10. Reese
CHAPTER 10
Reese
I descended into the marina, the sounds of creaking and smells of salt and diesel heavy in the air. Sleek yachts filled each slip, gleaming in the sun. I could still see Conrad out on the water, the rhythmic splash of oars echoing across the lake as he rowed with his team, his face set in fierce concentration. I followed the path to our slip.
It was still empty.
Conrad had a sleek, powerful boat. The way he’d handle that damn thing, like it was alive. He loved it more than anything. Hell, he cared for it more than me.
“Everyone on board!” Conrad called as he stood at the dock’s edge.
Music and laughter spilled from the raging engagement party; half the guests were up in the yacht club, and the other were giggling excitedly, coming down the wooden dock to the boat. Conrad smirked, his hand resting on the railing.
I watched him closely. I just wanted this night to be fucking over and done with. “You really think they’re gonna just let us go wild out there?”
“Relax. No one’s looking for trouble—unless you are.” Grinning, he turned his head toward me. “Dad may have an issue with you if you want to start a fight tonight of all nights. ”
I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to snap. Just then Laurene came down the dock. I inhaled sharply, and the wind picked up, lifting her hair over her shoulders. We had a plan. I just had to do it.
“Damn, look at you,” he drawled, reaching for Laurene’s waist as soon as she was close enough. He tugged her in, his grip too casual, too possessive. “Did you wear this for me, baby?”
I froze.
Laurene stiffened before forcing a smile, but I caught it. The split-second hesitation. The way her eyes flickered toward me.
“You look tense, Reese. Maybe you should loosen up a little with one of these young ladies out here.” He tugged Laurene closer before he released her, shoving her toward the boat.
I moved before I could think, stepping into Conrad’s space.
“Put your hands on her like that again,” I murmured, “and I’ll break your fucking fingers.”
Conrad’s smirk wavered briefly.
Then it was back, wider, amused, like he wanted me to snap.
“Chill out,” he said, throwing up his hands. “When you get a fiancée, or someone to actually love you, then you tell me what to do.”
I didn’t blink, feeling the tension in my muscles.
Conrad clapped his hands, calling out to the group, “We getting on this boat or what?”
“You alright?” Laurene’s voice startled me.
I turned sharply, not realizing how close she’d gotten. She stood just a few feet away. The breeze tugged a strand of hair across her face, but she didn’t brush it away.
“I’m fine,” I mumbled.
“You don’t look fine.” Laurene hugged herself. “God, I thought…I thought I could handle this. But seeing it again…” She shook her head, blinking fast as she looked around. “What are we doing here?”
“You don’t have to be here, you know.” I didn’t want to be here but this was where everything started. “No one’s making you stay.”
Her jaw clenched, a muscle twitching in her cheek as she bit her lip. Then she let out a slow breath. “And leave you to face this alone? I’ve done enough.”
My hand moved before I could stop it, brushing against her temple as I reached to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. What the hell was I doing? My fingers only grazed her skin, just the barest touch, but it was enough.
What does she want me to say? That I forgive her? That I don’t still feel it?
She shifted, her lips parting like she wanted to speak, but nothing came out. She tilted her head just slightly, as though daring me to do it again. It would only take the smallest move to close the distance, to cross the line we both knew existed but neither wanted to acknowledge.
“We’ll get through this. Together.”
Last time she said that, she left town for six years.
I remember diving in, over and over again. The alcohol had burned away, leaving my mind sharp.
“Together,” I echoed. “I just… I don’t know if I can trust that yet. Why couldn’t you have told the truth about what happened that night?”
Her eyes searched mine, and my resolve slipped. The curve of her face pulled me in first, soft and sharp all at once, but it was her lips that unraveled me. Painted a red so vivid it burned.
I swallowed hard.
“You don’t get it, Reese. It wasn’t just about us. My mother… My family. Everything I’ve done, everything I’ve been…” She exhaled, her breath shaky. “I was going to lose it all. And I couldn’t. You were…you were the wrong choice. And I had to do what they told me. I had to play the part,” Laurene said.
