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My eyes water and I hate that I’m on the verge of tears. I rarely cry in front of people and I’ve never cried in front of the Laurences. I’m grateful for my oversized sunglasses because I certainly don’t want anyone to see what’s going on behind them. After finishing our drinks and catching the last of the sunset, Uncle Gregory tells us to sit down so we can get going and Amelia busies herself with putting away the champagne flutes and bottle.
Sybil scooches in right next to me, swinging her arm over my shoulder. “Are you okay, babe? You seem sad.” Can she tell why I’m feeling emotional?
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I answer but my voice wobbles, giving me away. I am very much not okay.
“It only hurts now. It will get better,” she says softly.
We don’t have to go into details, we both know what and who she’s talking about. She thinks I’ve ended things with Ethan. I never outright told her I would, but I also led her to believe that I agreed with her. How am I going to do this? If push comes to shove, am I prepared to give these people up for him?
It’s so unfair. Family is supposed to support one another. If they really loved me then wouldn’t they understand? Wouldn’t they want me to be happy and to be with the person I love?
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Hayes points into the distance, a sour expression taking over his young face in a way I don’t recognize. He suddenly looks ten years older. “That’s the Kings’ new sailboat, isn’t it?”
I bristle, panic coursing through me. This can’t be happening right now.
But sure enough, only a few hundred yards away, the Juliet bobs on the water. Atop it two males are silhouetted against the backdrop of fiery red sky—Ethan and Cooper.
“Let’s go,” Amelia’s voice is hard. She shoves the picnic basket into one of the sleek compartments and finds her seat.
“They don’t want us in Nantucket,” Gregory scoffs. “As if they own the island. Conrad built that place twenty years ago but he acts like they’re a Nantucket generational family and we should be the ones to leave.”
Sybil’s voice is even as she gives my hand a squeeze. “Mom’s right. Let’s go. Forget them.”
But Gregory won’t stop. He’s standing up at the steering wheel instead of sitting, his tirade far from over as the rest of us sit here helpless to listen. “They should be the ones to leave. Conrad is a bastard. Look at everything he did coming after Arden the way he did, just to jab at us. He wanted her locked up for his poor treatment of his employee. It’s deplorable.”
He conveniently leaves his affair out, and since Chandler is here, he knows nobody will say anything. He looks over at me and I can’t help but tip my chin down and stare at him over the tops of my sunglasses.
“But they dropped the case,” I point out.
He waves that off. “Conrad ran with his tail between his legs when he knew our lawyers were right and he couldn’t beat us.”
He’s lying. That’s not what happened and he knows it, but he doesn’t know that I know it. My emotions are wreaking havoc on me. Before I can stop myself, I blurt out the truth. “But Conrad doesn’t own that house anymore. It was trusted to his sons, and they already had ownership. They’re the ones who dropped the case, not Conrad. All your lawyers had to do was bring it to their attention. Conrad would’ve kept fighting you if he could.”
Same as Gregory would’ve done the same, because it would’ve been one more pissing contest between them, and neither would’ve been willing to let it go.
“Wait. Is this true?” Sybil asks.
“How do you know that?” Gregory’s eyes narrow on me. “Have you been talking to them?”
Hayes snorts. “She’s been doing a lot more than talking.”
My body goes cold.
I turn on him, my mouth falling open. What the fuck?
His face instantly pales, and he mouths “sorry” at me before looking away. You can trust me, my ass! Hayes told me he was nosy and I should’ve believed him. It’s obvious to me now that he followed me after he dropped me off. What all did he see? I hope no more than us kissing on the dock. I’ll never be able to look him in the eye again if I found out he saw more than that.
“What are you talking about?” Amelia questions Hayes before whipping around to face me. “What is he talking about, Arden?”
Beside me, Sybil lets out a long-frustrated groan.
“Have you been seeing one of them?” My uncle’s voice is calm and steady, but the anger behind his eyes is something I’ve never witnessed before.
It’s pure venom.
I swallow hard and take off my sunglasses. We need eye to eye contact for the conversation that’s about to happen.
“It’s Ethan.” Sybil grabs my hand in solidarity. “She dated him two years ago and they hooked up again recently, but she broke it off.” Her voice turns icy. “I explained everything to her, Daddy. She knows why she can’t be with a King. It’s over.”
