Page 73 of Something Old

“And it worked again,” Ethan said, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. How could she not trust him? Trust his father over him? Again?

Ethan shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You were right. If she had loved me, you couldn’t have convinced her to break it off.”

“I’m not so sure about that. I saw her at the wedding. She looked devastated.”

“I’m sure she was. She probably expected me to beg her to stay, to chase after her.” He walked around the desk and sat, opening the folder. “No, it was for the best. A marriage can’t exist without trust, and she doesn’t trust me.”

His father slammed his hand down on the folder, closing it. “She loves you. She only left because of that. Well, and me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself. She could have reached out to talk to me, to clear everything up. Hell, I can see the damn museum from here.” If he squinted and used his imagination, which he did quite a lot.

“I was wrong. And I rarely admit to it, so accept my apology.”

Ethan shrugged. “Thanks. Can we get back to work?”

His father slid the folder out from under Ethan’s hands. “I don’t think so. You’re miserable here and I’m going to do something for you. You’re fired.”

Ethan sat back, stunned for the second time that night. “Fired? I wasn’t that out of practice.”

“Of course not,” his father snorted. “But your sister is more than capable of handling the business, and she wants to. It wasn’t fair of me to force this on you. You have to live your own life, not mine. Do what you want to do. But may I make one suggestion? Talk to her. Tell her how you feel.”

“How do I feel? Even I don’t know. But you’re right about one thing. Hermitage Vines is where I’m happy. I’ll figure out my next steps from there.”

* * *

In an astonishingly short period, Ethan cleaned out his desk and gathered his stuff from Matthew’s bachelor pad, where he’d been living, packed his car and headed south to the vineyard. As soon as he left the outskirts of Houston, the cares that dragged him down drifted away behind him, streaming back to Houston and his old life. For the first time, he was truly free, no waiting for his father to pull him back. No reason to go back in time.

So why wasn’t he happier?

Not for the first time, he wondered if he should have taken his friends’ and his father’s advice and gone to see Delaney. But what if they were wrong? What if she didn’t love him? Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on you. Who knew what would happen the third time? He didn’t think his heart could take another blow from Delaney Winters.

He hoped she was happy wherever she ended up. He didn’t hate her, not anymore. It was in the past and he was moving on.

If he told himself that enough, maybe he could believe it.

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