AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Normally I ignored those silly feelings, but tonight I didn’t.
Tonight, it was important I keep this under wraps. I had no idea why, but I felt it strongly.
I walked quietly out of the house with no one the wiser.
“Hey.” I sat down next to Colin at the small bar in the hotel.
“Let’s move to a table,” he said.
“Not even a ‘hi’?” I said.
He didn’t respond, so I followed him to a small round table in the corner of the tiny room and sat down on one of the chairs.
“Spit it out, Colin,” I said.
“Thanks for coming.”
“How etiquette-minded of you. You couldn’t say hello, but you say thank you.”
He opened his mouth, but I stopped him with a gesture.
“I’m not interested in any explanation. Let’s just get to the meat of the matter. Why am I here?”
He cleared his throat. “My therapist suggested I find someone I trust to share this with.”
“And you trust me?”
“Well, you and Jade. But she’s pregnant, and I don’t want to add to her stress. Besides, the beast probably wouldn’t have let her come anyway.”
“If that’s your term for my brother—the one who didn’t abandon her at the altar, by the way—this conversation will end right now.” I stood. “See you.”
“No. Wait. I’m sorry.”
I sat back down. “You don’t sound remotely sorry.”
“The guy kicked the tar out of me. I’m not a fan, okay?”
I said nothing, just gave him the evil eye. My brother had overreacted when Colin showed up at our place last summer. He hadn’t been in a good place. All my brothers were prone to be hotheads, Joe most of all. I wasn’t going to share this with Colin, however.
“I didn’t want to leave Jade,” he finally said, staring at the table.
“What are you talking about? You mean for the wedding?”
“Yeah. I said I got cold feet.”
“A lot of people get cold feet on their wedding day. You took it one step further.”
“This isn’t coming out right,” he said. “What I mean is, it wasn’t…”
“Wasn’t what? Spit it out, Colin.” My voice came out harsh, and I regretted it, but only because of what Colin had been through at Bryce’s father’s hands.
“It was my father,” he said. “My father’s idea for me not to marry Jade.”
I jerked in surprise. “That’s what you wanted to tell me? You said your father called you a coward when you didn’t show up.”
“He did. But not because I left Jade at the altar.”
“All right. Slow down. You’re going to have to walk me through this because none of it makes any kind of sense. You left her. That’s a fact. Your father called you a coward. Another fact, at least according to you. Now start at the damned beginning.”
