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I uploaded the video to all my social media accounts, titling it My Love Story, and hoped that Heath would see it.
Twenty-Five
Heath
Ever since Marley left the bonfire with her brother, I didn’t feel right. I was worried she’d run back to California.
Before I could fix things with her, I needed to talk to her brother. I went for a run to clear my head, showered, ate breakfast, and walked through the woods until I was standing in the inn’s driveway.
I knocked on the door, worried because the Mercedes convertible wasn’t parked out front. Marley never drove into town because she never had a reason to. I was worried it meant she was gone.
Aiden opened the door. “You looking for Marley?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
He stepped back, letting me in, and I closed the door behind me.
“That’s good because she’s gone.”
My heart thudded painfully under my rib cage. “What do you mean, she’s gone?”
“A pipe burst in her house, flooding everything. She didn’t want me to go with her.” I followed him into the kitchen where he poured tea and pushed the cup across the counter in my direction. “I’m learning that Marley likes to do things herself.”
“She’s independent.” But I didn’t like the idea of her handling it herself. “I could have gone with her.”
“I think she wants us to talk first.”
I let out a breath. “I’m sorry about everything. You told me to protect her, and I have, just not the way you wanted me to.”
He braced his hands on the counter. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t tell you to fuck my sister.”
I reared back as if he’d slapped me, anger fueling me. “Don’t talk about your sister like that. I love Marley. I want a future with her. I get that you’re not happy about that. But I’m not going to stand back and pretend I’m not crazy in love with her or that I don’t want her.”
Aiden pushed off the counter and ran his hand through his hair. “Marley said something similar.”
My jaw tight, I said, “You’ve been gone a long time.”
He gave me a pointed look. “It didn’t sound like you waited that long to hook up with her.”
“She told you about us getting together when we were younger?” I asked, strangely pleased that she had.
He nodded. “You want to explain that to me? I trusted you.”
“We ran into each other in the woods. I think she was upset about you leaving, but she wouldn’t say. We talked and hung out and realized we had a lot in common.” I held up my palms. “But I never crossed that line with her. Not then. The guilt got to be too much. I felt like I was going behind your back.”
Aiden made a sound in the back of his throat.
“I was a coward. I left her a note in the spot we usually met up at in the woods, breaking things off and using you as the excuse.” He was the reason, but looking back, I wondered if I wasn’t scared about how intense our relationship was. I couldn’t believe I’d met the one when I was eighteen. It didn’t seem possible. I assumed I didn’t know my own feelings.
“I appreciate you backing off. But it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
“She needed a friend. The kids at school weren’t nice to her. She felt like she didn’t fit in, that she didn’t have anyone to talk to. She didn’t want to tell Gram or you. She felt like you had enough going on, and she didn’t want you to worry, and we didn’t want to hold you back.”
Aiden gave me an anguished look. “It was my job to look after her.”
“No, it wasn’t. It was your parents’. Maybe Gram’s. But not yours. You needed to enlist and do your thing. You wanted safety and financial security, and you got that. It’s what Marley wanted, too.”
“And now?”
