Sloane jumped to her feet. “You’re an asshole. You’ve always been an asshole, and I, for one, won’t sit here any longer and pretend you’re not,” she said and walked out.
“Touchy,” Cliff muttered. “Lilly’s a smart girl. I’m not tellingheranything she doesn’t know. Right, Lilly?”
If he expected to win Lilly over with that compliment, it didn’t work. The way her eyebrows slammed together reminded Julian of the girl she’d been the day they first met. “I think you’re an ass, too,” she said, and Julian nearly spewed coffee all over the table when he burst out laughing.
“Sounds like she’s turning out more like her mother than you led me to believe,” Cliff said to Charlotte as Lilly stomped up the stairs.
Charlotte rubbed her temples. “Please stop. You asked for it.”
“I didn’t ask for it! I was just pointing out the obvious.”
Julian spoke up for the first time. “None of this is helpful. It’s time for you to go.”
Slamming his hands down on the table, Cliff came to his feet. “Youdon’t get to tell me that.”
Julian got up, too. Cliff was a significantly taller man, but Julian wasn’t afraid of him. He’d been so angry and on edge since his diagnosis, he was eager to have a target—one with whom he felt justified in totally letting loose. “Not only do I get to tell you that, I’m the one who’s going to show you out.”
“Julian, I’ve got this,” Charlotte said, growing concerned, but Cliff spoke at the same time.
“Like hell! It’s because you couldn’t keep your filthy hands off my wife that I had to fly halfway across the world to save my marriage!”
Julian kept his voice down. He didn’t want to upset Lilly. “A wasted trip, Cliff,” he bit out. “Your marriage is over.”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” Cliff started to come around the table, and Julian was ready for him, but Charlotte jumped up to intervene.
“Stop it—both of you! I was going to let you eat breakfast first,” she said to Cliff. “But if we have to do this now, I guess we have to do it now.”
“We have to do it now,” Cliff echoed. “Tell him you love me. Tell him we’re going to put our marriage back together. Tell him to get lost.”
“I’m not going to do that,” she said. “Because Jules is right. I’m not coming back to you.”
“Why?”he shouted. “I told you Lilly could come live with us. Lord knows we have a big enough house, right? We have the money, too. Think of everything you’ll be able to provide for her.”
“I’ll take care of Lilly just fine on my own,” she said. “I’m finished, Cliff. I don’t love you anymore. I want to be with Julian.”
Stunned, Cliff gaped at her. That declaration, and the resolution in her voice, had shocked him. Julian looked shocked, too. He’d been fooling himself, he realized, trying to believeCharlotte wasn’t counting on too much from him. And now, in this moment, he couldn’t avoid the truth. He’d fallen in love with her just like he’d been afraid he would. And she’d fallen in love with him.
But if hereallyloved her, he couldn’t foist what was in his future onto her. That would make him even worse than Cliff!
Cliff looked between them. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll leave. But I’ll bet you a million bucks you call me back tomorrow,” he said and snatched his bag before shouldering past Julian.
Seeing him go worked like a cup of cold water in Julian’s face. What had he just done? “Whoa, wait.” He started to follow as the gate clanged shut, but Cliff didn’t turn around.
Julian looked blankly at Charlotte. “I think... I think he and Ibothneed to leave.”
Charlotte blinked at him. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’msosorry. I hope one day you’ll be able to forgive me.”
“Stop it!” Charlotte said. “I know, okay? I know about the Parkinson’s!”
He wanted to ask her how, and why she would still be getting involved with him if she knew, but he couldn’t bear the answers. “Then you don’t know what you’re doing,” he said simply and quickly packed his things before pushing past all three women when he left.
Ten minutes later, Sloane sat on the deck with Charlotte—Lilly was on Charlotte’s other side—trying to console her. “Give him some time, Char. He’ll come around.” She was talking about her brother, but she wasn’t entirely convinced what she said was true. Julian was the most stubborn individual she’d ever known, especially when he believed he was in the right. The fact that they knew about his diagnosis when he hadn’t thought they did only seemed to galvanize him.
Charlotte had been staring out to sea almost since he left. When Sloane spoke, she wiped the tears from her face but said nothing in reply. She’d tried to convince Jules to stay—they all had—but he kept saying there was no way he’d ever allow her to throw her life away on him. And since he’d already called an Uber, they couldn’t stop him from leaving.
After shaking them both off, he’d waved goodbye to Lilly, who’d been standing in the background crying by that time, too, and drove away.