“I loved you,” I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them. “I was ready to give up everything for you.”
My fingers twitched at my sides, an urge blooming there—raw, reckless. I wanted to reach for her, to feel the heat of her skin beneath me again. I couldn’t tell if she leaned in or if I was imagining it. She was close, her hands on my chest, staring up .
“You make it so easy to forget why I shouldn’t want you,” I blurted out.
“I’m sorry, Reese. I should have spoken up.”
Do it. Do it. Do it. Get it out of your system.
“I can’t…” I desperately attempted to keep my grip on reality. “That apology… It’s not what I envisioned.”
She had been the only softness in my world of sharp edges.
“Do you want me on my knees? I’m sorry. I fucked up, and I was wrong, and it’s haunted me every day. I’m just… so, so sorry .”
I leaned in, her lips tilting up toward me, soft and inviting, as if daring me to cross the line we’d declared. The world seemed to hold its breath, every sound and sensation fading until there was only her.
My hand hovered near her waist. Her eyes fluttered, her lips parting ever so slightly.
But at the last second, my resolve buckled.
Her hair brushed against my cheek as I shifted in, leaning past her lips and into her neck. Her skin was impossibly warm, impossibly soft, carrying that faint intoxicating scent that was hers alone. It clouded my senses, drowning out logic, reason—everything.
But I couldn’t trust her.
I felt her hesitate; I thought she might pull away. She should’ve. I should’ve.
Her fingers curled into the fabric of my shirt with an almost desperate grip. Her breath tickled my ear as she let out a small, shaky exhale, and I wondered if she was disappointed—or relieved.
I closed my eyes, pressing my face deeper into her neck, feeling her pulse quicken beneath my cheek.
It was too much—too familiar, too raw.
“I don’t know how to do this,” I said, my voice barely audible .
“Neither do I,” she whispered. Her hand rose slowly, brushing a loose strand of hair from my forehead.
The urge to drown in her, to be home again, to replace the ache of the past with the taste of something pure, something that felt like hope was strong. I built an empire out of my own ruin. But none of it mattered if she won’t stand beside me, if I can’t look at her the same.
“I know I’ve made mistakes,” she said, “but this is where we are now, and there’s no way out except forward. Together.”
My hands tightened around her waist.
“But I need you to trust me now.”
Her warm palm found my cheek, her thumb tracing gentle, deliberate circles that sent shivers down my spine.
“Why can’t you just let me hate you?” I pulled back slightly. “It would be so much easier.”
Laurene opened her mouth to respond, but then we heard?—
“Hey, y’all can’t be down there! This area is off-limits.”
I slowly backed away, as if wading through mud. I needed the anger to surge back, to be a protective barrier against whatever I had just let slip through.
“Wait…is that you, Lulu?”
Laurene frowned, and she turned and gasped.
“Miles!”
I was scared, scared to let her in again, scared of what that might mean. And yet, a part of me craved the connection, the warmth of her understanding that I missed for so long. But I needed to remember the betrayal, to stay strong. Letting her in would only open old wounds I fought too damn hard to sew shut.
“Girl, it is you! Where the hell you been?” Miles Whitmore’s voice carried across the dock. I caught sight of his tailored outfit, his hair braided back in cornrows and his light brown skin tanned.
The Whitmores, for as long as anyone could remember, had been the Kings’ best friends. They went as far back to Miles’s great-grandparents, who had been friends with Augustus King and followed him here and helped found the town. Until six years ago, right around the time of Conrad’s accident, when the Whitmores and Kings severed all ties.
“Damn, it’s been too long.” Miles’s arms opened wide for a hug. “When did you get back?”
“Not too long ago.”
Miles glanced over at me with a hint of suspicion in his eyes. “What I read about was true, then?”
“It’s true,” I said flatly, holding his gaze.
Laurene stepped back to me, and I felt a bit of pride when she pressed closer and nodded at Miles.
“Damn.” Miles’s eyes narrowed slightly as he glanced between us. “Well, congratulations to both of you then. Tell me where to send a wedding gift.”
