Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
The major flaw in Sloane’s plan was the fact that now that she was free from her family—she had to decide if it was really time to stop running.
She believed she’d broken her father’s hold on her and wouldn’t hear from him again.
She even believed, maybe naively, that if her father ever tried to drag her back into the fold, Jarrett and Noah would step up to keep that from happening, given the evidence against her father that would implicate them as well.
So, this was it. Decision time.
And for someone who’d spent years running, the urge was there like an itch she couldn’t scratch, because falling in love and establishing roots was a big deal.
What if Gage didn’t feel the same way about her as she felt about him? He was a guy. Guys were typically okay with one-night stands. And the fact she’d snuck out and left him—the control freak—high and dry?
She doubted that had gone over well. She’d broken his trust, and that would be a hard thing to earn again.
When she’d left Gage sleeping in his big bed, she’d only had one thought in mind, and that was to protect him from her family.
To make sure he stayed safe while she attempted to extract herself from the disaster of being a Harrington.
It could have gone very, very wrong. She might not have made it out of that hotel lobby on her own.
Might even have found herself married to a mobster.
But thankfully, miracle of miracles, she’d accomplished her goal.
And in doing so, she’d also removed her excuses for keeping her distance from Gage. Without that barrier, she had nothing to keep her heart from completely accepting the fact she’d fallen in love with him.
But he was a man with an ego who was going to be furious that she’d left the way that she had, and—what if he didn’t feel the same for her?
Especially now?
Sure, he’d offered her help, but that was without knowing how dangerous her situation actually was. Had he known the truth, would he still have made the offer? Wanted to be involved in something so…technically criminal?
Likely not. Gage was a good guy. An honest one. A stand-up citizen who followed rules and the law because that was just who he was.
And absolutely no one wanted to take on a mob-tinged family with connections if they didn’t have to. Why would he want to risk everything? His livelihood? His life? Especially for someone who’d given him so little at every turn?
She hadn’t freed herself for nothing. That fight with her father was a long time coming, but—Gage and his safety had definitely been defining factors for her why now.
And as terrified as she’d been on the drive to Chicago to face her father, she was now even more petrified on the drive back to Carolina Cove.
Gage was a man who was all about control, and she’d taken that away from him. Stripped him of it entirely because she’d insisted on handling things her way. Alone and on her own.
Gage wouldn’t be okay with that. And relationships—if they even had one?—meant sharing the load. Trusting in a partner to take on whatever problems they faced as a couple.
She might arrive to find herself homeless and jobless, depending on his response.
Maybe it was the emotional toll of not dealing with her past for so long, but now every doubt and fear and what-if insecurity ran through her head on repeat during the miles and miles back to the coast.
She was so keyed up and anxious that she coffeed-up and drove straight through, arriving in Carolina Cove in the early hours of the following morning.
And since it was too early to knock on Gage’s door and demand to know his feelings—to be honest, she wasn’t sure she was ready just yet for that talk, either—she drove to the boardwalk and parked to watch the fishermen on the pier.
That’s when her emotions really bit into her, and after a while, she gathered up the tattered remnants of her courage and drove to the rentals building to wait for sunrise, preferring the darkness and shadows to the bright lights surrounding the pier.
She crawled down the alley to the back of the building, breath catching in her throat when she noticed the starfish had been painted over.
And because she’d been up over twenty-four hours and counting and had endured an emotionally wrought few days, tears stung her eyes before she rapidly wiped them away, refusing to give into them.
There was only one reason for that wall to have been painted in the short time frame she’d been gone.
Gage’s anger.
His upset.
He’d erased the memory. Their memory.
Erased the night they’d met so he wouldn’t have to look at it every time he entered and exited the building.
Did that mean he’d also erased her? Any chance of forgiveness? Was she making too much of a painted wall?
But what if her feelings for him were all one-sided?
She’d left town because risking her heart meant risking Gage’s safety, and until her past was settled, she could never have a future with him.
But what if Gage’s need for control and his pride wouldn’t allow him to understand why she’d done things the way she had?
