She reached over and gripped Lela’s shoulder. “Don’t be sorry. You were friends for two years before I came along. I understand some of it. But the bottom line is that I always felt like he was carrying a torch for you.”
Lela shook her head. She wasn’t going to go into the details of her two encounters with Donovan, where that theory had been so soundly refuted. “Trust me. He wasn’t. We’ve talked about it.”
“Huh.”
“What?” Lela asked.
“Maybe it was all in my head?”
“I really don’t know.” Lela needed air. She needed to escape this conversation and the room.
“It was probably for the best.” Genevieve returned to tidying up. “He would’ve just broken your heart. Donovan doesn’t stick around.”
Lela didn’t know many things, but she was absolutely sure of that.
Chapter Eighteen
The hikefrom hell was over. Miraculously enough, there had only been one painfully awkward moment during it, when Stuart stopped the expedition halfway and made a declaration to Austin and Donovan: “I love your mother more than anything in the entire world.”
“Good for you,” Donovan had replied, not being entirely sincere.
“I’ve asked her three times to marry me, and every time she’s told me I’m crazy and should take a nap or fix myself a drink. One time, she turned up the volume on the TV and pretended like she couldn’t hear me.”
“What do you want us to do about it?” Austin asked.
“Can you talk to her? Help her see my side of things?” Stuart pled, holding on tight to his trekking poles atop the hillside, sun beating down on them. They were all sweating like crazy.
“We try to stay out of our mother’s personal life,” Donovan answered. “She doesn’t want our opinion. We learned that long ago.”
Stuart sighed heavily. “Just think about it. That’s all I ask.”
Donovan and Austin had a brief conversation about it when they got back to the house, quickly reaching the conclusion that Stuart was a nice guy who was oblivious to what wasn’t good for him. It was best to let their mom stay the course. Plus, they’d never be able to convince her of anything.
Feeling sweaty from the hike, Donovan changed into his swim trunks and headed to the pool. Down by the pond, Stuart was arranging a handful of white folding chairs for the ceremony. Donovan had asked if he needed help, but Stuart said that he needed time with his thoughts.
When Donovan dove in, the water was cool against his skin, helping to clear his head. He swam several laps, kicking off from the side and streamlining beneath the surface for as long as his breath would hold. He tried to think about nothing. It took some work. Everyone in his life wanted to stake their claim on his thoughts, but Austin and Lela won out. What if Austin kissed her last night? What if Lela kissed him back?
What if she took charge?
It was too horrible an idea. If Lela and his brother ended up together, Donovan might lose it.
Who was he kidding? He woulddefinitelylose it.
Tired of laps, he stopped in the center of the pool and floated on his back, staring up at the wide blue sky, listening to the even pace of his own breath. That was when he heard voices. He raised his head above the surface. It was Lela and Austin, out of view, probably on the other side of the rose bushes.
“You’re sure you don’t want to go out with me?” Austin asked.
That perked up Donovan real fast. He treaded to keep his head above water. His heart was pounding as he waited for her answer, but he was pretty sure he had one piece of the puzzle—Austin wouldn’t be asking that question if he’d had any luck at all last night.
“Dating isn’t a thing I do anymore,” Lela said.
“Not at all?”
“Nope.”
This was news to Donovan. Although he didn’t have any specific intel on the state of Lela’s love life, he wasn’t aware she’d made such a definitive decision.
“What if the right guy came along?”
