by Amy Brent
“Here, stud. You’re going to need this.”
I rolled my eyes up at her, “Oh thanks. No words of wisdom?”
“Run. Get out of town while you still can.”
“That’s great. Super helpful, Stella. Really.” I rolled my eyes one more time, dread tightening in the pit of my stomach. She was just confirming what I already knew but it didn’t feel any better to hear it said out loud. I put the glass to my lips, downing half the beer in one gulp. Damn it. That didn’t make me feel any better either.
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, the only warning I had before a very pissed off Jonah was charging towards me like an ill-tempered bull with me in his sights.
“Delaney! Don’t you fucking move!”
“Jonah, listen man! Just let me explain-.” But before I’d even barely got my mouth open to try and plead my case he was rushing me, one arm raised with his fist pulled back. I stood, frozen, waiting for the explosion to come and when it did, fireworks exploded behind my left eye as Jonah’s punch landed.
I sucked in a harsh breath as the sharp pain registered but a half a second later another blow smashed into my jaw sending me reeling against the bar. I propped myself back up on my feet, holding one hand out towards my best friend.
“Jonah, come on. You have to believe me. I never meant to lie to you.”
“Never meant to lie?” Jonah roared, “What the fuck else did you think you were doing?”
“I know. I know. And I’m sorry I didn’t come clean, but things are different with Quinn. I swear to you. She’s different.”
“You’re god damn right she’s different! She’s my sister, you asshole!” Jonah shoved a hard finger against my chest, “You knew she was off limits. You knew that. And you still went after her.”
“It was her choice too,” I spit out the words, the alcohol making me brave when I should be cautious but I didn’t see Stella’s look of warning, “She wanted me just as much as I wanted her-.”
Another punch landed, this time catching me by surprise and I shuffled backward but there was nowhere to go with the bar at my back as Jonah landed two more hits before I managed to push him back.
My face was swelling painfully, one eye starting to close but I had no problem seeing the red-hot venom in Jonah's green eyes, just like Quinn's, as he leaned close one more time.
“Leave town. Tonight.” The other man snarled, “Leave town or I’ll kill you. I swear I’ll do it, Leo.”
I looked up at him and could see the truth staring back at me. It hurt to see that look from a man I had come to think of as my closest friend. A small part of me had always thought he'd understand, that he'd forgive me. I realized then that I'd been wrong. So fucking wrong.
“I don’t care, Jonah,” I managed through my mangled, bloody lips, “I won’t leave Quinn. I’ll stay for her.”
“For her, or for you?” Jonah asked and I just met his gaze, glare for glare, but then his eyes narrowed and he fired his last shot and I knew I was done.
“If you don’t leave, I’ll sell the property. I’ll take it from Quinn and sell it to that developer and they’ll demolish it.”
“She loves that place, man,” I hissed, “She’d be fucking devastated.”
“I know. And it’ll be your fault. I’ll make sure she knows that.”
I stared at Jonah for a long moment as time seemed to slow to a halt. I knew how much Quinn cared about the bed and breakfast, how much of her heart and sweat and blood and tears she’d put into making it a success. It would kill her.
“Fine,” I forced the words out, and it was the hardest thing I’d ever had to do, “You win.”
“I want you gone, Leo. Tonight.”
“Tonight.” I nodded my head in agreement, defeat and heartbreak weighting me down like a million pounds of lead. “I’ll leave tonight.”
Chapter 23
Quinn
I looked around the empty apartment with a mixture of despair and disbelief. The night before I had cried myself to sleep after Jonah had left but I promised myself that the one moment of weakness was all I would allow myself. Then, I'd pick myself up, dust myself off, and figure out whatever the hell I needed to do to fix things between Jonah and Leo.
What about between Jonah and me? I thought desperately. I hadn’t spoken to him since he’d walked out the night before. I’d heard him stumble in sometime in the middle of the night but I hadn’t been up to talking to him again. I knew it would just turn into another argument and I could admit, to myself at least, that one argument with my brother in a day was enough for me.
But I hadn't seen him this morning either when I'd poured myself a cup of coffee before sneaking out to my car. My body had known where I was going before my brain did, but before long I knew where I needed to be. I needed to be with Leo.
Now, here I stood, shock filling me as I took in the sight of the empty apartment. Sometime between last night and this morning, Leo had packed up his possessions, the few that he had anyway, and he’d left.
I looked down at the bare wooden floor, surprised to find that there weren’t the shattered pieces of my heart littered around my feet. It hurt to draw in a breath but I forced the air in and out of my lungs, trying desperately to make sense of what I was looking at but my thoughts were slow and sluggish.
Everything felt numb as I turned and trudged back down the stairs, my mind still raging in chaos and my chest sore like I’d been stabbed and hadn’t healed all the way, the pain sharp and insistent.
My gaze found Stella standing behind the bar, like always. She wouldn't meet my eyes, keeping hers trained on the spot she'd been cleaning off the bar for the last few minutes but it didn't stop me from stumbling forward.
