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“Point taken.”
She heaved a sigh. “I mean, Eloise is allowed to have friends. And if she thinks Marc is good enough to be her friend, then…”
“But he isn’t. That’s the problem. He’s—” Shane caught himself before he said exactly what was on his mind. “He’s just not.”
“I’d wager that you’re not worthy of dating my sister either.”
He didn’t bother commenting on that. The truth was that he agreed with Brielle wholeheartedly on that topic. Shane sighed, glancing at her once more before he opened the back door. “Thanks,” he muttered.
The couple turned toward him, varying degrees of surprise on their faces. Eloise gasped, jumping up from her place on the steps. “Shane. I totally forgot you were going to be on your way.” Her eyes darted from him to his cousin. “Marc was just stopping by to visit a bit…” There was an apology in her eyes, but it was quickly overtaken by guilt. He knew that feeling.
Who was he to judge her when he was keeping so much from her as well?
Shane stayed near the door. If he got too close to Marc, he didn’t know what he would do. Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “Well, are you ready to go for a ride?”
Her eyes widened. “Actually, I wanted to get those horses saddled before we head out. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be back to get you?” Without waiting for a response, she darted down the steps and around the side of the house.
Shane glowered at his cousin. “I see you’re doing your sister’s dirty work, huh? Brielle tells me you’ve been hanging around like an unwanted pest.”
Marc slowly got to his feet. He held up both hands and stepped backward until his feet met with the earth. “I know you didn’t want me here, and yes, it started out as a way to undermine you, but that’s not what I’m doing now.”
The fury boiled over and Shane charged toward his cousin. “Oh? Are you suggesting that you’ve made a change for the better? Have you decided to turn your back on your conniving sister?”
Marc snapped his mouth shut and his eyes flickered with resentment. “You don’t know Madeline like I do. I can’t just go against what she says. You know that.”
“Everyone has a choice, Marc. If you’re doing anything to hurt Eloise—”
“I’d never hurt Eloise,” he snapped. “I would sooner die.”
Shane reared his head back. “What?”
“I like her. She’s nice to me.”
“Yeah, she’s nice toeveryone.”
Marc let out a heavy breath. “I believe that. I just… I don’t know… the more time I spent with her, the more I wanted to be around her just because she made me feel… good.”
Shane rolled his eyes. “You’d have me believe that you’re not here trying to do something to help Madeline’s schemes.”
Marc lifted a shoulder and dropped it listlessly. “I don’t tell Madeline what we talk about. I don’t even tell her every time I come to visit.”
“Telling her anything is dangerous, and you know it.”
His cousin dropped his focus to his hands. “Yeah.” There were notes of defeat in his voice, and when he lifted his gaze back to meet Shane’s, it wasn’t hard to see the sadness behind it. “You need to be careful, Shane. Madeline doesn’t tell me everything, but from the sounds of it, she’s about ready to drop something really big on you. I don’t want to see Eloise get hurt.”
Hearing Marc talk about Eloise in that concerned sounding voice of his made Shane want to slug him right then and there. “Just get out of here Marc. Now.”
Marc nodded. “Okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you about Madeline.”
Shane watched his cousin slink around the side of the house like the vermin he was. If he ever saw Marc here again, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep his hands to himself.
“Ready?”
Shane jumped, and his eyes found Eloise. She glanced around, then back to him. “Did Marc go?”
“Yeah. He had somewhere he had to be.”
She smiled at him. “Well then, let’s go for that ride.”
