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The coward said nothing, instead getting into his car and nearly burning the tires on his way out of the gravel drive. I clapped Cade on the shoulder. “Good job.”
“I would have rather had the hit. A little jealous of that.”
“Definitely worth the bruise.”
Through the bonds in our chests, we all shuddered. The pain Isolde felt, the agony and betrayal… it nearly sent me to my knees. But we couldn’t go to her yet. This was something she needed to bear alone. Not yet, but soon. The second we felt the tide turn, we would be there.
Just inside the entry, Henry stood waiting. From the look on his face, he’d seen everything that just happened between us and Beau. Right now, I didn’t want to look at him either. He’d hurt Isolde, and that meant he needed to stand far the fuck away from me.
Isolde’s father sighed and slid his hands into the pockets of his suit. “I guess we need to talk.”
“Actually we don’t,” Cade said.
“Five minutes. No more than that. Let me explain. Then you can think of me what you will.”
I grit my teeth. Listening to anyone justify their behavior when Isolde felt like this was the last thing on my to-do list right now. But Joel stepped forward, eyes hard.
“You have five minutes. Start talking.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
________
ISOLDE
Ididn’t stop running until I’d reached the arch beneath the rocks. My legs and lungs burned, at odds with the cold from running through the rain.
In true Clarity Coast fashion, the storm hit hard and fast. It wouldn’t last long, but while it did, it was fierce.
The tide was at its lowest point, exposing what felt like miles of sand and leaving behind treasures you couldn’t find otherwise. Shells and seaglass, the occasional bottle. Left behind and abandoned.
Pain lanced through my chest, everything crashing down on me over again. They knew.
They knew.
They knew.
They knew.
They knew and didn’t tell me.
My rational brain told me something wasn’t right with this. Ellie had wanted to explain. And I knew Beau always twisted things. But my rational brain wasn’t here right now. It left the building the second my sister went pale, confirming my worst fear: That I couldn’t trust anyone. Not even those closest to me.
Lightning split the sky, striking the ocean far out in the distance, the thunder booming seconds later. I tilted my face back to the sky and let the rain hit me. I was already soaked through, and I didn’t care. It felt good to be out here and ruined.
At the very least, the world mimicked the way I felt. Not another sunny Clarity day where everything was happy and perfect while I was breaking apart.
The only thing that was right was them. Steady in my chest. Not flooding me with love or trying to stop this. Letting me feel it because I needed to feel it. If I wanted them, I already knew they’d be there as fast as physically possible.
But I didn’t want them here for this. I didn’t want them to see me this broken.
A sob broke through, making me collapse in on myself. My chesthurt. The last time I felt like this, I ran away to the other side of the country and didn’t come back. There wasn’t anywhere to run this time. Not when the people meant to be on my side weren’t.
The beach stretched out in front of me, nothing but rain and sand and distant waves looking as lonely as I felt.
Wind picked up, turning the rain sharp, and the thunder was louder. Black clouds swelled and the world darkened. Even the shallows churned with the sudden fierceness of the storm, andfuckit felt good.
I wanted to scream and not be the loudest thing. I wanted to feel insignificant in the face of this vast ocean, because if I was small, there was something bigger thanthis.
