Letting out a low growl, he said, ‘I don’t need your brother as a partner. I don’t need anyone as a partner, and you don’t need to move.’
‘Yes, I do. And if I don’t, he wins. They all win. I’ll never have control over my own life.’
‘Then we’ll get married.’
For the briefest of moments Meridith’s heart soared, but reality quickly returned with a searing pain. He’d said that because he was the kindest and least selfish person on earth ‘I can’t do that to you. Or me.’ Swiping at the tears on her cheeks, she said, ‘I won’t let them win.’
Silence echoed in the air for what felt like forever.
He gave a single nod, then shook his head. ‘Don’t move to Chesterfield. The zoo, the people here, and the animals, need you.’
‘Hugo needsyou.’
‘No, he doesn’t.’ He picked his coat up off the doorknob, hooked it on his thumb, and flung it over his shoulder.
‘Yes, he does.’
‘He’s an elephant.’
His tone was so cold, so sharp, she sucked in air at the pain it caused in her heart.
He shook his head as he walked past her and opened the door. ‘I will send a message to your brother stating I’m no longer interested in a partnership.’
‘Drake—’ She stopped, because the way he turned, looked at her made her feel shattered inside.
He stepped closer and cupped her cheek with one hand. ‘I wish the best for you, Meridith. I hope you find the husband you want, and have the children you want, and that you know nothing but happiness for the rest of your life.’
He kissed her forehead, then turned about and walked out of the door.
Her feet felt as if they had become part of the floor. She couldn’t move them. Couldn’t move anything. Not even a hand to wipe the tears that trickled down her cheeks. Not even when they fell so fast it blurred her vision. No longer able to see him walking away, nor anything else, she squeezed her eyes shut. Not only against the tears, but at the pain encompassing her entire being.
That pain was what made her move. It became so strong that she sank to the floor. No one had ever told her that love could hurt like this.
It could have been minutes or hours, before she was able to stand. She didn’t know, nor did she care. The door was still open, and she walked out of it, took the route past the zoo office, hoping she wouldn’t encounter anyone, and didn’t. Her headhurt, her eyes felt swollen from the endless tears that she’d shed, and her legs felt as wobbly as Hugo’s in the alley that night.
The night that Peter claimed could ruin her life, when in fact, it was one that she’d cherish forever. She’d been a part of something that night, and that had been wonderful.
She exited the zoo’s main gate and entered the park, continued moving in the direction of home.
Her body knew the route, so she didn’t need to think. That was fortunate because her brain was numb. She couldn’t say if the bruised numbness was worse than the painful anguish that had consumed her earlier. Not that it mattered.
Nothing mattered or caught her attention until she found herself standing before the winged lion statue. She stood there, staring at it and wondering why she’d ever liked it so much. It was nothing but a figment of someone’s imagination. A fairy-tale of sorts, one that could never come true. Lions would never have wings. Never fly.
Exhausted, she walked over and sat on the bench. Feeling was returning to her body, and she rubbed her temples where the numbness was giving way to an aching, befuddled whirl of thoughts. It was as if she was trying to remember everything that had happened since the day of the garden party. Since the day she’d met Drake, and how her life had changed.
She had no tears left, so sat there, dry-eyed, remembering moments that she would cherish. There were many besides the night they’d searched for Hugo. So many. Times of laughter and fun, when she’d felt free to be herself.
The more memories that formed, the more she understood that she’d never experience any of them again, and an anger began to churn inside her. Anger at her brother for ruining it all.
Damn them all, she thought, with a blast of fury towards her entire family for having so much control over her life.
‘There you are!’
Meridith twisted and stared at her sister for a stunned moment, wondering if Diana was a figment, too, conjured up by Meridith’s guilty imagination, because she’d just cursed her, and the rest of her siblings, to the devil.
‘We were getting worried because it’s almost dark,’ Diana said.
Letting out a wistful sigh, Meridith moved her gaze back to the winged lion, wishing her sisterhadbeen a figment of her imagination, because she didn’t want to talk to anyone. Didn’t want to see anyone.
