25. Shattered Apologies
Chapter twenty-five
Shattered Apologies
Chloe
“I’ll handle Laney,” Harper says, taking another bite of her ice cream. I can’t look at her.
“Only crazy people eat ice cream like that.”
She grins, licking a dollop of vanilla from her lip in the most exaggerated way possible before taking another obnoxious bite. “All I’m saying is you have more important things to worry about. The protests are being managed, and people are turning up. That’s all that matters.”
“That’s just it.” I groan. “Relationship drama with Brody hardly feels more important than the entire fate of Bluepeak. I have a responsibility to this town, Harp. I’ve already missed one march, and people expect…"
“Screw people and their expectations.” She cuts me off. “You do nothing but live for this community. This time, it’s okay for you to think about yourself.”
That tone—stern teacher mode. I know better than to argue with it. We fall into an easy silence on the sidewalk, working through our ice cream cones. Still, the emptiness of the street is a reminder of how I’m letting everyone down.
My mind drifts to the urgent errand Harper roped me into, the one important enough for her to skip last period, and secretive enough to get rid of Laney. I can tell something’s up.
“So… is this about your date with Mason?”
She stops mid lick, her cone hovering in disbelief. “My what with who now?”
Ah, hit a nerve. “He told me he’s taking you to dinner tonight.” I chuckle. It feels good to be thinking about someone else’s love life for once. No more Brody sobbing for five minutes, please. “Kinda sucks I had to hear it from him, though.”
She gives me the most dramatic look. “It’s just a date. Not like we’re eloping to Vegas or anything.”
“Eloping?” I choke on my ice cream, coughing it back up. Damn vanilla trying to kill me. “How did we jump to that? I didn’t know you two were talking.”
That mischievous smile… here we go. “We’ve been talking. At first, it was Stirling project stuff, then at the festival…”
“What happened at the festival?” My eyes widen. Spill, woman. I toss the soggy cone into the nearest trash can. “Tell me everything.”
“If you were there, you’d know.” She fixes me with a knowing look, eyebrow quirked. Now we’re back to Brody. There’s no escaping him.
A hot flush creeps up my neck. I drop my gaze. Staring at my flip-flops hitting the pavement is a lot easier than thinking about Brody—and what went down between us.
But no. I don’t want to go back there or anywhere that involves him. Not yet. Not until I’ve made sense of it all.
“Let’s cut through the park.” Harper gently steers me toward the pedestrian gate leading into Westridge.
“What? Where are we going?” She dodges my question.
There are so many places we could be going... None of this makes sense. My mind does somersaults as it tries to connect this to Harper’s date with Mason later.
“Oh, look! The flowers are blooming.” Harper bends down to brush the blooms, totally ignoring my confusion. I’m over here connecting imaginary dots, and she’s admiring flowers?
“Kinda reminds me of that painfully yellow cocktail dress Laney wore to Mayor Dawson’s fiftieth. Remember?”
I fold my arms and scowl. “ Harper...”
“We gave her so much hell for that dress. Coming up with nicknames was the highlight of that night.”
I’m done. “I’m not taking another step until you tell me what’s going on.”
“Whatever happened to your sense of adventure?”
She hooks her arm into mine and drags me down the path. The smell of summer threatens to soothe my nerves, but I’m not giving in yet. Adventure? Sure. I used to love it—until a certain CEO showed me how quickly adventure can turn into a catastrophe.
Her pace quickens, and before I know it, we stumble through some bushes, causing a burst of color as butterflies flutter around us. They flit wildly around our heads, a few stubborn ones dancing in front of my face as I swipe at them.
Then, I see him, and everything inside me goes still.
Frozen to the path, I shield my eyes from the sun, my limbs go numb .
“I can’t believe you,” the words slipping out from the corner of my mouth.
Before I can leave, Harper grabs my arms and turns me to face her.
“Hear him out. That’s all you have to do.”
“How do you know what he wants?” I take a deep breath, praying I can keep my shit together.
Guilt flickers in her eyes, it explains the way she quickly excused herself to take a call while we were still in the middle of my parking lot freakout. It’s why she was acting weird after and got rid of Laney so fast.
“You should’ve told me,” I whisper, dragging her to stand behind one of the spruce trees.
“You wouldn’t have come if I had.” She peeks around the tree, and I do the same. Brody’s standing there, his back to us, staring out over the hills.
Waiting for me.
“He played you, Harp. Don’t you see? He got you to bail on work for him. He’s the kind of guy who always gets what he wants, no matter the cost. Look at this project, at what he’s done to me.”
“All of that could be true, but what if it’s not?” She lets her question hang, forcing me to consider it.
I hate it, but she’s right. I deserve to know, once and for all, what’s really going on.
“Fine,” I say. Might as well rip off the bandage.
I swallow hard, forcing my feet to move toward the deck where Brody stands, shoulders rigid, back still to me. The butterflies from earlier? Now they’re in my gut, throwing tiny butterfly elbows. Every step tightens my chest, but I keep going. One foot. Then the other. Don’t stop.
As I get closer, I spot the items he’s laid out—a bunch of red roses, bakery boxes, and two lemonades from Tony’s cart. A last-minute picnic? Really? It’s going to take more than sugary bribes to fix this shitstorm, but a small part of me softens.
“Hey.”
Brody spins around, his expression a mix of alarm and confusion. He frowns, like I’m the last person he expected. As if he hasn’t been standing here, waiting for me. Then the confusion fades, replaced by the softest smile I’ve ever seen from him. Almost hesitant.
He steps towards me, picks up the roses from the bench and holds them out. “These are for you.”
