“For a while,” Rupert says as he leans back in his chair. “Made me swear not to say anything to you.”
“Why would you say that?” Kitty asks, looking genuinely hurt. “You know I’ve been telling you to find someone who cares about you, and then you go and decide to keep it hidden?”
Renley calmly places her napkin on the table and looks at Rupert. “You’re an asshole,” she says before she stands. Addressing Kitty, she says, “I haven’t told you because I knew that you wouldn’t let up about it. You would have gone out of your way to make romantic moments, to bother me about him, to convince me to stop working so hard and have fun with him, when that was the last thing I needed. But it doesn’t matter now, because he’s going back to England and I’m going back to getting stuff done because I have a goal to make something of myself, to prove to the town that I’m not some laughingstock, and that I’m a strong businesswoman.”
“You’re not a laughingstock?—”
“I am!” Renley shouts, her voice breaking with emotion. “I am a laughingstock. You heard it yourself from Marjorie. No one believes in us, Aunt Kitty. People think we’re screwups, misfits. Between Dad sweeping the beach, looking to strike it rich, and you hopping around in the front yard on a toy horse, I don’t blame them. Your reputations have fallen on me and I’m trying desperately to dig myself out of the hole you’ve put me in.”
Insecurity and insult are written across Kitty’s expression as she sets her napkin on the table as well. “It was never my intention to embarrass you.”
“But you do.” A tear falls down Renley’s face. “But not because of your hobby horse endeavors. It’s because you consistently let me down when I need you the most.”
With that, Renley takes off out the door, leaving me with Rupert and Kitty.
“Well.” Kitty adjusts her silverware on her napkin. “I’m sorry…” Her voice chokes up. “I’m sorry you had to bear witness to such an exchange.”
I don’t know what to say other than that Rupert is an arsehole like Renley said.
I stand from the table just as Rupert says, “Where are you going?”
“Going to find Renley after you just blew up her secret.”
“Don’t you think we should talk?” Rupert asks.
“Talk about what?” I toss my hand to the side. “How I’ve suppressed you your entire life? How I’ve held you back? How I’ve made your life apparently a living hell? Because I’ve seen it completely differently. I saw two lads making the best of the hand they’ve been given. I’ve seen two mates forming a bond and helping one another. I’ve seen two brothers swear to be by each other’s side through thick and thin. If you’ve seen it differently, then I’m sorry, Rupert. I truly am. It was never my intention to hurt you, to subdue you, to make you feel any lesser than me.Because between the two of us, you are the one that is greater, with far more potential than I’ll ever have. And if I haven’t shown you that, or expressed that to you, then my apologies are in order. You are my mate, my brother, and I hope that whatever you have going on in your head gets worked out, because I love you.”
Without another word, I take off, my heart hammering in my chest as I race outside and search around, looking for any trace of Renley, but when I don’t see her, I know there’s only one solid place I can look.
And hopefully I’ll find her there.
Chapter Forty-Seven
RENLEY
A twig snaps, causing my eyes to dart toward the opening along the bushes.
Theo appears, holding his phone out as a flashlight.
My need for him clamors in my chest while my brain puts up a wall, not wanting him any closer. I’m already cracking inside. I don’t know what I’ll do if he comforts me in this moment.
“Don’t,” I say, shaking my head. “Please, just let me be.”
He pauses, standing at the opening of the bushes while I lean against the trunk of the tree that holds the rope swing. The pond is still, unlike my rapidly beating heart, the night is bright with the moon above, and in the distance, fireflies light up among all the leaves, creating a dreamlike atmosphere despite the very real reality that I’m facing with a man that I didn’t want to fall for but absolutely did.
“I can’t,” Theo says, his voice rough, full of the same heavy emotion that is resting on my chest. “And you know I like to give you your space to think things through, but I can’t let you think this through on your own.”
“Think what through? There is nothing to think through,” I say as I pull my legs into my chest. “You’re leaving, you have to leave, and that’s that.”
He moves forward, and with every step that he takes, closing the distance between us, my heart pounds, begs, pleads with me to have another moment with him.
Actually not just a moment—I want so much more than a moment. I don’t want him to go. I want him to stay here and help me with the store, not because I need his help but because I want him there.
When his shoes come into view and I see the sneakers I had a hand in helping him purchase—which feels like so long ago—a tear slides down my cheek.
And when he squats in front of me and lifts my chin with his finger, another tear falls.
“Love,” he says so softly that it actually breaks me.
