Chapter 46 #2
“Never know,” Rupert continues as he picks up his fork. “Who knows what relationships we’ll have after this is all said and done?”
I want to kick him under the table, drag him by the ear out of here, and remind him that even though we might be fighting, he should at least shut the hell up for Renley.
“Well said,” Kitty says and then tips her wine back into her mouth.
Well said? There was nothing well said about that. It didn’t even really make sense.
Pushing past the nonsense, I cut a piece of chicken breast and take a bite, the flavors bursting over my tongue and surprising me. “Wow, the chicken is fantastic.”
“Thank you,” Kitty says just as I see Renley open her mouth to answer. “It’s a combination of some of my special spices.”
“Oh, I thought Renley made it,” I say as I catch Renley staring at Kitty with hurt in her eyes.
“She did, but I set out the spices for her before I started editing some of my videos.”
“You said you were going to sort the shipments that came in yesterday,” Renley says.
“Yes, but Rupert is leaving, and I wanted him to see my edits before he left. We can sort tomorrow.”
Renley’s jaw clenches and she stabs a piece of chicken on her plate, not saying a word. From where I’m sitting, I can see the frustration and disappointment.
“The edits were superb,” Rupert says. “She’s really learned so much since I came on board. I couldn’t be prouder of her progress. I know for certain that with consistency and practice, she’s going to be a big deal.”
“In hobby horsing?” Renley asks, a scoff to her voice.
Uh-oh.
“Why do I detect a sense of irritation in your voice?” Kitty asks.
“You don’t,” Renley says with a shake of her head and then stabs at her cut-up chicken again.
“I don’t know, it seems like there is irritation,” Rupert says, causing me to kick him under the table, because mate, not the time.
“Bloody hell,” Rupert says as he leans down and rubs his shin. “Why the fuck are you kicking me?”
“Spasm,” I say. “Sorry about that. Anyway, these mashed potatoes, is there garlic in them?”
“Are you irritated with me?” Kitty asks.
Okay, so we’re still on this.
“I’m not,” Renley says, lying right through her teeth.
“I don’t believe you.”
I clear my throat, preparing to ease the tension with a quick-witted comment, but before I can, Renley steps in.
“That seems like a you problem.” Renley lifts her wine glass and takes a very large gulp before setting it back down and topping off her glass with Kitty’s homemade wine. Careful, Renley, that stuff is lethal.
“That seems rude,” Rupert says, coming to Kitty’s defense for God knows what reason. “Is that how you should treat your aunt who has done so much for you?”
Oh shit…
“Excuse me?” Renley asks.
“Rupert, I think that maybe we should—”
Rupert holds his hand up to me, stopping me. “You know, you’ve been telling me what to do for a long time, and I think it’s about time I tell myself what to do.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, so fucking confused.
“He’s talking about letting him be his own person,” Kitty says, chin held high.
“I’ve let him be his own person,” I reply.
“Is that so? Why did he have to put his life on hold to help you out here?”
I blink a few times because am I in some sort of weird twilight zone? What the fuck is happening?
I scratch the back of my head and say, “He came with me because he was the one who got me into the mess in the first place and, to my knowledge, had nothing going on other than mindlessly fucking some girl named Sarah who seemed less than satisfied.”
“She was fucking satisfied,” Rupert says, pointing at me.
“Are you calling my niece a mess?”
“No,” I say quickly and then turn to Renley. “I was not calling you a mess or what we have a mess.”
Her eyes widen at my slipup.
Fuck.
Wanting to redirect, I bring it back to Rupert and Kitty before she can catch on to what I said. “Rupert, I have always allowed you to do whatever the hell you want. I haven’t held you back once.”
“What about in grade school? When he wanted to join that play and you told him not to,” Kitty says, folding her arms.
My eyes fall on Rupert, who is taking a sip of his wine, looking smug.
“Are you bloody serious right now? Grade school?”
“He’s always been the sidekick, not the main character,” Kitty says. “And he has main-character energy. He deserves more than just following you around.”
“Thank you,” Rupert says. “At least someone sees it that way.”
“You can’t be serious right now. Rupert, where is this coming from?”
“Years of being suppressed and finally finding his wings,” Kitty says before they clink glasses. “Just like me, being suppressed. Rupert helped me find my wings.”
