sorry that—”
“No apology necessary,” Trenton assured. “I think it’ll actually be better this way, to do it during one of the big get-togethers.”
“True,” Richard said with a nod. “Good luck, man. I’m sure it’ll go great.”
Was it foolish to imagine that he and Ava could have made up by then?Yes,he assured himself. That wouldn’t happen unless Ava told him that Wren wasn’t her boyfriend after all. But if that were the case, wouldn’t she have said so when Maverick confronted her?
Which reminded him…
The others had already cleared out of the cabin, leaving Richard alone with Maverick at last.
“So, you still haven’t talked to her?” Maverick asked from his bed. It’d been lifted to a forty-five degree angle. Not sitting up exactly, but not lying down either.
“Nope,” Richard said, taking a seat on the edge of the nearby recliner. “I hear you’re moving into Trenton’s place tomorrow.”
Maverick shrugged. “Sick of missing out on everything. No one wants to hang out in this tiny thing. Besides, Memphis is moving in there too. We can’t hog up all the cabins.”
Richard ran his eyes along his wild younger brother, recalling the latest update from Dr. Freemon. “Sounds like the jewels are still intact. Doc says you’ll be fully functioning once you recover, so that’s good.”
“Very,” Maverick agreed. “Some guys aren’t so lucky.”
