by Kendall Ryan
My head spun again as twin urges warred inside me—one to knock this guy’s fucking head off for talking about my woman like that, and the other to tear my hair out at the lunacy of this situation.
“What the fuck is going on, Charlotte?” I shouted.
The whole time she’d been here, she’d been hiding. Hiding from Prescott and from her parents, and lying to me and my family about why she was here. She obviously hadn’t felt that she could trust me, that she didn’t know me well enough to confide in me. And here I’d bought a ticket to go to her and try to make this work.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure which part of it stung the most.
Little snippets of memories played through my mind—the way she’d snapped at me when I’d pressed her about her ex, how angry she’d been when she’d slammed down her phone in my kitchen, the way she always looked at her cell like it was about to detonate at any moment.
“Nothing to write home about?” I asked quietly, and then forced myself to look at her, wondering if I’d ever be able to do that again without feeling sick.
Charlotte’s gaze darted between Prescott and me, her eyes brimming with tears. “You have to understand—”
I wasn’t interested in hearing it. I turned on Prescott, now remembering the things he’d told me before she walked through the door. He’d talked about what a pain in the ass his fiancée had been. How he didn’t love her. How he’d only gone after her to make sure she cleaned up her own mess back home before moving on with her life like nothing had happened.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I demanded, my hands balled into fists at my side.
Prescott’s eyes narrowed. “What the fuck is wrong with me? What’s wrong with you?”
“You couldn’t just leave her the fuck alone?” I growled. “You didn’t think she’d been through enough?”
“Ah.” Prescott nodded. “So that’s how you know each other.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean you fucked her. Not to put too fine a point on it,” he muttered.
All I had to do was swing. One punch and he’d be on the floor—that was the one advantage of growing up without having money to fix all my problems, I supposed. But he was smaller than me, obviously just as confused, and the fight wouldn’t have been a fair one.
No matter how much I wanted to teach him a fucking lesson.
“Don’t talk about her like that. Or better yet, how about you don’t talk about her at all?” I started, but then Charlotte’s hand was on my chest, pushing me back toward the bar.
“Look, I couldn’t tell you,” she said, her eyes pleading. Then she turned to Prescott. “You didn’t have to come here and do this to me.”
“Do this to you?” This time it was his turn to let out a humorless laugh. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been dealing with? Your parents are all over me, and I had to handle the fallout of your big break for freedom. The least you could’ve done was return my calls.”
She shook her head, her hand still pressed to my chest as she replied to him. “I didn’t want you to try to convince me to change my mind,” she whispered miserably.
“Change your mind?” Prescott shook his head. “I don’t want you back. Your leaving was the best thing that ever happened to me. You set us both free. I realized that two seconds after you left, when I found I felt nothing but surprise and relief. But I can’t handle the fallout on my own. You might not love me, Charlotte, but I know you care. Just help me deal with this mess and our families.” He raked a hand through his hair and groaned. “Do you have any idea what our mothers are putting me through?”
A single tear slid down her cheek. “I didn’t hurt you?”
Prescott shook his head. “My pride was wounded and I was pissed, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t love you. We weren’t right for each other, and never have been. The family pressure was just too strong for me to see that.”
“I—” she started, but I sidestepped her and made my way for the barn door.
“Well, I’m glad you guys have worked everything out. Have a good time in New York. And lock up on your way out.”
I shoved the door open and scanned my surroundings for anything I could hit, something that might relieve the pressure building inside me, about to blow. Because all that time, Charlotte had been lying to me. All that fucking time.
Fuck, runaways must have been able to smell me from a mile away. First my mother and then Sarah, and now Charlotte too.
“Luke!”
Charlotte shouted to me from the barn door but I was already too far away, and her voice was nearly drowned out by the whipping of the wind.
I had to get back home, needed to try to return my ticket to LA and move on.
A little voice inside me laughed. Move on to what, Luke? The next fucking tumbleweed that rolls into your life and back out of it?
God, how could I have been so stupid?
Maybe I should have gone back to shake Prescott Billingsley the Sixth’s hand. I might have a broken heart, but he might have just saved me from total annihilation.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Charlotte
The wind whipped my hair over my face as I called for Luke again, but he didn’t stop walking. In fact, he didn’t even bother to turn around.
Part of me wanted to run the other way. Admit defeat and accept that I’d done this to myself and deserved whatever happened next. But the other part was so damned mad at him that nothing else mattered anymore.
Whatever happened, he needed to hear the truth from my lips. If he still hated me, so be it. At least I could go on and try to piece some semblance of a life together with no regrets.
I took one step forward, then stopped as a big blue truck rolled into the parking area and stopped next to my sedan. Duke climbed from the driver’s seat and blinked at me, although he seemed much less surprised to see me than his brother had.
“What’s the deal? I heard there was an investor here?” He glanced from me to the other cars and then gave me a confused look. “And where the hell did you come from?”
