Chapter 26 #2
“Come back to me? You think you’re going to waltz back into my life like the last two years of fucking hell never happened? Do you know what you did to me? Do you have any idea?”
“If the pain I felt at not seeing you for all this time is any indication, then, yes, I do have an idea of what you’ve been through.”
“You can’t possibly know. All this time, you were fully aware of what was going on and why, while I was left in the dark. Instead of talking to me and telling me what was happening, you pulled the plug and tossed me aside like I meant nothing to you.”
“That couldn’t be further from the truth. Leaving you nearly killed me.”
Shane blew out a deep breath as he shook his head. “I can’t listen to any more of this. I’m sorry. It’s just… It’s too little too late.”
“Shane, please. Please take some time to think about it. I love you as much as I ever did, and I always will. Everything I did was intended to keep you—and your family—out of the nightmare my life had become. I did what I did because I love you so much.”
Her words bounced around in Shane’s mind like painful darts. What he would’ve given a year ago to hear her tell him she loved him. But as he looked at her now, the woman he’d once planned to spend the rest of his life loving, all he could see—and feel—was the pain.
“I’m here for the night. Could we talk again in the morning when you’ve had some time to think about everything I’ve said?”
“How did you find me?” he asked.
“I went to your old boss. He told me you were working out here now. I asked around when I arrived and was directed here. The girl at the desk said you were away for the day but would be back later. So I waited.”
Filled with nervous energy, he rubbed at the late-day stubble on his face.
“The woman you were with… Is that serious?”
Katie… God, Katie. What she must be thinking. “It could’ve been, until you showed up and ruined everything.”
“I never meant to do that. I never meant to ruin everything for us or for you. I hope you’ll let me prove I’m not the person I once was.
I’ve been sober for more than two years, and I’ll never go back to that life.
I want the life I had back. I want you, Shane.
You’re all I’ve thought about for two long, lonely years. ”
“You can’t do this to me, Courtney,” he said gruffly. He felt like his insides were being squeezed in a vise. “I won’t allow it.”
“Please… All I’m asking for is a chance to show you I’m different now. Will you sleep on it? Please, Shane. After all we’ve been through, can you give me one night?”
“You didn’t even give me the courtesy of a phone call when you had me served with divorce papers on the day I thought I was picking you up to come home.
Not even a phone call, Courtney.” He was nearly blinded by rage—mostly at himself, because he’d been happy to hear she’d never stopped loving him.
What did it matter now? “And now you want me to put my life on hold, again, for you. I’m not going to do it.
The answer is no. We’re over, divorced. You saw to that. Now go home and leave me alone.”
He headed for the doors to the sitting room, which were never closed the way they were now. Throwing open the doors, he came face-to-face with Laura and Katie, who were on their way out.”
“Shane, please,” Courtney said, pleading as she followed him.
“Courtney was just leaving,” he said to his sister as he brushed past them and went up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Katie, who’d probably forgotten by now what she’d ever liked about him.
“Go,” he heard Laura say to her former sister-in-law. “And don’t come back. You’re not welcome here.”
Shane went into his room and slammed the door, seething with the pent-up frustration of the last two hideous years of wondering why.
Why, why, why. The answers hadn’t made anything better.
They had only made everything worse because now he knew she hadn’t left him because she wanted to—or so she said.
For all he knew, she could’ve made up the whole story, hoping to win him back because single life hadn’t worked out the way she’d hoped it would. With her, you never knew, and he’d had more than enough of that madness during the years he’d spent with her.
After only a few days with Katie, he already knew he could trust what she told him. He already knew her better than he’d ever known Courtney. When he thought about the way he’d let go of her hand and sent her away earlier, he felt sick. “God, what’ve I done?”
He had to go after her and apologize. Maybe she’d never speak to him again—and he wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t—but he had to tell her how sorry he was for the way he’d treated her.
Shane pulled open the door and found Owen standing there with a stormy expression on his face. “Owen… I need to go. I have to find Katie.”
“Not so fast.”
In the year he’d known Owen, he’d never seen him look so angry.
“Owen, please. I screwed up, but I was caught off guard. I sent Courtney away.”
“For now or for good?”
“For good. I care about Katie. I want to be with her, if she’ll still have me.”
“For now or for good?”
“I… I don’t know yet. I won’t make a promise I might not be able to keep.
All I know is I like who I am when I’m with her.
I like who she is all the time. She’s… amazing.
” Shane felt like he was fighting for his life or something equally dramatic.
All he knew was if he let Katie slip away, he’d regret it forever.
“You don’t have to tell me that.”
“I’m sorry to have disappointed you—and her.
I never meant to. I was broadsided when I saw my ex-wife.
I handled it badly.” Shane was going to lose his mind if Owen didn’t get out of the way and let him go find Katie.
But with his brother-in-law’s broad-shouldered body filling the doorway, there was no getting out unless Owen decided to move.
“I like you, Shane, or you never would’ve gone out with her once, let alone done anything else with her.”
Shane wanted to tell Owen he liked him, too, but he thought it wise to stay silent until Owen had his say.
“She’s not like other women.”
“I know that. I like that about her. She’s… She’s sweet and genuine and honest.” And all those qualities mattered tremendously to him—more than they ever had before.
“I left you alone because Laura told me I could trust you with my sister.”
“You can trust me. I swear you can. I’m going to fix this with her, if you’ll let me out of here. When I set things straight with her, you won’t have anything to worry about where she’s concerned.”
“What if she doesn’t want to fix it?”
The thought of that made him ache fiercely, and that was when he realized that at some point during the last few incredible days, he’d fallen for Katie Lawry’s particular brand of sweetness. “Please, Owen…”
Owen stared at him for a long, uncomfortable moment. “Did you know that on Gansett Island, the guys always crash girls’ night?”
“They do?”
“Every time.”
“Are you crashing tonight?”
“Hell yes.”
“What about Holden?”
“My mom and Charlie are watching him.”
“Will you take me with you?”
“You promise I won’t regret it?”
“I promise you’ll never regret it.”
“Okay, then.”
“Can we go now?”
“Later.”
“How much later?”
“I’ll let you know.”
Shane knew defeat when it stared him in the face. He wasn’t going to be able to go after Katie until Owen had made him suffer first.