Page 50 of All I Need (Hearts of the South)
“I should stay out of this.” Landra crossed her arms over her chest, her voice intense despite her hushed tone. “He’s a man and he has his own life, but he’s my little brother. He’s been mine and Mama’s hope since she brought him home, and then when there wasn’t any hope left, he was our joy. I’m asking you, please don’t hurt him. He’s not a plaything or a stopgap or whatever is going on with the two of you. I don’t like looking at him and seeing him without hope or joy. If that’s because of you, let him go. Please.”
Without waiting for a reply, she strode toward the front exit and disappeared through the door.
Savannah stared after her, speechless for once in her life.
“Gates Melbourne.”
The name sank into her shocked consciousness, and she whirled on Dempsey. “What?”
“That’s where I know you from. I worked with him some when he was swinging shifts between here and Valdosta.” Dempsey tilted his chin. “You’re Gates Melbourne’s fiancée.”
Too much was happening at once, and she struggled for her normal reserve. She matched Dempsey’s challenge with her own chin. “Yes.”
Dempsey was silent a moment, his eyes sad. “Poor guy.”
She nodded. “Yes, it was bad—”
“Not Gates. He went out on top, doing what he loved, loving life, loving you.” Dempsey shook his head, for once his face set in a sober expression. “I meant Em. He doesn’t stand a chance, and he doesn’t even know it. Landra’s right—you need to let him go.”
Was he crazy? Leaving for work and then simply never coming home did not constitute “going out on top”. Gates was supposed to come home that night, like always, and tangle his feet with hers while they watched late-night television in their bed, and that Saturday, he should have put on the tux he’d kicked up such a fuss about and waited for her at the altar, waited for them to start the rest of their lives together.
Then all of that had just been gone.
And Dempsey was worried about Emmett, who she was simply…whatever the hell they were doing. It wasn’t the same by any means.
Gates was gone. At least Emmett could have those todays and tomorrows and…
“If you’re going to get pissed at anyone, make it me.” Dempsey’s voice hardened. “Not Em because he’s alive while Melbourne’s gone. Because you have no clue how close it was, and you have no idea what the last year’s been like for him. He’s getting his bearings back, finally, and I don’t want to see them knocked out from under him again.”
She sucked in a breath that was shakier than she liked. “And you think I’d do that to him?”
“Not on purpose, no.” Neither his expression nor his voice softened. “But you’re still putting your world back together, right? His well-being is not your primary concern, and we both know it. I’m out of line here, and he’ll have my ass for this, but yeah, Landra’s got a point—if you can’t see him as part of that life you’re making, you need to back the hell off him.”
Chapter Ten
Desperate for a little calm in the hurricane of her day, Savannah pulled into Amy and Rob’s driveway after work. Amy’s car was gone, but Rob’s truck signaled he might be home. Still feeling shaky, she let herself in and found him in the dining room, perusing a county map spread out on the table. With a drowsy Hamilton draped football-style on his arm, he looked up and smiled. “What’s up?”
She slung her bag on a nearby chair and crossed to stand by him. With a gentle fingertip, she stroked the thin silk of Hamilton’s dark hair. “Do you think I’m trustworthy?”
Taken aback, he studied her a moment. “It depends on the context. Why do you ask?”
“Emmett doesn’t trust me.”
“Smart guy.” He leaned forward to mark a point on the map with a thick black marker. “Only way he could be smarter would be to run for the hills.”
“Robert.” He was not helping.
“I’m serious.” He straightened and held his arm closer to his chest when Hamilton stirred. He rested his hip on the table. “I love you, Savannah, and I know you’d have my back no matter what, the same way I know Amy would. But that’s different. You’re still holding your grief like a shield, with both hands. You won’t let it go, and that means you can’t have his back.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. The conversation made her stomach hurt. As much as she knew she needed to look at this, she didn’t want to. “Clark Dempsey thinks I should let him go.”
“You probably should.” His expression serious, Rob stared her down. “He’s a decent guy. Playing him isn’t fair.”
“I’m not playing him.” Her voice wanted to break on the words.
“Not on purpose, but you’re stringing him along when you don’t have any actual intention of being real with him.” His features softened somewhat. “It’s wrong, Savannah.”
“I’m not—” She swallowed the protest. Not knowingly, but yes, she was, because she couldn’t damn well make up her mind what to do.
