Tilting his head, Carter narrows his eyes. “What?”
“Nothin’,” I say. “I have to go. Don’t tell Darla about this, okay? I don’t know what I’m goin’ to do yet, but the last thing I need is Darla jumpin’ in and possibly attackin’ Brynlee.”
“They’ve been spendin’ a lot of time together. They’ve become the best of friends. Do you really think Brynlee would put this much effort into startin’ a new life if she never planned to stick around? I mean, why go through all of this if she’s goin’ to go and marry some other guy in February? Somethin’ about it doesn’tmake sense, Rhett. Once you cool down and take a step back, I know you’ll see it, too.”
No, I won’t see it. I see it perfectly clear now, and all I see is Brynlee driving away from me. Far away and never looking back.
The worst part is that I knew better, but I did it anyway. I fell in love, and there’s no one to blame but myself.
Chapter Nineteen
Brynlee
Rhett canceled on me last night, saying something came up at work, and he’s been cold since he picked me up. The drive to his childhood home was silent, and even though he introduced me to his family, he acts strangely.
I pull him outside, away from everyone, and I try to look into his eyes. He avoids my gaze, and I know something’s off. I feel it, and it stirs something sickening in my stomach.
“Do you not want me here?”
“Do you not want to be here?”
“Not if you don’t want me to be.”
He finally looks at me. “That doesn’t answer my question.”
“And you didn’t answer mine. What’s wrong?” I ask. “Did I do something to upset you? You’re pushing me away, and I don’t know why.”
All Rhett does is shake his head, and he completely shuts down. Cuts me out. “It’s nothin’.”
“Then why haven’t you touched me since yesterday morning?”
When he came to get me, he didn’t hug or kiss me. When we walked to his pickup, he didn’t open my door for me. The drive here, he had his right hand on the wheel with his left out the window like the night of Carter’s birthday. And when we parked, he walked up to the house, again not walking around to my side.
“It’s just busy at work.”
Busy at work? “I guess that makes sense. I wouldn’t want holding my hand in the pickup to get in the way of your busy work,” I say. “Thanks for helping make the nerves worse instead of calming them like you usually do.”
I walk back inside where the screaming chaos welcomes me, and I feel sick. Maybe being around his family will calm him down. Or maybe this is just a step too far for us right now. Meeting the parents is big, and he’s the only one who can do that. We’d need a medium to introduce him to Mama or Daddy, and I’m glad that’s not possible. Mama would have him running for the hills for sure.
Every one of his siblings, in order, and their spouses were introduced, and they all keep tabs on me. Edwin, the oldest and the sheriff, and his wife Sarah. Darin and Rosemary. Clint and Lucy. Elena and Hayes. Gemma and Isaac, who I thankfully already met when I bought my jeep. Julia, who’s the seventh kid, and Elija. Then there’s Hardy and Zoey.
There are quite a few kids, but thankfully, no one does introductions for them. I can remember his siblings and spouses, but the kids prove to be a challenge. Especially when a few of them haven’t stopped running around for me to get a proper look at them. It’s exactly what I always dreamed of for holidays. Big and boisterous, rather than ridiculously large and gaudy.
Everyone has been welcoming, but I feel like I’m under a microscope. At least whatever issue Rhett seems to have taken with me hasn’t been shared with the rest of his family. If it had, they’d probably hate me as much as it feels like he does right about now.
His mother, Lydia, is a plump woman with cotton candy white hair, and I love her immediately. I have yet to meet his father who is in the yard with more of the kids.
I don’t really know where to go with Rhett acting like this, and I wish I’d driven separately. I could fake an illness and go curl up on my couch to wonder what I did wrong.
“Bryn—”
“Rhett, go watch the game with the others,” Lydia says. “I’d like to talk to Brynlee.”
She waves a hand to shoo him away, and he sighs. “Mom—”
“You waited this long for me to meet your girlfriend, so you must pay the price by lettin’ me interrogate her. Now, go, young man.”
My eyes widen as he gives his mother a look I can’t quite decipher, but he pats my shoulder. It’s a weird, almost unfriendly gesture that makes me feel even worse.
