11. Teddy #2
"You're confusing privacy with rejection.
When we were teenagers, I was sworn to secrecy.
If I'd told you, even in confidence, I would've been trusting a teenager with something that could put another person in danger.
And if somebody overheard us, or if you told your best friend, or your sisters, or someone at school without thinking...
" He shook his head. "It wouldn't have taken much.
One overheard conversation. One person putting two things together. "
The rational part of Teddy knew he was right, but that still didn’t make her feel any less excluded. “I get that they were in danger. I just don’t like feeling like I’m always on the outside.”
“Those women weren't hiding because they wanted to," Kent continued. "They were hiding because someone was looking for them. Husbands. Boyfriends. Families. Sometimes people who had money or influence and could make a lot of trouble if they found out where a woman had gone. Even as a teenager, I knew what a risk I’d be taking if I ever said anything to you. Besides, I wasn’t much of a talker anyway.”
Teddy reluctantly smiled at the comment. Kent had always been a loner. He may have been on the inside when it came to this particular secret, but in other ways, he was just as much of an outsider as she was.
“Your mother protected you from liabilities you weren't equipped to carry when you're young,” Kent added. “And when you came back to Harvest Hollow this autumn, you already knew by then that your mother used the disputed land as a sanctuary. There really wasn’t anything more for me to tell you.”
He shifted his weight slightly, his eyes remaining fixed on her features with unwavering clarity.
When Teddy didn’t respond, he continued.
"You believe I owe you every piece of my history to prove my loyalty.
But I haven't broken any romantic promise to you, and I haven't offered you false claims or drawn you into a commitment under false pretenses. Other than my mother’s story, I haven’t kept anything from you.
You've kept yourself at a distance since the hour you arrived. "
Her breath caught at the truth of his words.
Her mind raced back through the previous weeks, from her insistence on keeping her Maine plans intact, to her refusal to acknowledge the heat between them, and her constant reminders that her time in Harvest Hollow was strictly temporary.
She'd used her pending departure as a shield, protecting herself from the risk of caring for someone who could break her heart again.
"I don’t know how to protect this farm, our family legacy, without knowing the whole truth," Teddy murmured, her pitch wavering slightly despite her best efforts to preserve her composure.
"I know what you're trying to protect," Kent said, his sincerity piercing straight through her iron defense. "And I respect the devotion you carry for this land. But I don’t believe that knowing every woman’s private battle will help you protect anything. And protecting my mother’s past isn't a rejection of you.
I won't apologize for keeping her past private. "
He took his hands from his coat pockets and looked at her directly, the afternoon light highlighting the steady, uncompromising honesty in his gaze.
"Teddy, I can’t keep pursuing someone who uses every revelation as a pretext for constructing another wall."
Her heart rate accelerated, her lungs pulling in the cool, apple-scented air as her dark eyes widened. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that the next move belongs to you," Kent said.
"I won't chase you across this farm, and I won't force my way through the barrier you've constructed.
If you want a future here, and if you want a relationship built on genuine trust, you've got to be the person who opens the door.
You've got to decide whether you're willing to risk letting someone in. "
He offered her a brief, respectful nod, his expression holding a serene warmth that offered no malice or resentment.
Without waiting for a sharp retort or a defensive explanation, he turned and moved back along the dirt track in the direction of his own property, his tall frame outlined against the golden orchard canopy.
Teddy remained motionless near the gate post, as the physical space separating them widened.
The soft rustle of drying foliage in the breeze remained the solitary noise in the fall air.
For the first moment since her arrival in this valley, her high walls offered her no safety, leaving her alone in the golden light with the terrifying knowledge that the door was hers to open, or lose forever.
She lingered near the rim of Marchetti Lane, taking in the serene beauty of the surrounding hills as the shadows lengthened across the grass.
She recognized that the greatest obstacle positioned between her and a life of genuine belonging wasn't the secret records, the carved initials, or the disputed six acres, but her own profound fear of vulnerability and her stubborn refusal to trust the man who'd given her every reason to stay.
She thought about her paper with its tidy rows of blue ink initials and names, and suddenly it appeared hollow and insignificant compared to the quiet integrity of the man departing.
The farm's legal future still required answers, but for now, she understood that no court filing or private story could repair the distance she'd created within her own heart.