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“I guess.”
“And not just for today. No matter what does or does not happen between me and Cedar, you will not be returning here to ‘give him a lesson with your fists’.”
“I would never say something as dorky as ‘give him a lesson with my fists’.”
True. My brother is a Class A grump but he’s not a dork. He’s also avoiding the question.
“You didn’t answer.”
“Sorry, Cassie. I can’t promise to never defend you again. What if Cedar hits you?”
Cedar growls, but I hold up my hand. I got this.
“Then, his dumbass will be in jail with a split lip and a boot imprint on his ass.”
“I would never hit her,” Cedar adds because he apparently can’t follow direction. Good to know.
“And I never thought Gabrielle would be emotionally abused,” he replies.
Crap. He feels responsible for what happened to our baby sister. I wrap my arms around him and hug him up tight.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I should have known.”
“We all should have known. We didn’t. Gabrielle can be sneaky when she wants to be.”
He releases me. “I thought you were the sneaky one. Those poor trellises on our house in Saint Louis never recovered.”
“I never did like those clematises. They smell of almonds. Who wants a flower to smell of almonds?”
“Mom hated them, too.”
“But Dad bought the bushes for her, and she couldn’t get rid of them.”
“He had no idea how much she hated them.”
“She loved him. She didn’t want to tell him.”
He cups my cheek. “I want you to find the kind of love they had. None of this one-night-only bull crap. You’re worth more than one night.”
I lock my body to stop myself from flinching at his words. I am not worth more. But I’m also never ever telling him why I’m not. It’s my secret to carry with me until my grave.
“I agree with Beckett,” Cedar says.
“You’re not part of this conversation.”
“Really? Why is this conversation happening in my front yard if I’m not part of it?”
“This isn’t your front yard. This isn’t your anything. You don’t own this land.”
“No one should own land.”
Beckett sighs. “You remind me of Lilac.”
“How is Lilac by the way?”
“You know my fiancée?”
