Chapter 28 #2
“Enough, enough, go get settled in,” he says gruffly, and I can’t help but chuckle.
When I leave the room, I find Janie lingering by the door. “Janie,” I say quietly. “Can you help me unpack?”
Relief floods her face. “Yes. Of course.”
We go upstairs to my old room, same quilted bedspread, same photos on the walls, same view of the mountains through the window. It feels like stepping back in time, before California, before the auction, before Sebastian. Before everything changed.
Janie closes the door behind us and immediately bursts into tears.
“I’m so sorry,” she sobs. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t gotten involved with Tim, if I hadn’t signed those papers, you wouldn’t have had to, you wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“Janie, stop.” I pull her into a hug. “This isn’t your fault. You didn’t know what you were signing. And I made the choice to take your place.”
“But you’re married to him now. You’re stuck for two years because of me.”
“I’m handling it.” I pause, searching for words that won’t be a complete lie. “It’s complicated. But I’m good.” God, I’m getting tired of the word complicated.
“Are you?” She pulls back, wiping her eyes. “Because you don’t look good, Lennox. You look like you’re barely holding it together.”
“I’m tired. It’s been an intense month.” I sit on the bed, the familiar comfort of my old room settling over me. “What did you tell my family?”
“Nothing. Just that I’d gotten into some trouble and you helped me out of it. Your dad asked a million questions, but I kept saying I couldn’t talk about it, that it’s your story to tell.” She sits beside me. “Is that okay?”
“That’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Your dad’s going to keep asking.”
“I know. I’ll handle him.” I look at her. “How are you doing? Really?”
“Scared. Confused. Grateful to be home but terrified someone’s going to figure out what really happened.
” She twists her hands in her lap. “Your family has been so kind to me. They let me stay here, they made sure I was okay. I moved into the apartment with Grace a while ago. It’s been fun having my own space again. ”
“I’m glad you’re doing good. Any backlash from your family?” We sit on my bed and I’m immediately taken back to that small apartment we shared where we laughed, talked and made plans.
“Randall tried once, but Grace scared him off.”
“Of course she did.” I laugh.
“Len, is he, is Sebastian all, umm…” She can’t finish the question.
“He’s intense, demanding and would have crushed you the first night.” I stand and move to the window. I shouldn’t have said that, but she needs to know that she wouldn’t have survived Sebastian Drake. “I have four more days here, then I have to go back. I want to make the most of them.”
“Do you want to go back?”
The question hangs in the air. Do I? Part of me wants to stay here forever, safe in my childhood home, surrounded by family who love me unconditionally.
But another part—a part I don’t want to examine too closely—is already thinking about Texas.
About the ranch house with its stone walls and view of the cattle. About Sebastian trying to be different.
“I don’t know,” I finally admit. “Ask me again in four days.”
* * *
Dinner that night is both comfortable and tense. We sit around the big dining table, the same table where we had every family meal for as long as I can remember, and for a while, it feels normal.
Crew tells stories about the vet practice he and Lark run.
Cole tells me about a rogue bull that took out two fences last week.
Emma talks about her classes, about a complex surgery she observed.
Grace describes Rosie’s, the restaurant where she took over my job and about the grumpy new cook who is about to make all the patrons so mad they are going to quit for another restaurant in town.
Normal family conversation. The kind I’ve been craving without realizing it.
Dad clears his throat, and I know the interrogation is starting again. “So tell us about Sebastian,” he says. “What’s he like?”
I put down my fork as I gather my thoughts. “He’s focused, hardworking. He built a resort empire from basically nothing, so he’s driven. Ambitious. Smart.”
“That’s what he does, not who he is,” Dad says. “What kind of man is he?”
Complicated. Possessive. Capable of both tenderness and cruelty. Fighting against his own instincts to control me.
“He’s someone who’s learning to be better than he was raised to be,” I say carefully. “His family is powerful, wealthy, traditional in so many ways. He’s trying to find his own path while honoring that legacy.”
“Does he treat you well?” Cole asks. The question is simple but loaded. Because how do I answer that honestly without revealing the truth?
“He’s getting better,” I say. “We both are. Marriage is an adjustment.”
“After a month, you shouldn’t need that much adjusting,” Emma says. “You should still be in the honeymoon phase. Instead, you’re here without him.”
“I needed to see you all, that doesn’t mean anything’s wrong.”
“Doesn’t it?” Dad leans forward. “Be honest with us, Lennox. Are you happy? Because you don’t look happy.”
I meet his eyes. “I’m trying to be happy. That’s the best I can do right now.”
The table is silent. My siblings exchange looks. Dad’s face hardens.
“That’s not good enough.”
“It has to be.” I stand, suddenly unable to sit still.
“I know this isn’t what you wanted for me.
I know eloping with someone you’ve never met isn’t the fairy tale you think I deserve.
But it’s my life, my choice, and I’m handling it the best way I know how.
So please, just trust me. Trust that I know what I’m doing. ”
“Do you?” Cole’s voice is gentle. “Because from where we’re sitting, it looks like you made a decision you regret, and now you’re stuck with it.” He is more right than he knows.
“I don’t regret marrying Sebastian,” I say. Which is technically accurate. I don’t regret taking Janie’s place at the auction. I just regret that the auction existed at all. “I regret not including you all in it. I regret the secrecy. But I don’t regret him.”
Dad studies me for a long moment. “Tomorrow, when he gets here, I’m going to have a long conversation with him. Man to man.”
“Dad, you can’t.”
“Yes, I can. You’re my daughter. I don’t care what vows you took. If he’s not right for you, I’m not letting you go back to him.”
The protectiveness in his voice makes my chest tight. Because he means it. He would absolutely refuse to let me leave, would stand between Sebastian and me and would fight the entire Drake family if he thought I was in danger.
And I can’t let that happen or let him get involved in something he doesn’t understand.
“He’ll pass your test,” I say quietly. “I promise.”
“We’ll see.” Dad stands. “I’m going to bed. You girls clean up.”
He leaves, and my siblings look at me with varying degrees of concern and curiosity.
“So,” Grace says as we start clearing plates. “Want to tell us what’s really going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Len. We’re not stupid.” She stacks plates at the sink.
“I told you.”
“You told us some pretty version,” Lark says as she moves beside me, lowering her voice. “We’re your sisters, and sister-in-law. We know when you’re lying. So either tell us the truth or stop pretending everything’s fine.”
My baby sisters look at me with concern. Lark grew up in a family with two sisters and she can read me like a book. They want to help; all I have to do is let them in.
But I can’t. Because the truth will destroy all three of them. “I’m fine,” I lie. “Really. I wasn’t planning on getting married, so it’s been an adjustment: new family, new place, new life. That’s all.”