Chapter 7
Chapter seven
Thea
The bell over the door jingled, and Thea looked up to see Nathaniel pushing his way in, wearing the same shirt he’d been wearing yesterday.
It seemed as though Eugenia had been right—Nathaniel hadn’t gone home. But why?
He approached her, an easy grin on his face, a concerned look in his eyes. “Why aren’t you still in bed?” he asked, coming around the counter to stand beside her.
He didn’t belong on this side of the counter…and yet she liked it.
“I’m not an invalid,” she said. “I am perfectly capable of running my own café.”
He reached out and tucked away the stray bit of hair that had been bothering her all morning.
“Just because you can be strong doesn’t mean you have to be,” he said quietly. “Your customers will be fine if you need another day to rest.”
“I don’t,” she said stiffly.
It was either that or melt into his arms like she’d never left them.
He gave her a sideways glance as he turned to help the customer approaching the counter.
“I can handle it,” she said softly, but Nathaniel gently muscled his way into her place, sending her backwards.
“Take a break.”
“I don’t need to take a break,” she insisted. But at the stern look he sent her way, she relented and retreated, finding her stool in the back, taking a seat.
“Stubborn man,” she muttered to herself as she sat. “I’m totally fine.”
Still, it was nice to take a break, if she dared to admit that even to herself. Being on her feet for so long had been more exhausting than usual, and she sighed as she settled deeper into the chair.
It was not a comfortable chair. She kept it in the back so that when Eugenia popped back to visit her while she was prepping, the elderly woman had somewhere to sit. But the woman insisted that she didn’t need luxury, so it was a plain wooden stool.
It was still better than standing.
She closed her eyes for a moment, the familiar sounds of her café very nearly lulling her to sleep.
But then she heard a voice she would rather not hear, and her eyes popped open.
“Where’s Thea?” Roan’s bold voice asked.
Considering he usually only asked that when he was here to make trouble, it didn’t bode well.
Thea got to her feet and hurried out. She should figure out what it was before Nathaniel tried to engage with his brother. In her experience, that never ended well.
“She’s busy,” Nathaniel said curtly as Thea made her way to the front.
“What do you need, Roan?” she asked, hoping not to draw the attention of everyone in town who was aware of their previous disagreements.
“I’m glad you’re both here,” he said, looking between the two of them. “I have something to say.”
He looked down at the young woman next to him, and Thea glanced at Nathaniel in surprise. Since when was there a woman in Roan’s life? Nathaniel seemed as surprised as she was.
“What is it?” Nat asked, waiting for Roan to continue. “We’re busy here.”
“I know,” Roan said. Was that guilt in his voice? “But what I have to say concerns the two of you.”
Thea didn’t usually consider herself a curious person, but she had never been more curious than now.
“I took your letters,” Roan said quietly.
Thea couldn’t contain the gasp that spilled out of her lips.
Before she could say anything else, he continued. “I realize now that it was wrong. That the two of you deserved a chance. I did it because I thought I was helping my brother, and I want to apologize and beg for your forgiveness.”
He glanced down at the woman next to him once more. “I know I don’t deserve it, but I can only imagine the pain that I put you both through, and I’m sorry. So sorry.”
Thea couldn’t find the words to say.
Nat had written to her?
“You did what?” Nathaniel said, his voice quiet and deadly.
“I don’t expect you to forgive me,” Roan said. “I know I wouldn’t if I were in your place. But I wanted you to know, and I wanted you to have them.”
He reached over, and the young woman handed him a bag she held. Thea’s eyes widened as he opened it and showed them the letters inside. She recognized some of them—and there were more she had never seen.
“How could you?” Nathaniel asked, looking up at his brother, his voice cracking. “How could you do that, when you knew how much she meant to me?”
“I thought I was helping,” Roan said simply. “You were so miserable when you came back, and I thought it would be better if you forgot about her and your life in Riyel, since I knew you wouldn’t leave Mother.”
“So you tried to erase the love of my life?” Nathaniel said, his voice turning deadly.
“I didn’t know,” Roan said, looking over at the young woman with pain on his face.
“I didn’t know what love felt like, and I’m so sorry.
