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“I know, I just—oh my God—hepunchedhim!”
Press spun around in time to see Zin stumbling backwards and Beau shaking his right fist. It appeared he was yelling at him.
“Excuse me,” said Press, racing out the door with me right behind him.“What in the bloody hell?”
“Do you know he’s making her leave? Are you part of this?”Beau shouted at his brother.
I rushed forward and got to him before Press did. “If you’re talking about me, no one is making me do anything.”
“I don’t want you to leave,” Beau cried, gathering me in his arms. I could feel the dampness of his tears against my own face. From where we stood, I could see both Press’ and Zin’s confused expressions.
“Let’s go for a walk,” I said, taking his hand in mine. “We’ll be back in a few minutes.” I didn’t wonder if it was okay with anyone if we did so. Jacy had reminded me more than once that, regardless of whether I could see them or not, there were six people watching over me. They only took shifts at night, when I was asleep.
The other thing I knew was that, similar to Seahorse, Press’ parents’ estate was as secure as the White House. Maybe more so. However, like at the wedding, it would be impossible to vet every person who came onto the property to pay their respects to Susannah Barrett and her family.
“Beau?” I said once we were far enough away that Press and Zin couldn’t hear us. “What was that about?”
He led me to a bench under a willow tree. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke. “To be honest, I don’t know. I just feel as though…”
I put my hand on his and gave him time to gather his thoughts.
“Alone. That’s how I feel. Alone. My mum, well, she was…”
When he tried to hide that he was crying, I rubbed his back. “Let it out, Beau. There’s no judgment here.”
He turned his body, and we embraced.
“I’m sorry,” he said a few minutes later, pulling away.
“Please don’t be. We all need to allow ourselves tofeel.”
“If you want to leave, I understand.”
“It isn’t that I want to; it’s more that I believe it’s the best for all concerned. You and Press must focus on your family, on your father. To mourn the loss of your mother.”
“You don’t have to leave in order for us to do that.”
“I do, Beau. There are people watching us now. They’re watching me all the time. If someone who was out to harm me came on the property pretending to be one of your guests, I can’t say what that would look like. I’d hate for me to be the cause of such a disruption.”
He took a deep breath. “I need you.”
I closed my eyes and raised my face to the sun. There’d been a time hearing those words would have meant everything to me. But then, when his girlfriend—or whatever she was to him—had shown up at Seahorse from Australia, he seemed to forget I existed. I wondered if she—Daphne—was on her way here now. Perhaps she’d even arrive sometime today. In which case, like before, Beau would forget I existed. I stopped myself from saying it out of fear the jealousy I felt would be evident.
“We should get back.” He stood, held his hand out to me, and pulled me into an embrace. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
When we got close enough to see the guesthouse, Press and Zin were seated on the porch. The two SUVs that caravaned from the airport were parked out front.
“Are you leaving now?” Beau asked.
“I am.”
He stopped walking, and since he still held my hand in his, I did too. He put his arms around me in what I thought was another embrace, except this time he did something he never had before. Beau kissed me.
I’d lost count of the number of nights I fell to sleep fantasizing about the first time he would. It felt nothing like I thought it would. Maybe it was the timing of it, but it felt wrong. Particularly given our audience.
“Sorry,” he said when I pulled away. “I just needed…”
