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Sloane hesitated. “He asked me to stay here with him and Bree, and I said yes.”
“You told him about Greece?” Surprise colored Carly’s words, but whether it was at the notion of Sloane telling him about her intended trip or the fact that she wasn’t taking it, Sloane couldn’t be sure.
“No, but it doesn’t matter. I’m not going. I don’t want to go,” she corrected, and God, her thoughts couldn’t get any more muddled if she paid them outright to confuse her.
“Those are two different things,” Carly offered gently, and Sloane pinched the bridge of her nose hard enough to feel the bite of her fingernails there.
“I know.” She stopped pacing and flicked a glance at the front door. It was closed snug in the frame, but Sloane dropped her voice to a whisper anyway. “I just never expected any of this. I want to stay so much, but what if I screw things up? Then what?”
But Carly didn’t even pause. “Gavin trusts you, Sloane. Maybe it’s about time you started returning the favor.”
Sloane could count on exactly two fingers the number of times she’d been shocked speechless in her entire life, and this moment made the list. “What?”
“Look, I know that sticking around scares the hell out of you, and I also know you have your reasons for that. But when you weed away all the doubt and what-ifs, it’s still totally clear that Gavin trusts you with the most important thing in his life. All I’m saying is that it might not be a bad idea to believe—reallybelieve—that he trusts you for good reasons.”
“You mean that I’m good at taking care of Bree,” Sloane said, the combination of mutinously bright sunlight and rising emotion making her eyes water.
“For one thing, yes. But he doesn’t just want you to stick around to take care of his sister, does he?”
Carly’s words hit a bull’s-eye and broke open in Sloane’s chest. “No,” she whispered.
“Okay, then. How about maybe you trust that, too?” Carly whispered back.
The flash of emotion she’d felt when she’d promised to stay last night returned, surging over her in full force.
“Oh, my God, you’re right,” Sloane blurted. “How did I not see this before?”
All at once, her emotions fell into place with such startling accuracy, and she couldn’t believe they’d eluded her in the first place. After all, it had been Gavin’s faith in her that had kicked her desire into motion in the first place. How could she not trust it now, when she needed it the most?
Carly’s slight chuckle returned Sloane’s attention to the here-and-now. “Because you’re human, and falling in love makes even the best of people prone to total lunacy.”
Sloane barked out a snap of laughter. “Um, thank you, I think.”
“My pleasure. You forget, it wasn’t that long ago that I was the Queen Mother of raving lunatics when it came to being in love. But Jackson and I worked things out, and you and Gavin will too.”
Sloane stuttered to a stop at the corner of the porch, bracing her hand on the weather-beaten white railing. “Do you really think so?”
“I really do,” Carly confirmed.
For the first time, Sloane allowed herself a glimmer of hope. “Thanks.” Her impulses booted up, heading directly forright nowmode, and she bit her lip before continuing. “Hey, I don’t mean to pull an emotional drive-by on you, but I should probably go get this Greece thing settled.”
“Any idea how you’re going to spin that?” Carly asked gently.
Sloane squared her shoulders with absolute surety. “Not a one. But I’ll work at it until I figure it out. You’re right. It’s time I started trusting myself. And the people who care about me.”
* * *
“Hey.What were you doing out on the porch?”
The sound of Bree’s sleep-laden voice scared Sloane clean out of her skin, and she swung around so fast that she caught her elbow on the doorjamb with a merciless bang.
“Ow! Mother f—” She clamped down on her tongue with all her might so as to not finish her sentence, even though the pain shooting up her arm begged for expression.
“Are you okay?” Bree asked, genuine concern washing over her sleepy face.
“Who, me? Sure.” Sloane made a sour face and flexed her elbow a few times, grateful that the throbbing joint cooperated. For the most part, anyway. She looked at Bree, her grimace easing up considerably at the sight of her well-rested face. “You look like you slept pretty well, huh?”
If Bree had fallen prey to another nightmare after Sloane left her room last night, it had been the silent variety. Sloane had insisted Gavin leave his bedroom door cracked open before they fell asleep though, just in case.