More sorry than you could ever imagine. I wanted to bring the letters and tell you that I was sorry, and hope that someday you will be able to forgive me—even though I don’t deserve it. ”
Thea glanced at the young woman, who was staring up at Roan with love and something else she couldn’t quite identify.
“Who’s this?” she asked gently, turning the attention away from Nathaniel, who seemed to need a moment to learn how to breathe again. He was a very pretty shade of pink at the moment, maybe the most she’d ever seen, and perhaps a moment to collect himself would be beneficial.
“This is Abigail,” Roan said, reaching over to take her hand. “She’s the reason I realized how wrong I’d been.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Abigail,” Thea said, offering her a small smile. “I hope to get to know you a little better, especially if you are the reason Roan has had a change of heart.”
Abigail returned the smile cautiously. “I look forward to that as well.”
She seemed young for Roan, but Thea was not in a position to judge. She had been hopelessly in love with Nathaniel, even though he was younger than she was.
“I hope you can forgive him,” Abigail said quietly to Nathaniel, who was still breathing hard.
“You don’t know what he’s done,” Nathaniel warned her.
“I think he’s told me most of it,” she said. “Though I would love to hear your side, too. Perhaps there are more things I should encourage him to apologize for,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.
Nathaniel scoffed. “I can only imagine what it took to get him to apologize once. I don’t imagine you’ll get him to do it again.”
“I would apologize as many times as it takes,” Roan said. “I know I’ve been difficult for many years now.”
Nathaniel scoffed.
“But I would love to change that. You are the only family I have left, and I know that Mother, at least, would want to see us be friends.”
Nathaniel let out a breath in something that almost resembled a chuckle.
“Because Father wouldn’t care at all,” he said.
“Not at all,” Roan agreed, a small smile playing on the corner of his lips.
Thea glanced at Nat. Was he going to accept the apology?
“It doesn’t excuse everything you’ve done,” he said, his voice hardening. “Don’t forget the way you tried to drive Thea out of town.”
“I was scared,” Roan admitted. “I knew there was a chance you would find out what I had done, and I didn’t want it to come to light.
It was purely selfish of me,” he admitted with a grimace.
“I was worried about what it would do to the tavern, too, although those fears seem to be completely unfounded.”
“I told you it wouldn’t hurt it,” Nathaniel muttered. “You didn’t want to listen.”
“No,” Roan admitted. “I never wanted to listen to you. You were Mother’s favorite, and Father had left the tavern to me, and I thought that I should be the one who had all the answers when it came to the tavern. And I’m sorry that I allowed that to poison our relationship as brothers.”
Nathaniel looked skeptical. “That’s, what, the fourth apology you’ve made in as many minutes?” he asked. “What happened to my real brother?”
Roan and Abigail looked at each other, and a world of meaning passed between them in that moment.
“I don’t know that you would believe me if I told you,” Roan said, turning back to his brother.
“But I wanted to ask if you would be willing to come over for dinner. Abigail and I would love to talk to you. And you, too,” he said, turning to Thea.
“If you want to join us. I know there’s nothing I can do, but I would love to try to make it up to you both. ”
Thea turned to Nathaniel. She would go, if he would.
It would take time to process the fact that he hadn’t stopped writing to her.
He had proven over and over in the past years, since she’d arrived in the Northlands, that he was willing to do whatever it took to win her back—and if their separation hadn’t been his doing in the first place, the least she could do was go to dinner with his brother and hear him out.
“I…I suppose that could be arranged,” Nathaniel said with a sigh. “Now hand over that bag and get out of here. You’re holding up the line.”
Thea blinked and looked around Roan and Abigail to see a line three people deep.
Abigail let out a small laugh. “I think I need to try one of these muffins I’ve heard so much about,” she said. “May I try your blueberry?”
“Blueberries. My favorite,” Thea said with a smile as she reached into the case to get one out.
Roan reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins, and Thea waved him away.
“It’s on the house,” she said.
Nathaniel turned to her and frowned. “The least he can do is pay for a muffin,” he announced, reaching over to swipe the coins out of his brother’s hands.
Thea and Abigail laughed together and waved as Roan and Abigail turned to leave, Abigail’s muffin in hand.
“We need to talk,” Nat said, looking down at her seriously.
“I know,” she said. “Let’s help these customers first.”
Because customers couldn’t wait, even if everything else in her world had just turned upside down.