Chapter Fourteen #3
Her shoulders jerked involuntarily as she let out a sob. She covered her mouth with her hands, then squeezed her eyes shut to try to stop the tears from flowing.
“Andrea,” she heard behind her. She almost couldn’t look. She opened her eyes to find Seth, her jacket in hand, his expression a mixture of hurt and concern.
“I’m sorry,” she sputtered. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Hey, hey,” Seth said. He draped her coat over her shoulders, then stood back for a second. “You don’t have to apologize. That was stupid of me to blurt that out.”
Andrea shook her head. “It’s…” But she didn’t know what else to say.
“I shouldn’t have said it. We’ve never once talked about our future like that. The conversation shouldn’t have started in front of a live audience.”
Andrea stayed quiet.
“I guess I just…” Seth paused. “Is it really that objectionable of an idea?” His voice was laced with hurt.
She was still struggling to breathe steadily and reached for the right thing to say. A frosty breeze made her pull her coat tighter around her shoulders. Why hadn’t she driven herself here? Would a Bronco cab drive her as far as Tenacity? An Uber, maybe?
“Does this have something to do with Harold Davies?” Seth said.
Andrea’s breath caught in her throat at the sound of Harold’s name.
Her eyes widened as Seth’s words sank in, and her embarrassment quickly shifted to anger.
“What did you just say?” she said, her voice trembling.
She suddenly didn’t feel cold. A wave of burning heat was boiling up right in her core as she absorbed what Seth had just said.
Seth cleared his throat. “I just know that…things didn’t end well between you.”
“And you know about Harold how?” she said. The sharp bite in her voice was uncontrollable as every defense hardened. What did he know about Harold Davies? Even hearing his name coming from Seth’s mouth sickened her.
Seth’s blue eyes were steeled, and when he reached out to touch her elbow, she recoiled instinctively.
“Andrea, you have to understand. I—I had to know about you before I thought about getting into business together.” In the silence while he paused, Andrea had a flash of Seth researching her online.
Or, more likely, paying someone to research her for him.
All she wanted was to disappear, but Seth wasn’t finished.
“A smart investor researches before making an investment.”
Andrea took a sharp breath in. “Is that how you see me?” she managed, her vision wavering with the anger that was coursing through her. “A business proposition?”
“You know that’s not true,” Seth said, her voice firm and steady. “You know that’s not true at all.”
The betrayal was nauseating. Seth spied on her? Clearly he knew everything about her before he knocked on her door for the first time. And had the gall to pretend otherwise. “You must think I’m some kind of fool,” Andrea whispered.
And there it was again. The flailing loss of control that Harold had caused when he’d upended her life.
Gaslit her. Tilted the balance of her world in a way that called into question her self- image as a capable, independent person.
How could she have given herself over so quickly, so completely to another man?
Seth had betrayed her, no doubt. But more than that, she’d let herself down too.
“I’d like to go home,” Andrea said. “Please call me a cab. And tell your family I’m sorry, but I’m feeling very unwell.”
Once again, silence filled the courtyard. Andrea turned away from Seth and brushed away the hair that the cold November wind had pushed in her face.
Seth stepped into her eyeline, but she still couldn’t look at him. “Andrea. I practically just proposed to you. Doesn’t that give you some kind of a clue how I feel about you?”
Andrea swallowed. “I just want a cab, please.”
“I’ll drive you home. It’ll take hours to find someone to drive you to Tenacity.”
Stupid. She was stupid not to drive. She’d been nervous about spending time with Seth’s family, but they hadn’t been the issue. “Fine,” she said. “Please take me home.”
“I’ll get my keys,” said Seth, his voice low and gravelly.
For the few minutes she waited for Seth to reemerge from the ranch, Andrea stood alone in the quiet of the courtyard.
The night sky was clear, and the stars were shining bright.
Downy flakes of snow were falling. How foolish she’d been to think that this Thanksgiving would be different.
A celebration with a big family. A good man by her side.
And now, she only felt disappointed and more alone than she’d ever felt.
The drive home was silent, and although nothing was visible in the shadowy black fields, Andrea stared out the window in an almost hypnotic gaze.
When Seth pulled up in front of the ranch, he killed the engine just as Andrea unbuckled her seat belt. “Wait,” he said. “Don’t leave yet.”
“Why?” said Andrea. She was still upset, but now she was also exhausted. “There’s nothing more to say.”
“I disagree,” said Seth. “Andrea, how could I have predicted what was going to happen between us? Everything I did was long before I ever set eyes on you.”
“You could have been honest up front,” Andrea said. “Anyway, it doesn’t really matter now.” She exited the car without waiting for a response, and as she shut the front door of the ranch, heard the sound of Seth’s car engine turning over again.
By the time she kicked off her shoes and went to the front window, Seth’s headlights were disappearing down the dark highway.