AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That’s when I saw him, standing on the sweeping staircase, watching Blakely and Mrs. Wingate on the stage. A small gasp came from my throat, the vision of him alone causing my heart to ache so intensely I thought I’d fall to the floor. Oh my God, the mistake of coming here kept getting worse and worse. “Excuse me, sorry,” I said as I wove between guests, almost side-swiping a woman holding a tray of champagne. “Oh I’m so—”
“Rory?” My name was called across the crowd from the staircase. I turned to see Gage, moving quickly down the staircase and heading in my direction. “Rory!” he called again.
Oh God, oh no. Why had I come here? Why?
I kept moving, heading toward the door. I needed to leave. There was nothing left here for me but pain.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Gage
I’d seen her from across the room, my heart leaping as I blinked, thinking I’d conjured her by the mere fact that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Aching for her.
And she was running from me again, even though she’d shown up here. She’d come. And she was wearing the blue dress we’d bought together. And both of those things had to mean something. Hope flared inside as I grabbed her arm, spinning her toward me.
“Rory. God, you’re here.”
She pulled in a breath, her expression filled with both shock and hurt. I clenched my eyes shut. The announcement. She’d heard. “I had no part in that announcement,” I said. Blakely and Mrs. Wingate had taken it upon themselves to try to force my hand. It was manipulative and just plain wrong, and I was going to have some stern words with them as soon as possible. “Rory, I’m not engaged.”
The breath gusted from her mouth as she stepped back. “It’s fine, Gage. It’s not my business whether you’re engaged or not. What we had, it was just a fling.”
Hurt ratcheted through me. “A fling. It wasn’t a fling. Rory, don’t—”
“To me it was only a fling. A fun one but…that’s all it was. I’m not right for you, and you’re not right for me.”
I shook my head in confusion. “You’re lying. If it was just a fling, why are you here? Why did you come?” Wearing that dress? Looking so incredibly beautiful I want to fall down on my knees before you?
She glanced next to us, where Archer and Bree Hale were standing a few feet away, watching us with troubled expressions and wide-eyed surprise.
Rory squared her shoulders the way a prizefighter might when expecting a blow. Others were milling around now, obviously listening to our conversation. Rory looked around too but then focused back on me. “I only came to tell you our mission was successful.”
Our mission. I blinked. “What? You found your father?”
“Yes,” she said, glancing around again, her eyes hanging momentarily on Travis and Haven Hale who’d come to stand next to Archer and Bree. What was going on? “But I’m not the daughter of one of the founders of the Metropolitan Club. My father was a dishwasher there.” She again glanced at the Hales. “My mother met and fell in love with him that spring.”
I felt disoriented, like I’d just come awake when I didn’t remember falling to sleep. A dishwasher. At the Metropolitan Club. It wasn’t any of the five men she’d thought it was. “That’s wonderful. You know who it is. You found him. Do you know his name?”
She glanced at the Hales again and I saw Archer Hale give a small nod. “Yes. My father was Nathan Hale.”
My gaze swung toward the Hales. No wonder they’d drawn near. How had this all come to be? “That’s…” I couldn’t remember much about Nathan Hale other than what I’d heard around town. He was kind of kooky. When people talked about the older generation of Hale brothers, he was often referred to as “the crazy one.” “Rory, that’s great.”
She was watching me closely, and I got the impression she’d seen something on my face that spoke of what I’d just been thinking. But the truth was, all I knew of Nathan Hale were whispered rumors. When her eyes moved to the right, I followed her gaze to see Blakely come up beside me. She grasped my arm and gave Rory a decidedly hostile look followed by a fake smile. “Gage, can we talk?”
“Not now, Blakely—”
“Cakes!” my friend Trent said, suddenly appearing out of nowhere, his timing as excellent as always as he put his arm around Rory. “I didn’t expect to see you here!” He looked around at the people who’d obviously come closer to hear what was going on. “We met this girl in a bar on the docks! She bamboozled us out of a lot of money!” he told everyone. Rory closed her eyes for a second and Trent blinked as I clenched my jaw so hard I bit my tongue. “What? Was I not supposed to say that? It was the first time we ever heard Gage call dibs on a woman. It was just…a funny story from that night we met her. Right? She’s his applesauce. I mean, it doesn’t matter now that you’re engaged, but…”
Bree and Haven both stepped forward at once as though coming to Rory’s rescue.
“Gage,” Blakely said again, pulling on my arm as though she owned me. “We should—” I shook her off and stepped toward Rory.
Rory looked behind me, her face paling and when I glanced to where she was looking, saw that my father had come to see what was going on. I looked back at Rory. “Let’s step outside. I want to hear more. I want to hear how—”
“Blakely obviously needs to talk to you,” she said with a smile that I could tell was forced. “And there are so many people here to celebrate you. It’s your night, Gage. I’m sorry I ruined it.”
“You didn’t ruin it. I’m glad you’re here.”
My father came to stand next to us and the Hales moved closer too. I looked around at everyone, filled with confusion. What was this strange standoff that was happening? I felt hot and cold, dread descending where there’d only been joy at seeing Rory here minutes before and the perhaps irrational hope that we could figure something out.
