Page 72 of Roark
Epilogue
It’d been two months since Roark had left Painswick.
Repairs to the clubhouse had been in full swing, and the repairs to the front of the manor and the parking lot were scheduled to begin in the days following his departure.
The night of the party had been crazy and scary and more emotional than he’d ever wanted to experience again. The explosion had shaken the ground surrounding the manor, sending all the guests into a screaming and running frenzy. Roark had only one person on his mind when the explosion had hit, and he’d run for what seemed like a marathon until he’d found her lying in the grass, blood oozing from her thigh and a gash on her head.
Cade had immediately gone into cop mode, calling the Fire Brigade, the cops and anybody else whose number he had stored in his phone. In moments, the place was pure chaos, and that lasted for at least the next hour. Or rather, that was when Roark had climbed into the back of the ambulance to ride to the hospital with Tamika. Hating that they were once again at the hospital and still feeling guilty as hell for suggesting she be anything like Katrina, he’d only done what she asked him to do. He called her mother and let her speak to her so Sandra would know she was okay. He’d held her hand when the doctor had come in to stitch her thigh and her forehead. Then he’d carried her to her room at the manor after she’d been properly dosed with pain medications.
And then he’d returned to his room, where he’d slept alone.
Lily had died in the explosion, just as her father had died trying to play out his endgame. Roark, Cade and Pierce had been flabbergasted when Tamika had told them Lily was Kaymen’s daughter, but when Pierce ran a background search on her under the pretense of notifying the next of kin, he’d indeed found the woman who’d helped Kaymen out of the car crash all those years ago. She’d been homeless at the time and had been living in a tent down under the incline where the car had tumbled. But since it was Tony’s car, he’d apparently left a Rolex watch and other expensive jewelry in the glove compartment. The woman had taken it all, and she’d bought food and supplies to nurse Kaymen back to health. By then she’d fallen in love with him, and for a while they’d been happy until two years ago when Lily’s mother died and Kaymen had read about the Donovans traveling to Africa for the wedding of Roark’s cousin Dane and Zera. The death and mention of the Donovan name had been his stressors, and his plan to kill his former friends had been hatched.
Roark’s ringing phone yanked him out of his thoughts, and he answered by pressing the speaker button.
“Where are you? Have you gotten there yet? Was she there? Did you apologize?” Suri rattled questions as fast as Roark drove along the road.
“Pause, take a breath,” he said and then chuckled. “I’m not there yet. And it’s just dinner.”
“There’s no such thing as ‘just dinner’ between two people who obviously love each other and belong together.” Suri had been riding his back about him walking away from Tamika ever since he’d arrived back in London.
“She didn’t mention anything other than dinner, so that’s all I’m assuming it is.”
“But you want it to be more, don’t you? Come on, Roark, you can tell me. You’re still in love with her, aren’t you?”
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “I wouldn’t be taking this drive if I wasn’t. But that’s not the point.”
“What do you mean, it’s not the point? I can’t believe you didn’t fight for her,” Suri snapped.
“Would you want a guy to fight for you, or respect you enough to find what you need for yourself?” That was the question Roark had fought with all these weeks. No, he hadn’t wanted to leave Tamika, but he also didn’t want to make her feel anything other than satisfied with not only her decision to be with him, but also for herself. She said she needed to love herself and be the woman she knew she could be, and he’d respected the hell out of that admission.
Katrina clearly didn’t love herself. There was no way she could’ve stooped to that last-ditch effort to try and get back in his life if she did.
“Don’t toss logic at me right now. I’m living this happy ever after vicariously,” Suri said.
Roark chuckled. “I’ll call you after dinner, okay?”
Suri sighed. “You’d better, or I’m coming to Painswick and knocking both you and Tamika’s heads together until you come to your senses.”
“Ah, that sounds painful. Bye, Suri.”
“Bye-bye!” she said cheerfully.
With a smile on his face, Roark drove the last ten minutes to the cottage in Painswick. He parked his car and stepped out but didn’t immediately go to the door.
He didn’t know what to expect by walking in there. Truth be told, he’d hoped it was more than “just dinner” too. He’d dreamed of her every night, especially since he hadn’t been able to sleep a solid eight hours since they’d stopped sleeping together. But he’d promised himself he wasn’t going to push. And come hell or high water, he was going to abide by that promise.
“Thanks for coming,” Tamika said after they’d finished eating the glazed ham, roasted potatoes and asparagus Tuppence had prepared for them. They were outside now, walking along one of the many pathways she’d discovered in the past two months.
“Of course,” he said. “I wanted to see how you and your mum were doing, and Tuppence. It’s great to hear you’re all doing well.” He was making a concerted effort to steer clear of any serious talk. He’d been doing that all night, and she appreciated it, but now it was time.
“I didn’t go back to the States once my leg healed,” she said.
The look on his face said he was shocked to hear that. “I thought you wanted to get back to your life, to look for work and see your friends.”
They walked a few more steps before she answered. “I did want all of that. And it made perfect sense to want it at the time I said it.”
“It made very good sense, and I’m sorry I didn’t realize it before I made my proposal.”