“St...Stella,” I had to stop and clear my throat before I could go on, “Um, Leo? His apartment is empty. Did something happen? Is he...did he leave?”
She cast me a sympathetic look before answering with a deep, heartfelt sigh, “He cleared out last night. He’s alright, he just left in a hurry that’s all.”
"Did he leave an address? A different phone number maybe?" My breath hitching as I forced the words out. My whole body felt cold like ice had just settled in my veins, "Any other way I could reach him? It's...It's important. I really need to talk to him."
“Sorry, honey,” Stella said, and she really was. I could see it in her eyes, “He didn’t leave anything like that with me. You know how he is.”
“Yeah. Okay. Thanks anyway.”
I turned to walk away but Stella hollered after me, her words making me pause.
“Maybe it’s for the best, you know?”
But all I could do was shake my head. “I don’t think so. I don’t think it is.” I kept walking, forcing my spine to stay straight when all I wanted to do was collapse on the floor in a heap of tears and anger but I made it to the women’s bathroom, pushing open the door and let out a sigh of relief to find that no one else was in there.
I pulled out my cell phone, dialing his number like I had eight times already before and for the ninth time, it rang a few times before going to voicemail. It wasn’t even his voice, just an automated, emotionless robot voice telling me to leave a message after the beep.
I hung up without leaving one. I'd already left several, at first calm, and then pleading. Growing angry, and then back to pleading again. The worst was the not knowing. It ate at me, gnawing at my insides like a sickness, making my stomach tighten with nausea and for the second time in as many days I found myself rushing to the nearest toilet.
It wasn’t until several moments later that I was able to pull myself back to my feet and out of the stall, stumbling towards the row of sinks. I washed my hands, doing my best to rinse my mouth out with the water from the tap.
I met my own tired gaze in the mirror hanging on the wall, takin in the bags under my eyes and the dark smudges like bruises from my sleepless night. I looked haggard and heartbroken.
Because I am, I thoug
ht to myself. For the first time in my entire life, I was truly heartbroken. And the fact that Leo had just packed up and left, not a word to me about where he was going or why. You know why.
I met my gaze in the mirror again, swallowing the sense of guilt. I did know. I knew how this would end. I knew that Jonah would eventually find out and do whatever he could to split us up. I just didn’t think he’d be successful.
It occurred to me then, that I'd been asking the wrong person for answers. Whatever had happened here, I could guarantee my brother had been involved. But I couldn't get a hold of him either. It left me with a sense of listlessness. Like I was all alone, adrift at sea with no one and nothing to anchor me, and no land in sight.
I would just have to make it back to shore on my own.
***
Leo
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and even though I told myself I shouldn’t, that it was a mistake, I still couldn’t help but pull it out and glance at the screen. Sunshine. That’s what came up on the caller ID, and the sight of it stabbed me like a knife to the chest.
It wasn’t the first-time Quinn had tried to call me since I’d packed my things and left the town of Coral Springs in my taillights and it wasn’t the first time I’d been tempted to answer, tempted to tell her the truth about everything, explain that he’d had no choice but to leave. Jonah hadn’t left me one.
My thumb hovered over the green button to answer the call. I was seconds away from answering but then I remembered Jonah’s threat. I could remember the look on his face as he told me to leave, told me he’d do whatever it took to destroy Quinn’s dream if I didn’t.
Jonah had meant every single word he’d said, and every terrible consonant and vowel that had come out of his mouth had destroyed me just the same.
It felt like I was sawing off my own arm and throwing it away but it didn’t stop me from crushing the phone in my hand before throwing it in the nearest garbage can. I forced my feet to keep walking back out to the gas station parking lot where I’d parked my truck.
Everything that I owned in the world was backed hastily in the passenger seat, but it still felt like I’d left the most important thing back there in Coral Springs. There was a Quinn shaped hole in my life now, and I was terrified there always would be.
I glanced at the horizon. The sun was starting to rise well above the tree line and the air was warm and balmy with a hint of summer on its breath. The open road stretched out wide and inviting in front of me.
Normally, I would be filled with a fierce excitement at the prospect of going someplace new, finding a sweet woman to fill my bed, or three, and forgetting that the past ever existed. But it all rang hollow now.
With a stale taste in my mouth, I forced my numb fingers to open the door of the truck and slid inside but I sat there for a long time before I started the ignition. My thoughts filled with her. Laughing clover green eyes, blond hair like sunshine, full of passion for life and love, and the biggest heart of anyone I’d ever met. Leaving her behind felt like I was peeling off my skin with every mile of distance I put between us.
I glanced at the garbage can. It’s better this way. Make it a clean break.
Better for who? For you, or for Quinn?
I tried to shake off the insidious whisper but they stuck there in my mind like a tick I couldn’t pry loose. It was the only way. Because I knew if I reached out to Quinn, if I heard her sweet voice, heard the pain that I’d caused her, I knew there was nothing on this earth that would stop me from going back to her if she asked. And I knew I couldn’t do that. For her, I had to keep moving on. For her.
