Page 79 of Right With You
He ran a hand through his hair and looked away, that sharp jaw visibly clenched beneath the trimmed stubble. When he looked back at me, desperation bled from his eyes.
“I want it to be my problem, Elise. I wantyouand anything to do with you to be my problem.” He shook his head, forehead scrunching up like his words were all wrong. “Actually, no. Not my problem. Myjoy.Everything about you would be my joy, if you’d let it.”
He took a step toward me, then stopped himself. “There is no part of me that wants to take anything from you. I don’t want to coerce you or convince you of anything other than my sincerest regret that I hid this from you. My arrogance drove on this one and I have no excuse—I won’t try to make it better.”
He… he wouldn’t?
“More than anything, I need you to know I will do whatever you want me to with it, but for now, here’s this.” He handed me an envelope.
I eyed it, my brain not fully functioning. “What is it?”
“Just open it. And if that’s not what you want, you tell me and I’ll do exactly as you say.Exactly.No strings, no expectations.S’il te plait, mon cœur,please look at it.”
I sucked in a halting breath. “Okay. I will.”
I wouldn’t tell him no. I could. But I wouldn’t.
More progress.
He nodded, hesitating for a moment before turning and descending the stairs. I watched him as he walked with long strides toward the parking lot and my heart skipped when his dark gaze caught mine before he ducked into his car.
I didn’t know what to think, but that was like no other apology I’d ever received. And the words ringing in my ears as I went back inside were the ones that stayed with me all night.
Everything about you would be my joy.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT
Luc
Kenny and Stone offered to come over, but I refused. I didn’t need them piling into the house that already felt too full.
Too full and yet empty. Bereft of the person I most wanted here with me.
Aurelie had tried to console me when I walked back in from my feeble attempt to convince Elise I didn’t want to control her or her business. I only wanted to be with her.
Aurelie had promised that Elise would see the truth. That if she knew me at all, she’d know. But would she? Would she know I wasn’t like her ex? That I was trustworthy?
How could she know such a thing when our relationship began as a lie? Granted, it was a lie she was in on, but that didn’t matter at this point.
Did I deserve her trust?
More and more, with every hour that ticked by with the speed of a month, I worried the answer was no.
At seven the next morning, I showered and dressed. Without waking my sister and Michele, I left to meet with my grandfather. He’d summoned me late last night via text, and though I had nothing left to say to him, some part of me yearned for him to make this right. I didn’t know how he could, but the Luc who’d grown up with him as a loving if sometimes distant grandfather longed to repair at least one thing in my life right now.
After I’d followed Elise out last night, I’d run back inside to get my phone. Everyone had been arguing, Odette with her parents and Aurelie with Grand-père. When I entered, they stopped, and I looked him in his face and said the only thing I could think of.
“I don’t understand you.”
He only stared back. I paid no mind to anyone else, leaving Aurelie and Michele to their own devices to get home. They’d handle it. And in the meantime, I went to print off the documentation I had about her business so I could at least give her that proof.
This morning when I walked in, a twinge of relief swept in at seeing only my grandfather. In fact, he answered his hotel suite door in a robe, his pajamas still on underneath and his feet bare.
I blinked and grabbed the door frame. “Are you ill?”
He’d already walked away from the door and spoke only in French when he replied. “No. I didn’t sleep last night.”
I entered, completely disarmed by his unkempt appearance and the way he seemed to be moving slowly. Maybe he was coming down with something?
