Page 10 of Mine to Love
“Fun,” he said.
“Hey, Gabriel,” Miles called. “Want to work on the golf cart with me?”
“Yeah.” Gabriel took off running like a kid in a candy store, not bothering to say goodbye to Charlie.
Which was uncharacteristic, even for Gabriel.
She glanced over her shoulder and watched, her heart in her throat, as Miles and Gabriel strolled toward Miles’ garage. Miles was so good at gauging Gabriel’s emotions, or lack of them.
He knew when he could touch and when he couldn’t.
And he understood this wasn’t the time to even offer a squeeze of the shoulder.
“Did something happen?” She turned her attention back to Charlie.
“Nope.” Charlie leaned against the sports car. “Who is that guy to you? Are you sleeping with him? I hope not.”
“Even if I was, I’m not your wife, so that would be none of your business.” She folded her arms. “We need to talk.”
“I agree,” Charlie said. “I’ve had enough of this little temper tantrum you’ve been throwing. I never should have signed those divorce papers. I thought if I gave you some space, you’d come to your senses, but this has gotten out of hand. It’s time for you to come home. Where you belong.”
She blinked. “Excuse me? Did you honestly believe I’d go through the trouble of divorcing only to take you back a few months later?”
“We went through a tough time. Perhaps we both needed space. Now it’s time for us to reconnect.”
“No, Charlie. It’s time for you to leave me alone.”
He pushed from his car and put his hands on her forearms. “Come on, babe. This is ridiculous. How long are you going to make me pay for one mistake?”
“One mistake?” She shrugged free. “Try a dozen and I’m not even going to get into that with you. Come here one more time and I’m calling the cops. And don’t even try to get to me through Gabriel. You need to stop contacting him. He’s not your brother. He’s nothing to you and stop acting like he is.”
“I see that asshole over there has been putting ideas in your head. I know who his mother is.”
“Miles, or his family, has nothing to do with this. I’m tired. I’ve tried playing nice. Not just for Gabriel, but because I saw no point in making a spectacle of what happened.” She poked him dead center in the chest. Something she wouldn’t have dared do in the past. “I did that for your parents and your father’s business. I let everyone in Palm Beach believe I was the bitch who left you high and dry. I don’t care that everyone still believesthat. You can go back to your nice cushy life and leave me the fuck alone.”
“I see your foul language has come back.”
“It never fucking left me.” She pointed to his car. “Now leave, or I call the cops tonight. Your choice.”
Charlie leaned closer. “You’re making a mistake.”
“The only mistake I ever made was not doing this sooner.” Damn, this felt way too good.
Charlie opened the driver’s side door and smiled. “I give you a month tops before you’re begging me to take you back.” He climbed into his sports car and peeled out of the driveway.
“Never going to happen, asshole.” She tugged at her ponytail and released her hair, letting it flow over her shoulders. She gave it a good shake, before turning on her heel and heading toward Miles’ garage.
She owed him big-time for giving her the courage to do what deep down she knew she needed to. Dealing with Gabriel, however, might have to come in stages. She’d start slow, telling him some truths. She had to because Charlie wasn’t going to be in their lives anymore and she owed it to her little brother to be honest.
Leaning against the opening of the garage, she smiled at the sight of her little brother leaning over the engine of the golf cart with a wrench in his hands and a towel over his shoulder.
“I know it’s late, and the sun has already set, but are you boys hungry?” she asked.
“I’m starving.” Gabriel stood. He looked so much like their father with his dark hair and blue eyes. But he’d gotten shortchanged in the height department. Their dad had been six-three and Gabriel only stood five foot ten.
Liberty took after their mother with her long blond hair, but she also had blue eyes. Height-wise, she was only five-five, whereas their mother had been five-seven.
She often wondered where in the world her parents ended up after they left Palm Beach, shamed for having a son with such a disability.