She parked away from the building in the shadows where the cameras couldn’t see her. Then she sat and stared through burning eyes at the freshly painted wall and wondered if coming back to Carolina Cove had been a horrible mistake…
She wasn’t sure when she’d dosed off, but the flashlight shining in her face was a harsh wakeup call.
Sloane groaned and lifted her hand to block her eyes from the glare, noting an older police officer stood outside her door. She’d fallen asleep staring at the blank wall, still behind the wheel and exhausted after all the driving and her caffeine and sugar crash.
“Open up, miss.”
She slowly reached out a hand and did as ordered, squinting despite the fact the man had angled the flashlight away.
“Haven’t seen you around for a few days. You’re Sloane, right?”
She blinked up at him, surprise sliding through her.
The cold air blew into the car like a blast of awareness, but the cop didn’t ask for her to get out.
“Yes. I—I work here. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.
I was waiting on Gage to show up for work.
” She glanced toward the bare wall, and the man’s gaze followed.
“He painted over that a few days ago. Was the talk of the town since it had been there for so many years.”
She frowned at the news, her heart taking another jab. “I wonder why.”
“Some memories glare at you as you walk by them,” the man said. “I’d say that was one of them.”
She realized this man knew way more than he was letting on. “You seem to know Gage well.”
“I’ve watched over those boys from a distance ever since their parents were killed in the crash. Everyone knows them. Loves ’em, too.”
She nodded, hearing the chiding tone in the words and because she’d seen evidence of that as well. From the locals stopping in to support their various businesses to the tourists who made a point to visit every year, Sloane had seen how the brothers had handled the interactions.
They were beloved on the island. The locals, and everyone else who had heard their tragic story, had adopted them for themselves over the years. “I can’t imagine. I’m not sure I’ve ever really belonged anywhere,” she said softly.
“Well now, that’s a shame. Maybe if you decide to stick around, you’ll find out what it’s like firsthand.”
“Maybe,” she mused. “I’d like that.”
“Would you?”
The question was pointed enough—terse enough—that he drew her full attention once more.
The man looked concerned, and her ribs squeezed around her lungs.
“I hurt Gage when I left, but believe me when I say it was for the best. I had something I had to take care of, and I had to do it on my own. Gage is a good guy. Protective. He would’ve wanted to handle the issue for me, but—that wasn’t possible. I had to stand up for myself.”
A long stretch of silence followed her words.
“I see. I suppose I can understand that,” the cop said. “Sometimes a person has to find their own way, no matter how much others want to help.”
She nodded and managed a smile at the older man. Officer in uniform or not, he seemed genuinely sincere and not at all the hardcore policeman the job no doubt required. “So, any suggestions on how I fix the mess I caused?”
Maybe it was a stupid question to ask a total stranger but ask she did.
“As a matter of fact, I might have a few.”
When you grumble like the Grinch on Christmas Eve, it might be time to hole up and emerge after the holidays are over, Gage mused as he stomped his way out of the townhouse.
Still no word from Sloane. And even though Christmas was tomorrow, he refused to let himself get his hopes up.
She was gone. She’d left. That’s all he needed to know and all the closure he might get.
“Thanks for stepping up, man!” Wolfe called as he slowed his rig and leaned an arm out the window.
“The community center and pavilion were already booked, and the kids would be crushed if the police and fire Christmas party was cancelled because of a water-line break. They have tough enough lives already.”
Gage nodded his head in understanding and grabbed the door of his truck.
Growing up after their parents had died in the accident, he and his brothers and baby sister had been guests of the event more years than he could count.
As a company, Blackwell Enterprises donated heavily to the cause, buying gifts and food so every kid would have a good Christmas.
Gabriel waited while Gage climbed behind the wheel, and then they both headed toward the rentals building.
The gravel area beside and behind the building wasn’t overly large but they could drag a Christmas tree outside to pretty things up and at least feed the kids a snack under the sunshine while they got a present.
When they arrived, Alec and Brooks had already brought a full-sized tree and set it up outside. They’d even dressed up a scrawny-looking Santa who sat in a beach chair beside it.