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After wandering through the various rooms in his parents’ house, he discovered she seemed to have disappeared.
“Amber.” He cornered his sister in the bedroom. “Have you seen Lindsey and Josh?”
“Oh, yes, I was supposed to tell you she went back to the hotel shortly after lunch. She said she wasn't feeling well.”
What? Since when? “How did she get there?” He'd used the rental car to run to the hardware store.
“I think she called a rideshare.” Amber frowned. “Although now that you mention it, I don't know why she didn't just ask one of us for a ride. We would have taken her back.” His sister’s gaze sought his. “Is everything all right?”
He had a bad feeling things were not all right. “I don't know. I’ll head back to the motel to check on her.”
Amber’s worried expression cleared. “Good idea. Maybe the full extent of the Monroe family got too much for her. You mentioned she doesn’t have any family of her own. We are a bit much to digest all at one time.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” He doubted that was the problem. Lindsey hadn't mentioned feeling overwhelmed by his family. Instead, he'd gotten the opposite impression. She seemed to enjoy having his sisters to talk to.
He made it back to the motel in record time. He went to Lindsey’s room and rapped sharply on the door.
A man opened it. “Yeah? What do you want?”
Embarrassed, he stepped back. “Sorry, wrong room.”
He spun around and marched back to the front desk. Only to be told no, Lindsey Winters had not requested to be moved to a different room. She’d checked out several hours ago.
He couldn't believe it. She'd left. She'd just up and left without him. Without saying a word. Had he pushed too hard? She said she'd consider his proposal. What on earth had gone wrong?
In a daze he returned to his room. There was an envelope with his name scrawled across the front, propped against the TV.
He snatched it up and quickly read her note. Josh and I are not your responsibility, Austin. I know you promised Sam you'd take care of us, but please believe me, Josh and I will be fine on our own. Thank your family for me. Take care of yourself, Lindsey.
Responsibility? Promise to Sam? How in the world had she learned about his deathbed promise to Sam?
Then he knew. He'd mentioned it to Adam. She must have overheard him. His older brother had been giving him a hard time as usual. Adam had said something about how he'd better not drop Lindsey the way he had his other girlfriends, because she deserved better. Annoyed at his brother's assumption, he'd told Adam he'd loved Lindsey for years and knew what marriage was all about. Had assured him he could handle responsibility. He had only mentioned the promise he'd made because Adam hadn't taken him seriously.
He had not meant for Lindsey to find out the way she had. It was true, he had promised Sam he'd take care of her and Josh. But that wasn't why he wanted to marry her. He could take care of her without taking that step. He wanted to marry her because he loved her.
He stared at the note. She didn't believe in his love, that much was clear. But what he didn't understand was why. He told her he loved her and wanted to marry her. Even if she had overheard his comments about his promise and being responsible, why had a snippet of conversation overridden what he'd told her?
What else could he say to convince her?
Or was the real problem that she didn't love him back?
He tossed his clothes into his suitcase. He wanted to go straight back to Sun Valley, but first he needed to explain to Andrea that Josh wouldn't be coming for the pizza party and then he needed to see his dad one last time, just to make sure he was all right.
But once he did return home, he and Lindsey were going to have a long talk. There had to be a way to convince her of his love. He desperately wanted her to give their relationship a chance.
Because he could not imagine spending the rest of his life without her.
Austin was jet lagged when he finally trudged to his car which he'd left at the airport. Flying standby by was a pain in the butt. He'd had to wait hours before he'd been able to find an available seat on a flight home. He hadn't seen Lindsey or Josh at the Milwaukee airport, so he could only assume they'd had better luck in finding a flight to Los Angeles than he had.
As he drove home, he thought about what to say to Lindsey. How on earth he could get her to believe him? Not only had he told her he loved her, but he's done his best to show that with his actions too. He'd kissed her. He’d brought her home to meet his family. He’d arranged for them to have dinner.
No woman had ever touched his heart the way she did. The more he thought about it during the long flight home, the more he had trouble believing she didn't feel anything for him in return. Something was holding her back. He wished he knew what that was.
His cell phone rang and he quickly glanced at the screen, hoping the caller was Lindsey. But, no, it was just Amber. His family had figured out something was going on when he told them Lindsey and Josh had left to fly home without him.
He let the call go to voicemail. As much as he loved his family, he couldn't talk to them yet.
What could he say when he hadn't even spoken to Lindsey?
