“Ineed some time, Char.” I cupped her face in my hands and kissed her. “I’ll call you.”
Then, as much as I wanted to stay, as much as I wanted to lose myself in her body, in her scent, in her voice, I left.
ChapterTwelve
CAN YOU STAND THE RAIN?
Charlye
It had been hours since Dex left, and I still couldn’t believe the sharp turn his surprise visit had taken. I knew we’d have to talk about the job, that I’d have to decide where I wanted to be. But I never expected the conversation to end like it did.
“Here?” Elise handed me a glass of wine. “You need this.”
I gulped the Merlot down. “Thanks.”
“Have you heard from him?”
I shook my head. “Justus said he’s with Duke.”
Elise sat in my recliner and tucked her feet under her butt. “Are you ready to talk?”
“I’m not sure I know what to say,” I admitted. “It feels… I don’t know.”
A soft knock on the door drew my attention away from my sister.Maybe it’s Dex? I set my glass down and hurried to the door, pulling it open. My shoulders fell when I realized it was Justus.
“Damn, baby sis. You’re not happy to see me?” He pulled me into a hug. “I just wanted to check on you.” He rubbed the top of my head and placed a kiss to my temple. “You alright?”
I closed my sweater to ward off the chill that had set in since Dex walked out. “I don’t know.” I shuffled back to my spot on the couch. “Have you talked to him?”
Justus nodded. “For a minute. His father is in town. They’re all together.”
“I didn’t know Papa Stew was here.” Dex and I hadn’t had a chance to really catch up when he’d arrived earlier.
“Do you still have some of that spaghetti?” Justus pulled my refrigerator open and peered inside. “Ooh.” He held up the dill vegetable dip I’d made earlier. “I need some of this.”
“Go ahead.”
While Justus scooped a lot of dip onto his plate, Elise asked, “Okay, so let’s talk about it. What happened, sis?”
Justus paused, met my gaze.
I shrugged. “I told you… I told him about Carl and the business. He said he was proud of me. Right before he told me he loved me. After that, everything went downhill.”
Elise smiled. “He told you that?”
“He did.” I gave my brother and sister an abridged version of the events leading up to the we-need-time speech. “And he left.” When my siblings didn’t speak, I finally glanced at both, only to find them looking at everythingbutme. “What?”
Justus bit into a carrot. “You tell her, Elise.”
Elise let out a heavy sigh. “So… You told him that youthinkyou would be happy in Michigan?”
I stared directly at my sister. “Yes, I think I can be happy in Michigan.”
“Youthink?” Justus challenged. “Or youknow?”
“Babe, Dex is grown-grown,” Elise said. “He knows what he wants. And he’s at the point in his life where he needs the woman he loves to know too.” She held up her hand when I opened my mouth to speak. “This is not to say that he wasn’t being a little asshole-y about the whole thing, but put yourself in his shoes. He loves you. Did you tell him you loved him too?”
My stomach fell. “No.”
