“Wow.” I scratch the side of my face. “That’s a lot to process.”
“Tell me about it,” Rupert says, speaking to me for the first time in what feels like years.
I’m so goddamn happy to hear his voice that I actually might cry. And I’m so goddamn desperate to see my best friend that I’m tempted to throw myself at him and wallow in the crook of his neck.
“Well, go on.” Elizabeth pokes him again, shoving him closer to me. My body itches to wrap my arms around him. “And you better speak quickly, because your idiot friend over there is about to marry Walinda, the armpit sniffer. Is that what you want, Rupert? You want him to marry Walinda?”
Rupert’s face twists in disgust. “What in the bloody hell would possess you to do that?”
“My father told me I was supposed to marry her, and if I didn’t, he would mess with Elizabeth and her life.”
Elizabeth peeks her head between us and says, “I wouldn’t let him—stop using me as an excuse.”
Rupert nods. “Yeah, she’s a strong woman, let her protect herself. Also, because your father said so? Mate, if I told you to let me shit on your chest, would you do it?”
“Gross,” Elizabeth scoffs.
“If it was a dare, I would.”
That pulls the smallest of smiles from Rupert’s lips.
“You two need help.” Elizabeth sets the stick down and then pushes Rupert into the house, following close behind. When she shuts the door, she leans against it and says, “All of a sudden, Theo has decided to have some sort of need to fulfill his birthright despite never wanting to fulfill it. And he’s ready to give it all up, for what? To please his father? To seem like the hero in a villain’s storyline? No, it’s dumb, he’s dumb, and I will not allow it. That’s why I fetched your sorry arse and made you explain to me why you were not talking to my brother.”
“Why aren’t you talking to me?” I ask.
When Rupert doesn’t answer but instead looks down at the floor, Elizabeth huffs in frustration.
“Honestly, it’s like I’m your marriage counselor.” She pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then continues, “Rupert was feeling the need to do something with his life, so before your little truth-or-dare game that ended you up on the fiancéwebsite, he applied to be an English teacher in a third-world country.”
“What?” I ask, completely shocked.
Rupert just shrugs. “Thought I would help people out.”
“Knowing the kind of commitment it would be, Rupert figured this summer would be the last time you two would be able to hang out together for a while.”
“That explains the ‘last hurrah’ comment,” I say, the pieces fitting together.
“Yes, exactly. Rupert wanted one final fun summer with you, but then our father found out about the fiancée thing and you tried to prove a point, which got you in a stickier situation that led you to Cape Meril. This forced you to focus on Renley, even though Rupert was pleading for some alone time with you, apparently quite often.”
“We had our nights out by the fire making popcorn,” I say, even though I know that’s a shit response, because I do recall times when he asked to hang out, just me and him, the trip to Boston being one of them.
“That was nice.” He toes the ground, but I can tell he wanted more and that makes me feel really fucking bad.
“Remember that spider that crawled up your arm that made you dance in place and almost fall in the fire?” I chuckle, and Rupert does as well, lightening the mood.
“It was almost popcorn with a side of roasted arse.”
“It would have been well-salted arse though.”
“Jesus,” Elizabeth mutters. “Please, can we not?” She shivers and then continues. “While you were wooing Renley, in between training sessions with Kitty—which is something I didn’t need to get into, but he insisted on telling me the ins and outs?—”
“It’s important to the story to show how I care for other people.”
“We’re not writing a deposition.” Elizabeth rolls her eyes. “Anyway, while you were wooing Renley, he took a few interviews for the volunteering opportunity and he for sure thought he nailed them.”
Uh-oh, I see where this is going.
“Shit, mate…”
