Page 51 of Meet Me on Blueberry Hill

Her eyes narrowed. “What else could it be?”

He lifted a shoulder and shoved his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

Sadie’s vision blurred as more memories surfaced. Lauren’s service. Her parents’ grief. She blinked back tears as resurrected sorrow carved a hole in her chest. She pressed a hand against her mouth. “My family was torn apart that night, our lives forever changed by Lauren’s death. My parents lost a daughter. I lost my sister and my best friend. There’s no amount of money in the world that could replace her.”

A look of horror passed over Asher’s face. He stretched out a hand—were his fingers trembling? “I’m so sorry, Sadie. So sorry.”

The gruffness in his voice nearly unraveled her fraying emotions. He took a step toward her, then paused. Hands shoved in his front pockets, he shook his head and directed his attention to the floor. Then he looked at her with those dark eyes, but this time they had almost a haunted look.

He jerked a thumb toward the back door. “I, uh, need to go. Gotta take care of something in the house. And you need to check on Hetty.”

A gentle hand rested on her shoulder, and he gave it a light squeeze. “Goodnight, Sadie.”

Squeezing her eyes shut, Sadie dragged her fingers across her lashes and pulled herself together. Then she opened them as Asher headed out the back door of the stable.

“Asher?” She hurried after him, but with the rain and midnight sky, he’d disappeared into the darkness.

The cold rain pelted her in the face, and she backed into the stable.

Wait…what just happened?

She bared her soul, and the guy just…bolted?

She returned to the spot where Asher had kissed her, picked up her T-shirt that had fallen, and curled her fingers in the wet cloth.

Releasing a sigh, she walked out of the stable and headed into the storm.

Asher’s past was catching up with him, and he had no place to run.

At least, not until his aunt and uncle returned.

Of all the girls on the island, he had to fall for the one whose family he’d destroyed by the choices he made.

Seeing that tattoo was like a punch in the gut.

Now he wanted to put his fist through something. Or grab a bottle and guzzle until the pain exploding across his chest was numbed.

Or just rage against the unfairness of it all.

He’d sent money to help cover funeral expenses, not pay them off. He wanted to protest, to let her know that wasn’t the intent.

But then he’d have to reveal who he was.

Sadie deserved to know the truth.

He tried, but she cut him off. But when he had the opportunity, instead of manning up, he took off and left her standing in the stable all alone.

She didn’t need to witness him hurling his guts in the rain as he reacted the bombshell she’d dropped on him.

Problem was, telling her not only risked their growing relationship, but if other people learned about his past, then he didn’t stand a chance of revamping the tour company.

Asher ran a shaking hand over his clammy face and pressed his fist into his churning stomach that he’d just emptied behind the stable.

Rain assaulted his skin as he stumbled to the house. Without turning on lights, he headed upstairs to the shower.

Fifteen minutes later, and in dry clothes, he dropped on the edge of his bed and cradled his head in his hands.

Somehow, he needed to figure out a way to protect Sadie and his family from the sins of his past.

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