She couldn’t make herself say the words.After I rejected you.
But Will shook his head. “I haven’t been here in years. It belongs to Cal now. And he can welcome anyone he likes.”
Phoebe stared at him as he shifted in place. This man, who had the entire country at his beck and call, wasn’t even comfortable in the place of his birth.
“It’s still your home too, Will.” She then blushed again as his eyebrows rose in surprise. That remark had been far too overfamiliar. She didn’t deserve to say such things to him. Not anymore. Goodness, she was stepping in it today. “My sisters are coming tomorrow,” she added briskly, attempting to retain some degree of neighborly cordiality. “Perhaps… perhaps we will see you again.”
She made sure to saywe, as she didn’t have the right to assumeI.
He studied her for a moment before nodding. “Yes. Perhaps,” he said haltingly followed by a short bow. “Have a good evening.”
“You as well,” Phoebe replied, but he had already turned away. She stood in place as he strode toward the house and watched until he disappeared inside.
But he never looked back.
Twenty-Seven
Are you all right? You’ve been awfully quiet ever since we got here.”
Alex’s words roused Phoebe from her thoughts. She shifted in her chair by the hearth and faced her sister.
“Sorry. I’m fine,” she said with a smile that felt as forced as it must have looked.
For the last day, Will had barely left her mind. The regret that had been gnawing at her for weeks had reached a violent crescendo once he was standing before her in the flesh. Phoebe could see so clearly how her own misgivings had drowned out the very real feelings she had for him. Feelings she was now utterly incapable of ignoring.
Alex immediately frowned. “If you didn’t want us to come, you should have said so.” She and Freddie had arrived that afternoon and they had all retired to the cozy parlor after an early supper.
“No, it’s not that at all. I’m so glad you’re both here. Truly.”
“For goodness’ sake, go easy on her, Alex,” Freddie chimed in from her place sprawled on the chaise, where she was sipping her second glass of sherry. Or was it her third? Phoebe had been too distracted to keep track. “She’sobviouslystill heartsick over Will,” Freddie added with a dramatic sweep of her arm.
Definitely a third sherry.
Alex narrowed her eyes at Phoebe. “Is that it?”
Freddie let out a sputtering laugh. “Considering she’s actually in possession of a full range of human emotions, yes.”
Phoebe shot her a chiding look as Alex crossed her arms. Freddie had been in an unusually prickly mood that evening, which wasn’t helped by the wine she’d imbibed at supper. Phoebe suspected Hank Ericson was the culprit, but hadn’t had the chance to ask.
“Ihaveemotions,” Alex insisted. “But last time we spoke you only said you needed time to think. Has something changed?”
Phoebe picked at a loose thread on her skirt. “You could say that.” She then explained about her visit with Cal yesterday, along with Will’s unexpected appearance.
“Oh God,” Freddie said with wide eyes. “How mortifying.”
“Now look who’s being insensitive,” Alex crowed.
Phoebe let out a groan and slumped in her chair. “It’s true though. I looked like an idiot. Afickleidiot, at that.”
“But he did come after you,” Freddie pointed out. “Surely that means something good.”
“It means he was being polite,” Phoebe replied. “To save us both any future awkwardness.”
After going over their brief conversation a hundred times at least, that was her most indulgent interpretation. The worst was Will thinking she was a self-important little harpy and needed to be sure she had left the property—Phoebe couldn’t torture herself with that one anymore.
“No, I agree with Freddie, actually,” Alex said with a decided nod. “He didn’t have to do that. Rather dramatic, if you ask me.”
Freddie let out a snort. “You think any kind of expression is dramatic.”
