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“Are you all right?” I asked my brother after a few minutes of silence. “Tell me what happened.”
He exhaled heavily down the line. “We’d just refilled all the babies’ water for the night and locked up the rescue barns when he asked if I wanted a glass of wine. We’d had a long day so I said yes, but when he came back out, he gave me my glass and dropped to one knee.”
Ooh.
“He asked me to marry him, I panicked, and he left.”
Wait.
What?
“You did what?”
“Ellie! Help me!”
“Did you not answer him at all?” I asked.
“I didn’t. He must have come back this morning because everyone had been fed, but God knows what time he was here. I was up at seven like always.”
I grimaced as I sipped my tea.Only Kevin.“Have you tried calling him?”
“No. I didn’t know what to say. I’m not sure he wants to talk to me.”
“I wouldn’t want to talk to you.”
“Ellie! How can you say that?”
I snorted. “Well, I wouldn’t. He asked you to marry him and you didn’t even answer him, Kev! Crikey. A ‘no’ is better than that.”
“I called you because I thought you’d be helpful!”
“A terrible idea,” I replied. “And that’s bullshit. You called me because you knew I’d tell you how it is. If you wanted to be mollycoddled, you’d have called Mum.”
He muttered something I couldn’t figure out.
“You know it’s true. You fucked up, and now you have to fix it. You can’t run from this, Kev.”
“I think we need some time apart,” he said glumly.
Oh, no.
I knew what he meant by that.
“No. You cannot run up here away from your problems.”
“Come on. You’re struggling with your writing and you ran away.”
“No, I came for a fresh perspective and to recharge my creative batteries. You’re just hoping you can run here, and I’ll clean up your mess.”
“Ellie, please. I just need a night or two to clear my head. I swear I’ll talk to Aaron before I leave.”
I sighed. “I can’t really tell you no, can I?”
“I know where you’re staying. I’ll come anyway.”
“Fine. But two nights and no more, you hear me? And I’m going to make sure you have spoken to him before you get here. If you haven’t, I’m going to pin you down like I did when we were kids and make you speak to him.”
“Thank you. You’re the best.”
