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“I have no intention of hurting her,” I assured him. “I just want to talk.”
“You’ve had three weeks to talk, but you haven’t been interested.” He glanced over his shoulder, then lowered his voice. “As far as I can tell, nothing has changed, so why now?”
I shifted uncomfortably. “I thought I had all of the information, but I’m starting to think maybe I don’t.”
“Because that’s what I told you,” he snapped. “If I hadn’t said anything, would you ever have listened to her on your own?”
Shame burned in my gut. I couldn’t say yes because I wasn’t sure. I liked to think I would have eventually given her a chance to say her piece, considering how we’d been slowly getting more comfortable with each other again, but I couldn’t say for certain.
“Please.” I appealed to Blair. “Five minutes is all I’m asking for.”
“What’s going on here?”
We both turned at the question spoken in Kennedy’s accented tone from behind Blair.
“Liam is here,” Blair told her. “I’m getting rid of him.” He gave me a look that threatened bodily harm if I didn’t do as he said and leave.
A hand appeared on Blair’s arm, then Kennedy moved him aside and stepped forward.
“What do you want?” Her voice was rougher than usual, and the puffiness of her eyes showed she’d been crying. My hands twitched, aching to comfort her.
“Five minutes of your time,” I replied.
She considered me for a moment, head cocked. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Blair stared at her as if she was crazy. “But he—”
She clapped her hand over his mouth. “Shush.”
He glared mutinously.
“I’m not fragile,” she said to her brother. “I appreciate you looking out for me, but I can make my own decisions. What I need now is for you to go back to your cottage. Spending five minutes with Liam won’t break me.”
Blair narrowed his eyes at me, then turned back to Kennedy, his expression softening. “All right. But I’ll be back over here in fifteen minutes to check on you.”
She nodded, clearly willing to accept that. I supposed that meant I’d better make sure we covered all the important stuff within fifteen minutes, or I had no doubt Blair would be kicking me out with a smile on his face.
He traipsed past me and into the cottage next door. Kennedy waited until he’d closed the door before going back into her own place and gesturing for me to follow. She settled on the sofa. I took the armchair, afraid that if I was too close to her, logic might fly out the window.
“So,” she said, studying me warily. “You’ve got five minutes.”
Suddenly, my tongue was tied. I didn’t know where to start or how to find out what I somehow knew I needed to know.
“I, uh.” I thought back over the events of the day. Caught her bloodshot eyes. “I’m sorry for upsetting you earlier. I didn’t mean to say what I did—especially not to yell it in the street. Ash and Summer were arguing, and I just wanted them to stop.”
She sighed. “It’s fine. Honestly, I think it was the wakeup call I needed.”
My muscles clenched. Perhaps it was ridiculous, but hearing how defeated she sounded made me feel sick. I didn’t want her to give up. I didn’t want her to let me go.
“What did Blair mean when he said I didn’t know the whole story?” I asked, hating the wobble in my voice.
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “You’ve made it obvious you aren’t interested in what I have to say. As you said earlier, it won’t make a difference, so why bother?”
Her expression was distant. Even seeing her pain had been better than the mask she was pulling on now. I could sense her slipping away emotionally, and somehow, I knew that if I didn’t stop it, it really would be too late.
“Please.” I lurched out of the chair and across the room, dropping onto the sofa beside her and taking her hand. “Please tell me what he meant. I need to know.”
ChapterTwenty-Eight
