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He thought about what a damn coward he was. All the years of loving her. You’d think he could say it. Such a simple thing. I love you, Gen. You are the only woman for me.
But he’d been a cheat and a liar—and not with Melinda. No. He’d cheated and lied in ways he didn’t know how to explain to her. The truth had a lot of ugliness in it. And he felt so bloody guilty about the way it had all turned out.
And once he told her how much he loved her, the ugly truth of what had really happened the night Edward died was sure to follow. That wouldn’t be fair. Wouldn’t be right. She shouldn’t have to know any of it. It was all in the past and best left alone.
He took Geoffrey back to the house, where Frances reported that Gen had gone for a walk around the lake and possibly to the castle. She’d promised to return before dark.
The lake and the castle? Before dark? What the hell?
He shouldn’t have left her on the terrace like that after the rotten things Brooke had said to her. But there had been Geoffrey to deal with....
It was all such a mess.
And maybe getting off to herself for a while would be good for her. Frances said she had her phone. So if she needed someone to give her a ride back from wherever she’d gone off to, she could simply call.
He and Geoffrey went on up to Brooke’s room. Granny was still with her.
Brooke seemed subdued. At the sight of her son, her face crumpled again.
Granny said, “Brooke, dear. Please.”
Brooke pulled it together and asked with surprising calm and real concern, “Geoffrey, are you all right?”
Geoffrey stood very straight. “Mum, I’m sorry for what I said. I love Aunt Genny very much, but I don’t wish she was my mum. You’re my mum and I’m happy that you are.” He pressed his lips together and then added bleakly, “Most of the time.”
Brooke drew a slow, careful breath. “I was awful,” she said, and seemed sincere. “I don’t blame you for what you said. I am going to find a way to be...better than I have been. I promise you. And I owe Aunt Genevra an apology, I know that. As for you, I only hope you can forgive me for the terrible things I said, and for pushing you into a party you didn’t want, for...yelling at you and crying and calling you ungrateful when I should have been trying to understand what was bothering you.”
Geoffrey looked down at his shoes and seemed not to know what to say to that.
Eloise caught Rafe’s eye. He nodded. She said, “Shall we leave you two alone, then?”
Brooke had eyes only for her son. “Geoffrey? Do you mind if Granny and Uncle Rafe go?”
He was still looking at his shoes. But finally, he answered, “All right.”
As soon as they were out the door and Eloise had shut it behind them, she asked, “Where is Genevra? How is she?”
He repeated what Frances had told him.
Granny frowned at that. “What time is it?”
“A little past eight.”
“Call her.”
So he took out his phone and dialed. It went directly to voice mail, without a ring. He left a message. “Gen. Please call me as soon as you get this.” He disconnected.
“She’s not answering?”
“No, and it didn’t ring. I think she may have turned it off.”
“That’s not like her, to take her phone so that we can reach her—and then to turn it off.”
“Maybe she just wants some time to herself. That was damned gruesome, what Brooke did.” And it had come right on the heels of that god-awful encounter with Melinda last night. Had it all become more than Gen was willing to put up with?
Had she left him?
No. She wouldn’t do that. She wasn’t a leaver. No matter how bad things got, Gen stuck it out and worked it through. It was one of the million and two things he loved about her.
Plus, if she was going, she would pack a bag and tell him to his face that she was done with him. No way would she promise to be home before dark and then just wander off on foot with only the clothes on her back.
But what if she’d finally had enough—of him and his sister, of Fiona and Melinda?
If she had, no matter what it took, he would find a way to change her mind.
“Rafe, are you listening?”
“Er, of course I am, Granny.”
She peered up at him doubtfully. “I said, Brooke’s behavior is completely unacceptable. She’s agreed to take steps to deal with her temper. She’s finally volunteered to see a therapist.”
He would believe that when he saw it. “It’s a start.”
“Even she’s finally seeing that she went too far and it has to stop—but right now it’s Genny I’m concerned for. She should be here, with us, where we can tell her how very much we love her and ask her to forgive us for all the ways we failed to protect her from the jealous spite of her own sister-in-law.”