“Suppressed?” Renley asks. “Is that a dig at me?”
“Of course not.” Kitty shakes her head. “Just, you know, had to have priorities and you have been a priority.”
Jesus, that is not going to go over well.
“Maybe when Dad first passed,” Renley says.
“But from there, it was all on me. I started my own business, started making money and supporting both of us consistently. Not just here and there, but with a steady workflow that has brought in money every week. I don’t see how that’s me suppressing you or stopping you from living out your dreams. I see that more as giving you the opportunity to do as you pleased, since you weren’t working. ”
“I have worked jobs,” Kitty says, looking thoroughly insulted. “And I helped you start your business.”
“Yes, you help start things but you never finish them. Ever. Just like how you were once again supposed to help me today with the store and you didn’t. The one person who has been helping me is Theo.”
“That’s because you two have been hooking up,” Rupert says offhandedly, making my insides churn and burn with anger.
“What?” Kitty asks, looking between the two of us.
I’m going to fucking murder him.
Murder him for breaking the news to Kitty.
And murder him for making that fucking assumption. I wasn’t helping because we were hooking up. He damn well knows that.
“You two have been hooking up?” Kitty asks, gesturing between me and Renley.
“For a while,” Rupert says as he leans back in his chair. “Made me swear not to say anything to you.”
“Why would you say that?” Kitty asks, looking genuinely hurt. “You know I’ve been telling you to find someone who cares about you, and then you go and decide to keep it hidden?”
Renley calmly places her napkin on the table and looks at Rupert.
“You’re an asshole,” she says before she stands.
Addressing Kitty, she says, “I haven’t told you because I knew that you wouldn’t let up about it.
You would have gone out of your way to make romantic moments, to bother me about him, to convince me to stop working so hard and have fun with him, when that was the last thing I needed.
But it doesn’t matter now, because he’s going back to England and I’m going back to getting stuff done because I have a goal to make something of myself, to prove to the town that I’m not some laughingstock, and that I’m a strong businesswoman. ”
“You’re not a laughingstock—”
“I am!” Renley shouts, her voice breaking with emotion.
“I am a laughingstock. You heard it yourself from Marjorie. No one believes in us, Aunt Kitty. People think we’re screwups, misfits.
Between Dad sweeping the beach, looking to strike it rich, and you hopping around in the front yard on a toy horse, I don’t blame them.
Your reputations have fallen on me and I’m trying desperately to dig myself out of the hole you’ve put me in. ”
Insecurity and insult are written across Kitty’s expression as she sets her napkin on the table as well. “It was never my intention to embarrass you.”
“But you do.” A tear falls down Renley’s face. “But not because of your hobby horse endeavors. It’s because you consistently let me down when I need you the most.”
With that, Renley takes off out the door, leaving me with Rupert and Kitty.
“Well.” Kitty adjusts her silverware on her napkin. “I’m sorry…” Her voice chokes up. “I’m sorry you had to bear witness to such an exchange.”
I don’t know what to say other than that Rupert is an arsehole like Renley said.
I stand from the table just as Rupert says, “Where are you going?”
“Going to find Renley after you just blew up her secret.”
“Don’t you think we should talk?” Rupert asks.
“Talk about what?” I toss my hand to the side.
“How I’ve suppressed you your entire life?
How I’ve held you back? How I’ve made your life apparently a living hell?
Because I’ve seen it completely differently.
I saw two lads making the best of the hand they’ve been given.
I’ve seen two mates forming a bond and helping one another.
I’ve seen two brothers swear to be by each other’s side through thick and thin.
If you’ve seen it differently, then I’m sorry, Rupert.
I truly am. It was never my intention to hurt you, to subdue you, to make you feel any lesser than me.
Because between the two of us, you are the one that is greater, with far more potential than I’ll ever have.
And if I haven’t shown you that, or expressed that to you, then my apologies are in order.
You are my mate, my brother, and I hope that whatever you have going on in your head gets worked out, because I love you. ”
Without another word, I take off, my heart hammering in my chest as I race outside and search around, looking for any trace of Renley, but when I don’t see her, I know there’s only one solid place I can look.
And hopefully I’ll find her there.