Page 47 of Wrecked
Did she want a list?
"You need to take a page out of Logan's book." She peeked through the window, and I followed her gaze. Everyone was still in deep conversation around the table. With her focus still on them, she murmured. "Do you think I would be here if he just gave up?"
Finally, I figured out what she was on about. "It's not the same, Harper."
She kept her gaze on the people outside a while longer before she turned her attention to me. "Fate has a funny way of meddling with our lives when we least expect it." Her smile looked wistful. "Did I ever tell you how I landed in Willow Creek?"
I shook my head after swallowing a few mouthfuls of beer.
"I opened a map and just picked the first place I saw. Now you tell me that fate didn't have a hand in that."
"Things are different with Kenzie, she has someone." Saying the words was equivalent to swallowing acid.
"You men can be so dumb sometimes, you know that? Brett, you need to get off your high horse and go get your woman."
I bit down hard on my teeth. "I don't see how this is any of your business."
Not even fazed by my pissiness, she curled her fingers around my wrist. "We're family, and that makes it my business. Did you even talk to her before she left?"
We did a bit more than talk. "I asked her to stay, and she still left. So yeah, I did talk to her."
She knitted her brows, and her eyes searched mine. "Well then, did you listen, I mean really listen to what she had to say?"
"I know you mean well, but I'm asking you to drop it." Done with the conversation, I spun on my heels and marched back outside.
Chapter 26
Surprisingly I didn't feel as nervous as I thought I wouldwhen I opened my door. On the other side stood Dean decked out in another tailor-made suit that fit his frame perfectly. He flicked his wrist, pulled back his sleeve and smiled a nervous smile.
"I made reservations at that new French place you wanted to try out." His gaze swept over me. "Uh, shall I wait while you get changed?"
I was still wearing my jeans and off-the-shoulder blouse. Shaking my head, I opened the door further. "I thought we could stay in and order takeout?"
Dean looked at me as if I just spoke a foreign language and to an extent, maybe I had. I wish I could say I was one of those domestic goddesses that could whip up a meal a Michelin chef would be proud of. What I knew about cooking was limited to omelets and scrambled eggs.
If we weren't having dinner with potential clients at some fancy restaurant or with either of our parents, Dean used to cook for us. With a puzzled look on his face, he came inside, his eyes searching with every step.
I closed the door and headed straight for the kitchen, I grabbed a bottle of his favorite wine from the rack along with two glasses before I padded back to the living room. Dean had shrugged out of his jacket and loosened his tie slightly. With his hands on his hips, he paced in front of the fireplace.
"Wine?"
He turned to face me, regarded the wine I held up and shook his head. "Kenzie, what's going on? You've been acting strange for a while."
After setting the glasses and unopened wine on the coffee table, I perched on the edge of my couch. He paced some more and even from where I was sitting I could feel his frustration.
With a sigh, he lowered his frame to the seat opposite me. Legs spread wide, arms folded, he waited.
I took a breath and began, "I have to tell you something and for you to at least understand some of it, I need to start at the beginning—" He listened as I told him about my relationship with Brett, how he'd given up his freedom for me and how my parents had kept us apart.
"It's a sad story," he remarked. "But I don't understand what it has to do with us."
"You will in a minute," Eyeing the wine, I cursed the fact that it was still sealed. "While I waited for my car to get fixed, I ran into Brett." I paused and waited for the weight of my words to settle. When realization dawned on his face, I continued, "I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to say it."
Dean turned his head to the fireplace, and I knew that he knew what I was about to confess. "We kissed."
Frowning, his gaze snapped to mine, "Just a kiss?"
Oh, it was so much more than that. He breathed life into my lungs with that kiss."Yes." I wrung my hands together in my lap as I tried to find the words that kept eluding me.