“It’s a long story,” I said.
The wind picked up again as Valentina tripped through the door to join me. She stared from Duke to me and back again.
“Oh, sorry, I’ll just—” She tried to move, but then stopped. “Wait, you weren’t wearing—”
“This is Duke.” I nodded toward him. “Luke’s twin brother. Luke’s gone,” I murmured, my throat sticking on the words.
“Hey there,” Valentina said with a smile, and wrinkled her nose when Duke tipped the bill of his ball cap toward her. “Charlotte, Prescott says he still wants to talk to you.”
“Does it have to be this moment? Surely he realizes I’m a little busy right now?” I asked her, staring in Luke’s wake.
“Yes, now would be good, Charlotte.” This time it was Prescott who spoke, poking his head out from behind the barn door.
I let out a sigh and turned to face him. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you. It was immature and selfish, and you deserved better. I’m happy to do whatever it takes to clean up the mess with our parents the second I’m done here, okay? I just need a few minutes with Luke. He wasn’t part of any of this, and he’s got so much going on here, trying to get this business—”
“That’s what I wanted to tell you before I got out of your hair,” he said with a half smile. “I’m not mad anymore. I think I was just worried, and now that I’ve seen you . . .” He gestured around with a little laugh. “Now that I’ve seen you with all this and him, it makes weird sense to me. I get it. Oddly enough, I think you belong here. What I wanted to tell you was that I’d like to invest in the distillery. After you and Luke talk, I’d appreciate it if you would give him my number and ask him to give me a call.”
“What?” I blinked at him in surprise. “You don’t have to do that. You’ve done nothing wrong here, and—”
“Believe me,
I know that. But I tried your . . . friend’s liquor, and I like it. He’s got something special that I think is a worthwhile investment. Him, this place . . . it’s got a whole vibe to it that I think can be a huge moneymaker. So, when you work everything out, let him know that I’ll be in touch.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded to Valentina. “Val.”
She looked from Prescott to Duke, apparently unsure of who was on what side, and if she should be mad at someone or not.
“Thanks, Prescott,” I said sincerely, the lump in my throat growing. Whatever happened, his belief in Luke’s business made me so frigging proud, I could burst. “You’re a good man.”
“And you don’t need to come back. I’ll handle things in New York. I mostly just came here to make sure you were okay, because they were starting to get to me. Your mother even mentioned a cult?” He laughed and shook his head. “Anyway, you’re clearly fine.”
“If you need anything, please let me know. I don’t want to leave you holding the bag. That was never my intention.”
“If I need you, I’ll call.” He nodded again and waved a good-bye to the others before climbing into his car and driving away.
I watched him go, then turned back to Valentina and Duke, who were both staring at me. “I have to go find Luke.”
My heart pounded again in panic as I imagined the kind of head start he’d managed. When I moved for my car, Duke held up a hand.
“In that?” He pointed to my beat-up clunker with a wince. “Is it even street legal? Where did you get that thing, a junkyard?”
I rolled my eyes and yanked open the door. “Val, will you entertain Duke here and fill him in on everything?”
“That sounds like something I could get behind,” Duke said, his eyes alight.
Valentina’s lips quirked into a smile. “Yeah, sure. Come on, you can pour me a drink,” she said, and led him into the barn.
I slipped behind the wheel and sped off for the farmhouse. It was the obvious choice, but Luke simply had to be there. If he wasn’t . . .
Then I’d wait. He’d have to come home sometime. I’d left once before without telling him how I felt, and I wasn’t going to do it again.
• • •
I needn’t have worried. When I pulled up at his house, it was to find the front door open and the hall light on.
“Luke!”
I shouted his name and rushed into the house before he could slam the door in my face and lock it. I called his name again, searching the living room and then the kitchen. At last, I found him behind the old-fashioned desk in his office.
“You don’t want to do this, Charlotte,” he said without looking up. He was hunched over in the chair, apparently examining a few of the branding designs we’d come up with.
“Do what? Drive day and night to get here and have you ignore me?” I shot back. “Yep, you’re right about that one, and yet here I am.”
He didn’t look up. “You should go back to New York with your husband.”
“He’s . . . he’s not my husband,” I stammered, my hands starting to shake at the icy chill in his voice.
“Only because you got cold feet and left him at the altar,” Luke muttered.
“No. We’re not married because we weren’t meant to be, and I was smart enough to see it before it was too late.” I stalked toward the desk and swiped my hand over the top of it, sending the papers flying into the air.
As they floated to the floor like confetti, Luke sputtered, “What the—”
When he finally looked up, I grabbed his chin, forcing him to meet my gaze as I pleaded, “Listen to me.”
His lips thinned into a resolute line, but he didn’t pull away.
“I couldn’t tell you about him. At first, I thought I was in town for so short a time that it wouldn’t matter, and then, well, I was running away. I didn’t want to talk about him with anyone, let alone with you. Don’t you see? I needed some time to process it all. At least give me the chance to tell you the whole story now. And if, once I’ve finished, you still want me to leave, then I will.”