I stare at the flowers, then back at him, arms firmly crossed. “I told Harper I’d hear you out. So... why did you want to see me?”
His smile falters, and the bouquet droops with it. He sets the roses down, and for a second, I almost give in. But no. This is all I have left to give.
“Don’t be mad at her,” he says, turning so I can’t quite see his face. “I had to convince her to help me.”
“What, did you threaten to rip down the high school? Fire her if she didn’t?”
His shoulders stiffen, then slowly square as he turns to face me, hurt flashing in his eyes. “I guess I deserve that.”
“Accountability. Solid start.”
I want to roll back the harshness, but… no, he doesn’t need to know I’m struggling. My insides are a wreck, everything pulling in opposite di rections, and my hands won’t stop shaking. Still, I don’t budge.
“Sure, but it would help to know what you’re holding me accountable for,” he says, his cool slipping. “I’ll apologize, I’ll do whatever it takes, but I have no idea why you’re this–”
“When are you leaving for Italy?”
“Italy?” He looks at me like I’ve just asked him to name a color no one’s ever seen.
“It’s enough that you’ve made a fool of me in front of the whole town, Brody. Don’t insult my intelligence too.” I step forward, closing the gap between us. I didn’t ask to be part of whatever this is, but now that I’m here, I want answers.
“I heard you talking with your brother about your next big project. It’s more exciting in Italy, right? This town’s a dead end. Nothing to do, and nothing keeping you here. No reason to stay.”
I’m proud of the steady bite in my words, but the more I say, the harder it is to keep control. I don’t know if it’s because I’m so close to him, how good he smells, or the look in his eyes. He’s trying to fix everything with a single stare.
He looks away. The silence stretches, and I hate that it says more than he does.
“You weren’t planning on me finding out this soon, huh?” I ask, struggling to keep the edge in my voice. “You needed me in your corner until your project was set. Until I couldn’t stop it.”
“I would never use you that way. You have to trust me.”
Trust? I’m not sure I have any left. He reaches out, but I shrink from his touch.
“I know what I heard,” I say, finding my resolve again. “No more lies, no more hollow apologies. I deserve an explanation.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do, if you’d let me. What you heard… Chloe, it’s not what you think.”
“Then enlighten me.”
Brody pushes the roses aside and gestures for me to sit on the bench. I don’t fight it, settling between the fresh scent of pastries and something earthy in the air. It should feel romantic, but my nerves are shot.
He kneels in front of me, hands clasping mine. It’s all very grand, a perfect picture from the outside, but inside? I’m falling apart.
“Chase heard about the work we’re doing here and came to me with a business proposition.” He begins, his grip tight on my hands. “When he saw us together…”
“You and me?”
Brody nods. “He gave me hell about it. I kept deflecting. Playing it cool. We hadn’t exactly talked about... what this is between us.”
I swallow hard. “You and me,” I repeat, almost to myself.
He sighs and nods again. “So I played along, made him think he was imagining things. Then Chase decided to test me. He suggested I leave town, and hand over the project. That’s what you overheard. A power play between brothers.”
I want to believe him. I really do. But it doesn’t feel right. There’s a nagging doubt lodged deep inside me that I can’t shake.
“Say something, Chloe.”
My eyes find our hands, fingers still tangled. His touch used to calm me. Now it makes everything more confusing.
“I’m trying,” I say quietly, the words heavy with doubt, “but…”
“We were guys being guys.” He cuts me off. The frustration in his tone rises closer to desperation. “I said some things I shouldn’t have—stupid things. I’m a dick. I’m sorry. But that’s not how I feel about you.”
I finally feel brave enough to meet his gaze and am thankful for the support of the bench. I’m teetering between wanting to trust him and being terrified of making a fool of myself again.
“If it was an act, then it means you’re not leaving Bluepeak?” I ask, zeroing in on the one thing I need to hear.
His eyes shift away, and he rises slowly, letting go of my hands. The sudden coldness makes me shiver.
The sharp ring of his phone startles both of us. Perfect timing, as always.
“Chase again .” He groans, silencing the call.
Another buzz. Then another.
“Persistent little shit,” he mutters. A second later, the screen lights up again.
“You can answer if you need to…”
“I don’t,” he says, thumbing the power button until the screen goes dark. “Not right now.”
He slips the phone into his pocket. His hand finds mine again, and everything in me is loud. Breath, pulse, anxiety.
“Chloe, I —”
“brODY!”
A voice comes flying down the path.
Chase stumbles into view, sweaty and red-faced, as if he sprinted the last mile in pure panic.
Brody looks up, shocked, “What the hell? ”
“I was at Sylvie’s,” he says, still catching his breath. “I overheard Laney saying something about Chloe burying you behind the lake, and I freaked out, okay? I called you, like, six times . You didn’t answer. So yeah—I tracked your phone to make sure you weren’t, you know... already decomposing.”
“You thought I killed him?”
Chase winces, looking sheepish. “Alright, maybe that was a little extreme, but I don’t know, man. It’s a small town. People get weird sometimes.”
Brody rubs a hand over his face. “Jesus.”
“Sorry! You’ve both been off and tense and vaguely stabby for weeks. I didn’t want to be the brother who ignored a red flag and had to lie to the cops later.”
I glance at Brody, then at Chase.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Not when I was about to finally stop second-guessing everything, only to have his brother crash through the woods like I’d actually murdered someone.
Maybe that’s the universe trying to tell me something.
“I can’t keep going through this,” I say. “Every time I get close, something finds a way to wreck it.”
He reaches for me. I don’t move.
Behind us, Chase mutters, “ Okay ... no shovel. That’s promising.”
No one laughs.
And whatever was about to happen between us doesn’t survive the interruption.