Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Vaughn
“Fuck.” My chin hits my chest, and I grip the back of my neck to hold myself together.
The look on her face tells me exactly how hard this news hit her, how badly I’ve gutted her on a day she should feel nothing but pride in achieving her goal.
But as proud of her as I am, I can’t stand by and watch her do something I know means I will lose her in the end.
“Uh, I take it you didn’t talk to Kate about you leaving?” Dex offers, stepping closer.
He’s turning out to be the friend I could’ve used all this time. Rock solid, steady, dependable.
“No. I didn’t want to ruin her night. Looks like that happened anyway.”
Kate’s gathering Gus up, and the old man takes one look at her and glares at me. Still sharp as a tack, Gus knows I’m the reason for the stricken look Kate’s trying to hide.
The rest of the party doesn’t notice that she’s upset, she hides it so well. She hugs her friends and calls her goodbyes, but I see what she’s hiding, and I hate that I’m the reason for it. “Can’t be helped,” I mutter.
“You trying to convince me or yourself?” Dex says, clapping me on the shoulder. “Looks like you better go, or I’ll be giving you a ride. Keep in touch this time, and I’ll keep a lookout for those two.”
Kate bustles Gus through the door, and I have to hurry to catch up. I make it to her car as she starts it, and realize I’m relegated to the back seat. I scrunch in and barely get the door closed before she’s moving.
“Kate—”
“Don’t fucking talk to me right now,” she barks in a tone I’ve never heard from her.
Gus’s head snaps in her direction, then in mine. Guess he’s never heard that tone before either.
The ride home is silent. Kate drives deliberately. Overly so. Stopping extra long at stop signs, going the speed limit. Maybe this is her way of controlling her temper.
But when we reach the farm, she bolts from the car and stomps up the stairs without a backward glance, and I’m left to help Gus.
“What in the hell did you do, son?”
Son. Damn. He’s digging that knife deeper.
“I’m going back to Bali. Kate overheard me asking Dex to watch out for you two. I didn’t mention it before because I didn’t want to put a damper on her day.”
Gus stares at me like I’ve just broken his heart too. Jesus, I’m the biggest asshole who ever existed.
“Were you going to say anything at all?” Kate calls from behind the screen door, where she’s staring back at us. “Or were you just going to pack your bags and let us figure shit out?”
Even in the dim light, I can see her chest heaving like she’s holding back.
I don’t want her to hold back. I know I deserve every bit of anger she’s got to throw at me. But it’s still not enough to keep me here.
“I was going to talk to you both.”
The platitude falls flat. She pushes through the screen door and stomps back down the stairs. I brace. For a heartbeat, I think she might walk right up and punch me. I wouldn’t even stop her.
She doesn’t, though; she stalks to stand between me and Gus and glares at me.
The scenario is so similar to the stance she took when I first arrived, so similar to twenty years ago when it was Gran standing between us. Heartbreak swamps me now, as it did then.
“I think you’d better explain yourself,” Gus calls.
“Let’s go inside—” I start, but I’m cut off by the slash of her hand, silencing us both.
“No. Speak.”
God damn, but she’s a feisty little thing. I’m going to miss her fire.
“I have to go back to Bali for a business deal.” It’s difficult to even meet her accusing glare.
“How long will you be gone?”
I wince, unable to say the truth out loud.
But Kate is smart, and she puts it all together quickly. “For good. You’ll be gone for good?”
Gus’s attention snaps to me for confirmation.
“I don’t know how long it’ll take,” I admit. “But it could be a while.”
A muscle in her jaw ticks, and her hands flex. And I’m sure if we were inside where I could see her face, it would be red with anger.
“Why?”
The broken word stops me. I step closer to her and realize the hand flex and jaw tic aren’t only out of anger. Her watery eyes glare at me.
I’ve hurt her.
“Why did you do all this, make us believe this was how great the future could be, if you were planning on leaving?”
“I never planned to stay,” I admit quietly. “From the start, I figured Gus wouldn’t want me, and I’d come do what had to be done and then get back to tie things up with Carlos.”
The pain I’m causing is written all over them both, and as cowardly as it makes me, I deflect. “I’m not sure what you expected, seeing as Gus pulled a shotgun on me the moment he saw me.”
She paces away, arms crossed protectively over her body, then spins and throws her next argument. “That’s some bullshit. You made us believe you were here for good. You even brought the damn horse back. Now what? You leave and expect us to just keep on living with the crap you dumped on us?”
That’s not entirely true. “Glori asked me to bring him back. I didn’t—”
“You know what? You can fuck right off with your excuses. I don’t want to hear it.”
“Kate.” I take a step forward, reaching for her. “I didn’t mean to make things harder. Didn’t mean to mislead anyone.”
That fire flashes in her eyes as she jerks away.
“News flash, asshole. You did. You made us believe, made me believe, that we were family. That we took care of each other.” A single tear slips out, and she swipes it away.
“You made me fa—” She cuts herself off with a shake of her head.
“Nope. I’m not giving you anything else. Just go.”
She spins away and runs into the house. Taking every shred of my heart with her.
Gus begins a slow shuffle toward me. And I wait for him to unload or threaten me or something equally devastating.
Instead, he places a withered old hand on my shoulder. “I think this is a mistake. And if you love that girl like I think you do, you’ll do the right thing.”
“I don’t love her.” The lie slips out easily.
“Okay, son. Keep telling yourself that.”
And then he, too, leaves me standing alone in front of my childhood home, wondering what the hell just happened.