I released Luke’s chin but he just looked at me, silently waiting for me to go on.
I started in a rush before he changed his mind. “Prescott and I met at a charity function at our parents’ country club. He bought a date with me at one of those stupid bachelorette auctions.”
Luke’s mouth twisted, but he didn’t say anything.
“I later found out that our parents had arranged things that way. We traveled in the same circles, so the more I saw him, the more it seemed to . . . I don’t know, work. After my dad refused to let me into the family business, I thought I needed a man to support me because I wasn’t talented enough, and Prescott was okay with that. We got along fine and we’re friends, but . . . I never loved him. We never even slept together. I only agreed to marry him because I knew what was expected of me, but when I put on that wedding dress at the church and saw myself in it, I felt nothing.”
I shook my head, remembering the bone-chilling calm I’d felt that day.
“If I could have called it off before that moment—if I could have realized what kind of mistake I was making—I would never have left him that way. It was an awful thing to do. But I didn’t realize until then, and I can’t feel bad for not waltzing into a marriage that I didn’t want. I couldn’t bear to think of living my whole life without ever feeling . . . well, without ever feeling the way I feel about you.”
Silence hung between us and I waited for Luke to say something, anything. But he didn’t. He just stared at me, studying me with an inscrutable expression.
“I didn’t want to love you, you know,” I told him. “It doesn’t make any sense to spend one week with someone and fall so deeply in love that you can’t go on with your life the way you’d planned, but when I got to the city, all I could think about was you. I didn’t want to go to parties with strangers. I wanted to sit around a picnic table with your family and drink whiskey and just . . . live. Have family dinners. Lie in your bed all night just talking to you.”
I chewed hard on my bottom lip. “I came here to tell you that. It felt like something you should know, but I don’t need you to ask me to stay. Because no matter what you do, I’m staying here. I wasn’t going to. If you didn’t want me, I was going to turn tail and leave. But you know what? I love it here. And I love you. If you want me to leave, you’re going to have to call the sheriff to get me out, you understand?”
Those cool green eyes of his drifted over me again, and he tipped his head in a single nod. “What if you change your mind like you did about Prescott? What if you wake up one day and realize that this wasn’t what you really wanted?”
It was a fair question, but damn, did it cut deep.
I took his hand in mine and held it tightly, trying my best not to burst into tears. “Because this is the first time in my life I ever knew anything for sure. I know it down to the bottom of my soul, and that’s not going to change. There are no guarantees in life; you know that. You could decide tomorrow that I’m not the one for you too. But guess what? I know that this . . . what we have? It’s worth the risk. Take the leap with me, Luke. I won’t let you down.”
He was quiet for so long, I thought it was over. I’d lost. But then his hand tightened on mine and he pulled me onto his lap with a groan.
“Every day since you left,” he said, “I’ve felt like an idiot. I think about you all the time—I’m surrounded by your ideas and your brilliance. You saved my family and the distillery, and . . . me. I need you to stay with me. I’m begging you to stay, because I love you. I was wrong to react the way I did, and I’m sorry, baby. If you ever need to run again, just promise this time that you’ll take me with you.”
I blinked hard, and he kissed the tear now sliding down my cheek. His mouth moved lower as he took my bottom lip between his, sucking on the tender skin. My tongue swept out to meet his as I trembled with joy and relief.
It was okay. We were going to be okay.
It might have been an instant or an hour before he broke our kiss, but when he did, I cleared my throat and grinned.
“I have some more good news for you too,” I said.
“I’ve already got the best news in the world.” He kissed my forehead. “You’re here.”
“Fine, then I won’t tell you,” I teased, and he gave me a little shake. “Okay, okay. You have two new investors for the distillery.”
“I do?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Prescott wants in.”
Luke looked conflicted about that for a moment. “And the other?”
“I sold my car. It’s not much, but I do have a little money to play with. I was hoping I could come on as part of the team?”
“You want to invest in the distillery,” he said slowly, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Of course I do. I believe in you.”
Luke swept me up into another heart-stopping kiss. “Dammit, I love you,” he whispered as he cupped my cheek. “Don’t ever leave me again, duchess.”
“I never, ever will.”
Epilogue
Charlotte
Six months later
It didn’t take me long to get my big fancy car back.
It wasn’t a brand-new model, hadn’t even been made in the last five years, but it was mine. And even better?
This time, I had earned it.
Today, it was dolled up with Just Married in white paint on the back window, and streamers and cans tied to the bumper.
From a window in the back room of the barn we’d been dressing in, I looked out at it as I smiled to myself, knowing what my parents would think when they finally arrived. But then again, I was getting better about not caring when my mom did her best to wrinkle her Botoxed face, or when my father tried to slide me a credit card I didn’t need.
They meant well. They were just trying to take care of me in their own way.