Chapter 21
Colton
We’re almost at the van when it hits me.
Something important.
Impatient, I wait for Todd to unlock the back, then toss my bags inside. “Be right back.”
He barely has time to frown before I stride back toward the store.
Henry lifts an eyebrow when I walk in. “Forget something?”
I don’t answer. My focus is already on the small floral display by the register. The bouquets aren’t much—somewhat measly and ridiculously overpriced—but the MacAllister brothers don’t declare love to a woman often. Hell, I’m not sure we ever have.
I stare at the bundles, completely out of my depth. What the hell kind of flowers do you give to a woman like Savannah?
Nothing fits. Nothing seems enough.
In the end, I grab two bunches closest to me. Simple, bright. Maybe they’ll make her smile.
I place them on the counter and swipe my card, trying not to wince at the price.
Henry smirks but, for once, keeps his mouth shut. “Have a good night.”
I nod and hurry out, gripping the bouquets like they might escape if I don’t hold on tight enough.
Todd takes one look at me and grins widely. “Great thinking, bro.”
We pile into the van, eager to get home. I barely register the short drive, my mind racing ahead, trying to picture Savannah’s reaction.
Will she be happy?
God, I hope so.
By the time we pull up to the house, we’re moving so fast we nearly forget the groceries. Between bags of food and the flowers, we must look ridiculous, but I don’t care. I just want to find her.
We drop the bags in the kitchen, which is empty.
She’s also not in the living room.
We check the laundry room, but there is no sign of her there.
Todd points to the ceiling, I nod, and we rush up the stairs.
The bathroom door is cracked open, steam wafting into the hall. She’s home. She’s showered.
Todd hesitates. “Should we?—”
“No,” I cut in. “We need to do this now. Before she hears it from someone else.”
I hear a voice from our bedroom. Is she talking to herself?
Todd opens the bedroom, and I zero in on her form. She’s standing at the window, talking on her cellphone. Her gorgeous hair, dark from the shower, is cascading over her shoulders.
“Hm-hm. Yes, Mom. I know.”
We shouldn’t be eavesdropping on her call. I bump shoulders with Todd and indicate with my head toward the hallway. We need to leave.
“Of course, I miss you and Miami, Mom. I know I was supposed to be back already.”
My world shatters and sounds become muffled as the roaring of the blood in my ears goes from normal tides to riptides, before it cascades to tsunami levels.
She’s planning to return to Miami.
The flowers drop from my hand, and I turn.
I shake off Todd’s hand, and stumble into the hallway and down the stairs. I need air. I need the sea. I need... her.
I move on autopilot, out the door, and into the cold. The wetness on my face has nothing to do with the weather.
I don’t know where I’m going.
The dock. The Sea Spirit . The only place that’s ever felt steady.
Except it doesn’t anymore.
It’s like watching a fishing net rip open as I haul it on board, my hopes slipping away with a flick of a tail.
Nothing has hurt so much like this. Not even when my ex told me she was leaving. Because you didn’t love her, you love Savannah , a little voice in my head taunts.
Yes, yes, I do.
Because I love her.
I fucking love her.
Halfway down the driveway, I stumble.
* * *
Savannah
I turn, the hand holding my phone dropping limply to my side.
Todd stands just inside the room, his expression unreadable.
And—wait. Is he holding flowers?
Behind him, I only see Colton’s back.
The scene feels unreal, like I’ve stepped into someone else’s life. My mom’s voice is still muffled in my ear, but I barely register the words. I raise the phone back, pressing it against my cheek. “Sorry, Mom. I have to go.” I end the call before she can object.
I told her I was staying in Maine, which did come as a shock to her. Probably, I should have been more sensitive to her reaction to the news. But I can’t deal with Mom right now.
I have more important matters at hand.
My left eyebrow slides up, and I cock my head at the brother standing in the doorway.
Todd shifts his weight, and his grip flexes around the bouquet.
“We love you.”
The words don’t register at first.
I blink. Once. Twice. My gaze drops to the flowers lying on the floor, the ones Colton let slip from his fingers before he bolted.
My other eyebrow joins the first in its climb toward my hairline. “We?”
Todd rubs the back of his neck, looking uncharacteristically unsure. Then he bends, picks up the fallen flowers, and holds them both out to me. “Yeah… we.”
I don’t reach for them. “Why did Colton take off like that?”
Todd exhales through his nose, the sound somewhere between amusement and frustration. “We overheard you telling your mom you miss her and Miami.”
Realization slams into me like a zap from a spark plug. “And the dumb fuck assumed I was leaving.”
Todd shrugs, but there’s no humor in it. “I can’t blame him. I was worried for a moment myself. Most women don’t stick around in Northwick Cove.”
Heat licks at my skin, anger mixing with something deeper. “I’m not most women.”
“I know that.” His voice is gentle and steals most of heat from my anger. “And deep down, Colton does, too. He just has…”
“…had a shitty experience with his bitch of an ex.”
Todd’s eyebrows shoot up, and surprise flashes across his face.
“How do you know about Annalise?”
“Grady mentioned her.” I wave a hand. “Didn’t say much—just enough for me to figure out she’s the ex who did a number on your brother. Anyway, I don’t even know her, but she’s awful. I’m sure.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. Then, unexpectedly, he laughs. “Yeah. She is. I never liked her.”
“Smart man.”
We stand there for a beat, the tension shifting, morphing into something else.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
Todd tosses the flowers on the bed, steps closer with his hand outstretched. I don’t hesitate. I slip mine into his, and his fingers tighten around mine.
“We go after him.”
I nod. My pulse is steady and sure. I firm my mouth.
I’m mad at Colton. I want to hit him and kiss him in equal measure. And I probably will.
But more than anything—more than my frustration, more than my own tangled-up feelings—I know one thing with absolute certainty.
I love the grumpy, taciturn bastard.
And his brother.
They are my light and dark, my fire and steel.
And I need them both.