Page 79 of Moonshine and Magnolias
She looked over at Rob, who concentrated on not hitting any of the trees that brushed the road. She didn’t need to always be the commander. And trying to be one had added more stress and pain and anxiety over a situation that had nothing to do with her.
Rob pulled into the Fountenoy Hall parking lot and turned off the ignition. Neither moved from the car. “You okay?” he asked.
“This never would have happened if you hadn’t been here. I would have been more observant, more aware of what was going on.”
Rob ran his hands down the thighs of his jeans and opened his mouth to speak. “Wendy—”
“Thank you. Being with you has made me let go of what I can’t control. And I wouldn’t change a thing.”
A smile broke out on his handsome face, making his hazel eyes crinkle. “Anytime you need to lose control, you know where to find me.”
She got out of the car and poked her head back inside. “Come with me.”
They skirted the house and went to the orchard, but Wendy didn’t stop. She breezed past the rows of fruit with Rob and kept going until she was at Fenwick’s oak tree. Generations of Claytons would sit in its cradle of branches to contemplate which path to take when faced with life-changing decisions. Wendy hoped its wisdom would guide her now.
She hoisted herself onto a low branch and patted the space next to her. Once Rob had joined her, she took his hand and ran her fingers over his palm, its lines and dips and edges. It was easier to focus on that than on him. Of all the thing outside of the scope of her influence, she had never wanted anything more than she wanted this moment.
“I’m scared,” she whispered.
“I’ve got you,” he said.
Her heart overflowed that he understood what she meant. “You’re the first person in a long time who made me want to feel.” She swallowed around the thickness in her throat. “I’m a better person when I’m with you.”
“Wendy.” His voice was thick.
“Don’t say anything.” She threaded their fingers together. “I don’t need to put up any walls. When you hold me. It’s safe.”
He kissed the back of her hand.
“Don’t leave.” Wendy whispered the words to Rob’s chest, unable to look at him, unwilling to see his expression. “When you’re done with your research. Stay. Please.”
Chapter 16
Rob’s frustration of trying to straighten the twisted knot of his tie couldn’t stop the dorky grin that spread over his face. His reflection in the bathroom mirror had the same blissful expression as he undid the mangled mess and started over. Last night had been amazing. After he kissed Wendy and told her he’d stay, they’d gone up to her room and spent the night in each other’s arms. And other body parts.
“You haven’t had enough coffee to be that happy.” Hal took a sip from his own cup and inspected his brother’s attire. “Dressing up isn’t going to help.”
“Help what?”
“Find the Angels Eyes. Get Mom and Dad back together. We haven’t uncovered anything new in the past few days. What we have instead is all this extraneous information that won’t do us any good.”
“You don’t think ‘Hearing the low murmurs of the criminals echo through the woods, making it impossible to get a fix on them’ is useful?” Rob asked. The information wasn’t helpful for their search, true. But it would be more than useful for a book. The one Wendy had suggested with an offhand comment and Hal had mocked him for. Rob straightened the fabric under his chin. If Wendy could know the truth about why he was at the Hall and still want to be with him, that wasenough proof the curse never existed. “You’re looking at it wrong.”
“Only a few men in our family have had a successful long-term relationship since the 1920s. What other way is there to look at it? We’re lucky Mom stayed with Dad as long as she did before taking off.”
“Ever think Mom left because Dad spent more time worrying about the future than paying attention to the present?” Rob confiscated his brother’s coffee as he left the bathroom and took a sip. It was a dark roast Hal was fond of, and on the verge of being too bitter. “Dad’s more concerned with stealing something that doesn’t exist than investing in their relationship.”
“Recovering,” Hal corrected. He folded his arms. “What about me? I never had a relationship that lasted beyond three weeks.”
“You’re a self-fulfilling prophecy.” Rob took another swallow and handed back the cup.
His brother placed it on the table, carefully avoiding any papers. “And you?”
“Look.” He pulled on his shoe. “I have a real chance with Wendy. I’m not going to let someone’s over-active imagination taint it.” There was something personally satisfying in his work, whether bringing closure to families or seeing a book he researched skyrocket on the bestsellers list. But being with Wendy had him looking beyond. They deserved a chance to explore why life threw them together. He wanted to uncover her secrets and idiosyncrasies. He wanted her to discover his.
“What do you think is going to happen when she finds out?”
“Finds out what?” The more pressing question in Rob’s mind was what going to happen when he told his brother he was staying in Claremont.