I snorted.
“I wish you could have been at the party,” Laurene murmured, her hand brushing against mine as she gently wrapped her fingers around it.
“Yeah, well.” Miles’s expression tightened, his hands slipping into his pockets. “What brings you two to my yacht club? Last I checked, trespassing wasn’t your style.”
Laurene and I exchanged surprised looks. “You own the club now?”
I hadn’t heard of any deals lately, but with the way secrets ruled this town, who the hell knows.
“It kinda went downhill after…well, you know.” He gestured between us and the ocean. “But you’re not here to talk about that, are you?”
We were here to return to the scene of the crime—see if anything was left behind or if someone had seen something. I looked down at Laurene to explain.
“We’re here because…” Laurene began, glancing at me, and I shrugged. “We wanted to discuss some arrangements for the wedding. Thought this would be a good place to start. ”
Miles gawked. “Wedding? Same plans as before?”
I locked eyes with him. “Just exploring options. Nothing to worry about.”
A brief silence settled before Miles cleared his throat.
“Actually, Reese, it’s good you’re here. Conrad’s memorial is still up. The last owners kept it up all these years because he was captain of the row team. No disrespect, but we wanna do something new for the place. I was planning to reach out to your family about it, but since you’re here…”
I nodded, balling my fists at my sides. “Yeah, I can take care of that.”
“Let’s hit it, folks.”
Following him, I glanced back at the empty pier before entering. The water lapped against the posts, sluggish, almost too still, like it was holding its breath.
The yacht club’s interior was magazine-worthy. The polished marble floors gleamed under the soft glow of ornate chandeliers and framed photographs of the row teams and sailors. Passing the bathroom, Laurene and I glanced at each other. There was a tiny spot not too far away—perhaps that’s where the photo was taken.
“Here you are.”
Conrad’s locker, adorned with flowers and a photo, stood against the wall. I inhaled sharply, my throat tightening with emotion.
Laurene took my hand.
“I don’t wanna give you another boring speech about what Conrad meant to this club. We all know he meant a lot to all of us.” Miles eyed our clasped hands, eyebrow raised. “I have a box for his things.”
Laurene’s voice was steady beside me. “We won’t be long.”
“Well, if you need anything?—”
“Thanks,” I interrupted.
“Alrighty then,” Miles said. “Laurene, hit me up. We have a lot to talk about. ”
Conrad’s rowing coach mentioned the memorial after the funeral, but none of us in the family had the guts to go.
“I dream about the accident all the time,” Laurene said quietly. “I keep thinking, what if you hadn’t pulled me out of the current? What if I could have stopped you both from fighting? You didn’t have to do what you did that night. But you did.”
“I loved you,” I admitted. “I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you.”
“We should start packing these away.” Laurene reached for a framed photo, her fingers lingering over Conrad’s smiling face. “Maybe we might find something for our…situation?”
We moved in near silence, the weight of the moment thick in the air. Flowers, wilted and brittle, released a faint sickly sweet scent as I brushed them aside. Beneath the bouquet, my fingers grazed something cold and metallic.
A small silver pendant. Its sailboat shape was delicate, almost innocent. My breath hitched as I held it up, the faint gleam catching the dim light. For a moment, I hesitated, the chill of the metal biting into my skin.
How long had this been here?
I opened the locker door, revealing his belongings neatly arranged—a snapshot of his life, frozen in time. It was the usual junk at first, but I found small wooden box at the bottom of the locker. I picked it up, its weight heavier than I expected. Laurene paused and glanced up. Neither of us spoke, our breaths held as I eased the lid open.
Inside was a set of keys, a worn leather wallet, a journal with frayed edges, and a folded piece of paper.
I unfolded the paper, studying the contents—a faded map of Lush marked with notes and symbols. My heart quickened as I recognized Conrad’s meticulous handwriting, detailing places and times for a new resort.
“This is Conrad’s blueprint,” I murmured, my mind racing as the pieces started to fall into place. The sketches, the annotations— expansion plans for a new resort. Tobias pissed over us ending our deal.
