“No?Then whatisthe truth, Ian?”For years, she’d wondered when he’d decided to erase her.Had it been before he left Magdalena or as soon as he–
“My father gave me an ultimatum.”
“Let me guess.Somehow, your father found out we were seeing each other and demanded you break it off, or risk losing your inheritance.”She hadn’t considered his father’s potential involvement, but…
“If only it had been that.”
“Oh?So, you weren’t in jeopardy of losing all that money?What was it then?You realized you preferred the upscale designer life and wanted to forget what happened here?”Forget us?
He stared at her, his gaze burrowing straight to her soul.“Not quite.”
There was something he wasn’t telling her, and if it wasn’t about money or women, then what was it?“Can you just tell me the truth?Please?”
He didn’t speak for a few seconds, and when he did, the words blasted all of the ideas she’d had about why he stayed away.
“My father found out about us and told me if I contacted you again, he’d sue you for living in his house without his knowledge or approval.”
“But Jack said–”
“I know, but he vowed to go after Jack as well.He said he didn’t care who he had to take down, he would.”
“So, you agreed?”
“I couldn’t watch him destroy the people I cared about.I had to protect you and Jack.”He dragged a hand over his face.“Do you think I wanted to stop seeing you?If you don’t believe anything else about me, then believe the last thing I wanted to do was let you go.”
Katie sank back in her chair, tried to make sense of what he’d just told her.All this time… Ian had done this to protect herbecause he cared.She cleared her throat, let a few truths slip out.“I wish I’d known, at least at some point over the years.”
“I thought about it, and I even came close a few times.Dolly and I stayed in touch, and she’s keep me posted on what you were doing, the business…the boyfriends…”
Boyfriends?Most of them were buffers constructed to protect her from matchmaking attempts.If people thought she had a boyfriend, they’d stop trying to find her one.Looked like the “act” had been a bit too convincing.The nanosecond fiancé had been real—unfortunately.
There wouldn’t have been fake boyfriends or a fiancé if she’d known the truth about why Ian ghosted her.Anger and frustration seeped into her voice.“Why did you think you had the right to choose what happened to me?”
The jaw twitch and the frown said he didn’t like that question.“I wasnotgoing to let my father hurt the people I cared about.”
“So, you just disappeared?Walked away and pretended I never existed?”Pretendedwenever existed?
“All of my life, I did whatever I wanted, no matter who got hurt or disappointed.I couldn’t do that to you or Jack.”A long sigh.“I gave my father what he wanted in exchange for your safety and Jack’s, but I never forgot about you.”His voice shifted, his expression turned fierce.“Forgetting you would be impossible.”
What to say to that?Tell me more?I want details…elaborate, please?No, she couldn’t let him see how much she wanted to know.“Did you not think I should have been part of that conversation?That maybe I would want a say in things?”I would have chosen you over a lawsuit.
“I couldn’t risk it.”
“Maybe you should have.”
The look he gave her said she had no idea what she was talking about.“My father has a habit of finding people’s vulnerabilities and capitalizing on them, no matter who gets hurt.Like I said, I wasn’t willing to risk that, even if it meant walking away from you.”Those blue eyes she could never forget burned her.“Did you think I wanted to leave you and delete your calls?Never see you again?How could you for even half a second believe that?”
Katie fell back all those years to the weeks they’d spent together…the sharing and plans, the intimacy.Her stomach fluttered, her pulse tripled.Too many memories, too much heartache.“Why did you really come back?”
“To see you…to apologize…”
A rush of emotion pushed out her next words before she could stop them.“To pick up where we left off?”
“I came here to gain some perspective.”
“And why are you staying at Max Ruhland’s house?He and his wife only rent to people they know.”Pause and a curious “Doyou know Max and Grace Ruhland?”
The slightest nod and then a quiet, “I do.Great people.”