Chapter 24
Quinn
Sweat dripped in rivulets down my back and my arms trembled under the strain as I hauled board after board from the front porch up the stairs to the second floor. It had been almost a week since Leo had just packed up and disappeared. Jonah had said it had nothing to do with him. I didn't believe him for a damned second but without proof, all I was left with was a pointless anger and a gnawing emptiness that ate at me.
I tried to fill it the only way I could. Throwing myself into work at the Mayhew house. The renovations were finally nearing completion but there were some glaring things that still needed to be done and my time was running out fast.
It was a blessing, in a way, that I could devote my attention to fixing up the property. I’d been there day and night since Leo had left, and I hadn’t cried once since that day in his empty apartment. I was too sore and too tired to cry.
The pain would sneak up on me at odd times. I’d be looking at a doorway that Leo had worked on and picture him there, tall and so handsome it hurt to look at him and shooting me that sexy, lopsided grin that always had my blood simmering. And it would feel like my whole world was crumbling under my feet. But then, I’d find tile to grout or trim to paint and I could focus on that for a while, forget the ache that pulsed in my chest like a second heartbeat.
I was so focused on the task at hand I didn't notice the blue-eyed woman standing just inside in the hallway until it was almost too late.
“Quinn! Watch out.” Lily said, jumping to the side just in time to avoid getting hit by the big wooden board.
“Lily, I’m sorry! I didn’t see you there.”
"Obviously," Lily muttered, shooting me a concerned look and I was glad when she didn't say anything about my haggard appearance. Instead, she pasted a bright smile on her face, trailing behind me as I walked the board into one of the unfinished bedrooms and set it with the growing pile of wood on the floor.
“I’ve been looking for you, Quinn. Tried to call a couple of times.” My friend was saying, and I could see the worry behind her bright blue eyes but I just shrugged it off.
"I've been really busy here. Only two more months until this place has to be finished. I've already booked a few customers for the summer."
“That’s great!” Lily shot me another smile, this one more genuine and it felt as if a small weight at least had been lifted off my shoulders, “I know how hard you’re working to make this bed and breakfast a success, Quinn. I’m really proud of you. You deserve it, you know?”
Out of nowhere, tears pricked the corner of my eyes at Lily’s words, threatening to spill over but I hid them behind a watery smile of my own.
“Thanks, Lil. I really needed to hear that.” I didn’t know how true that was until I’d said it out loud.
“Jonah is proud of you, too.”
My heart stuttered at the sound of my brother’s name and I shot Lily a hard look.
“Please tell me that Jonah didn’t send you to check up on me.”
“He didn’t have to, Quinn. I know something is wrong. I can sense it. I don’t need Jonah to tell me when you’re not acting like yourself.”
“Well, maybe I am. Maybe this is the new me.” I bit off the words, turning to walk back down the stairs. I still had more boards that needed to be hauled upstairs before I could start the accent wall that would set off each bedroom a little differently.
“That’s not what I meant, Quinn,” Lily’s voice followed after me as I trampled down the stairs, “It’s just, you’re working yourself so hard. I’m worried that you’re not taking care of yourself. You look like you haven’t slept in days.”
A week, to be exact. But I couldn’t tell Lily that. It would just prove her point and I was feeling particularly stubborn. Instead, I just rolled my eyes.
"Oh, thanks, Lily. That makes me feel real great."
“It’s the truth. It’s not supposed to make you feel good.”
“Is it supposed to make me feel like shit? Because if so, it’s working.” I shot back, grabbing another board but Lily was standing in my path when I turned around. Her hands were on her hips and she was giving me the same look her great aunt used to give us whenever we were caught doing something we shouldn’t be.
“Quinn Moore, I need you to listen to me. I don’t know exactly what happened between you an
d Leo, but–.”
"I don't want to talk about it, Lily," I said quickly, cutting her off as I tried to sidestep to get around her. The last thing I wanted to do was think about Leo, let alone talk about how he'd broken my heart and just left without a single word of explanation. Not even a goodbye. Just gone, as if he'd never been there.
"Please, Quinn, just talk to me!" Lily pleaded and I picked up my steps, trying to outpace her but in my rush, my foot got stuck in the pile of boards and my body was too tired to react quick enough to stop me from going down.
I yelped in pain as one of the boards slid, making contact with the side of my temple and Lily was by my side in an instant.
"Quinn! Hey, are you okay? Quinn?" She wrapped one arm around helping me back up to my feet and I was suddenly glad she was there as the whole world spun dizzily for a moment.
“I’m alright. I think so anyway.” I forced a weak laugh when all I wanted to do was throw up but I swallowed the nausea back down, trying to stand on my own as Lily gave me a hard look.
“Are you sure? You don’t look okay–. Quinn, your head!” She moved, too fast for me to follow as she leaned closer to look at my temple. “You’re bleeding!”