And then it hit me.
“Tobias.”
The bastard. Mom was right. Tobias always had his eye on this shit. Six years, and he still couldn’t get over the idea of trying to pull something from my family’s grasp. But why the hell would he want this now? Conrad was dead; the world had moved on.
“He’s been after Conrad’s plans all along.”
Laurene’s brow furrowed in disbelief. “Reese?—”
“It could explain everything—why he’d been so interested in Conrad’s work back then, why he was lurking around, pretending to be concerned. Why he’s back now.”
“Reese, calm down.” She stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “He didn’t say that earlier?—”
I stopped pacing, narrowing my eyes at her. “What do you mean, earlier ?”
Laurene froze. Box in hand, I stormed toward the exit, seething. I couldn’t get to the car quick enough. I ripped the door open and dropped the stuff in.
“Reese!”
Laurene was rushing toward me.
“We need a plan.”
“What’s there to plan?” My patience was worn thin. “We need answers, and we need them now. Let’s go confront Tobias about this bullshit.”
“You’re letting your emotions take over.” She took a step closer, eyes cold but focused. “We don’t go charging in blind. We gather what we need, then we make him answer for it.”
I began to protest, but Laurene interrupted me.
“You never think about the fallout.” She shook her head. “You haven’t even said what that paper is for! What will Toby do with that now? If at all? Are you just picking him to be guilty?”
“Now it’s my fault?” I scoffed. “Just like it was back then, right? I was always the one to blame for wanting more, for wanting us to be something.”
“You’re impossible!” she shot back. “You never listen. You’re always making everything about you. ”
“You’re damn right it’s about me!” I retorted, stepping closer to her, trying not to be entranced by that damn perfume. “Because you never gave a damn about us . About what I wanted. At what point do I stop hoping that you’ll do right, Laurene? At what point do I stop only wanting to meet in hotels and sneaking to other towns to be with you like I wanted? I was honest from the beginning.”
“You were reckless , just like now! It was fun when we first started dating, but we weren’t in a vacuum, Reese! We had families, reputations. I just said I’m sorry?—”
“You care so much about duty? That’s rich coming from you.” Anger flooded my veins. “Do you really love your family that damn much? Huh? The same people you cried on my shoulder about? The mother that arranged this bullshit? I wanted a life with you, not a series of stolen moments!”
Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. “Do you think I didn’t want a life with you?”
“Then why didn’t you do something?” I pressed, my frustration boiling over. “Why didn’t you stop the damn arranged marriage if you cared so much? You had the power to change everything! Maybe Conrad would be alive if you had.”
Laurene’s face went white.
“You were too busy playing the martyr because that’s what you’re used to, Laurene. People coming to save you. Everyone loves the girl who looks good while suffering.”
Her expression hardened. “And what about you, Reese? You think you’re some kind of hero? You were too busy pretending you didn’t care what people thought, but you did. You always thought Conrad was better than you, and you use him as an excuse to be an asshole. You’re judging me about giving in? You let this town and their opinions, their judgments, get in your head too.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but she wasn’t done.
“You don’t get to act like your pain is bigger than anyone else’s.”
The breeze stirred, lifting strands of Laurene’s hair in a gentle dance around her face. Despite our argument, she looked stunning, a haunting reminder that Laurene King was my greatest love and my worst mistake.
“We should go,” I murmured finally. “There’s nothing more to say.”
Her jaw tightened. “Trust goes both ways, Reese. And right now, I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“You don’t trust me?” I bristled, my hands clenching into fists at my sides.
Silence. The words she didn’t say stung.
“I can’t do this right now,” she finally said, her tone weary as she held herself. “I need some space.”
“Laurene…” I started, but the words got tangled in my throat.
She shook her head, her expression hardening.
“Fine.” I forced myself forward, but my heart was screaming. I reached my car, and I stole a glance back at her. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Slamming the door, I started the engine and peeled out, leaving Laurene shrinking in my rearview mirror.