Maybe I’m infatuated with Rupert now, absolutely head over heels for him, but what about in six months from now? A year? A few years? I’ll grow tired of never getting to go out to dinner, or to see a movie, or to do anything that normal people do together. I would never get to live a true life with him.
A coldness washes over me, considering the idea that Rupert and I can’t work out long term. That what we have here, while wonderful, might not be forever.
Maybe he’s right. Maybe it’s for the best that he doesn’t meet Stella.
And maybe I should start looking for that apartment.
It’s Saturday morning, so I skip my usual cleaning routine and throw together a breakfast of biscuits and gravy. I breeze past Kellen on my way out.
“Can’t wait to meet Ignacio later,” I tell him, waving. Finding out he has a boyfriend was unsurprising, but it’s also exciting they’ve made it official.
“You aren’t taking your car, are you?” Kellen stops me with a frown.
“Well, I was going to, because?—”
He sighs. “We should really get you a new vehicle, Ms. Austin.”
I roll my eyes as he fishes out his keys and shoves them into my hand. “Do you want those cookies I’ve been getting you again?”
This earns the slightest smile from Kellen. “I would like that very much.”
Then I’m off, trying not to think about my realization from last night or imagine how Rupert would react if I told him how I feel. Would he fire me if I said I couldn’t have a relationship with him anymore?
I know that he has a temper, and he would certainly not handle it well.
My chest feels tight, too small for my ribs. I don’t want that. I don’t want to do that to him or to me. I’m sure now that I love him.
Too muddled to think about anything but chores, I head into town, going onward to Penn Rock so I can pick up the blue crab I’ve been dreaming about. I’m going to throw together basil crab cakes with a gremolata on top as anappetizer. I think someone with Stella’s palate will appreciate it.
When I pull into the lot and get out of my car, the hair prickles on the back of my neck, as if a frigid breeze has blown past. It’s getting chillier lately, and even the peacoat Rupert gave me isn’t quite enough to stave off the cold.
Inside the store is better, though, and I get lost in choosing my ingredients. I wonder what sort of food Ignacio likes? I forgot to ask, so I try to come up with something Kellen’s new boyfriend—or whatever he is—might like: a pasta Bolognese. That should be a good spread, and I’ll throw in a side of white asparagus with cream sauce. I decide to finish off the meal with pineapple upside-down cake.
This will be some of my best work yet. But when I remember Rupert won't enjoy it with us, I'm immediately deflated.
Then it’s time to head back so I have enough hours ahead of me to prepare. After I finish paying, I exit the store with a heaviness in my step, knowing what awaits me back at the manor.
I can’t hold off on telling Rupert what I’ve decided. I need to rip the bandage off sooner rather than later, before we get even more attached to one another. I can’t live a life sequestered in his rooms like he does. We’re too incompatible, as strongly as we feel about one another.
As I make my way to the far end of the asphalt lot, where I parked Kellen’s car so no one would bump or scratch it, I spot a familiar head of blond hair. It’s moving toward me quickly.
Then I see him, with his beard grown out and his hair an unkempt mess, his eyes flashing with pure fury.
Andy.
I turn around on instinct and run, but he’s on top of mebefore I can get more than a few steps. He tackles me to the cement, and I try to scream, but he slaps a hand over my mouth, muffling me. My head swims from the blow, and all I can manage is a whimper. It’s early in the day, and there’s no one else around to witness it as Andy hauls me to my feet, then drags me back to an ancient blue truck I’ve never seen before. I shout some more against his hand as he opens the door and flings me inside, then grabs my face roughly.
“Scream one more time and I fucking end you,” he says in a low, dangerous voice. I realize once he moves his hand down to his hip that he has a gun in his pocket, and I go quiet. The last thing I want is a bullet through my brain, and with the deranged way Andy looks now, I don’t doubt that he’d do it.
He snatches a roll of duct tape and wraps it around my head, covering my mouth twice before he repeats it with my wrists, until I’m completely bound up. Then he slams the truck door.
“Thought you could get away, didn’t you?” Andy has a wicked glint in his eye. “But I found you, honey.”
twenty-six
. . .
rupert
