Chapter 50
Chapter Fifty
THEO
Walinda.
Walinda Williams.
Mrs. Walinda Williams.
Nope, whichever way I say it, I hate it.
I hate that her name is Walinda.
I hate that she was frothing to see me.
And I hate that I’m apparently supposed to be marrying this woman who I’ve only met a handful of times.
Then again, what’s the alternative? I know Elizabeth can handle herself, but what if he decides to hurt her because I say no? I can’t live with that.
But Renley…
Fuck.
I drag both hands over my face before going back to staring up at the ceiling.
I’m in the comfort of my own cottage now, where I can wallow in self-pity and try to make sense of the broken pieces of my life.
Dramatic, maybe.
But the predicament I’m in calls for dramatics.
For God’s sake, my dad has me marrying a woman by the name of Walinda.
And I know what you must be thinking—just tell your father no.
Tell him right to his face before spitting on him and taking off.
I wish it were that easy. There is so much more that goes into this.
If I were to tell my father no, that means I would be turning down the title and basically throwing myself out of this family, possibly risking Elizabeth’s happiness. Is that what I want?
I know Elizabeth would support such a move and be by my side the entire time, but it would just be the two of us. Mother wouldn’t dare talk to me, and I know my father would disown me without blinking.
Then what?
I take my trust fund that has already been awarded to me and get up and go?
Start another life?
After everything I’ve been trained to do?
Possibly putting Elizabeth at risk?
And I know what that new life would be. I would want it to be with Renley, but what if she doesn’t feel the same way? I told her I love her, but she didn’t say it back. I could be giving up so much for something that isn’t a certainty.
I stare down at my phone, wishing she would text back.
When I don’t see a response for the tenth time, I decide to text her again.
Theo: Love, I hope you’re not running.
I press send and stare down at my words. She’s a flight risk, always has been, but I’ve taken the chance, chasing after her. This time, it feels like there is so much more at risk.
I have duties.
Duty to my country, to my family, to my father, to my sister.
Am I really someone who would throw that all away to be selfish and have a life of my own?
I want to say yes, but fuck, hearing my father’s words and the finality in them, it makes me cower and be a man that I despise.
Knock knock.
“Not now, Elizabeth,” I call from my room. “I don’t want to talk.”
Knock knock knock.
Knock.
Knock.
“Christ, okay,” I yell as I head down the stairs of my cottage and to the front door, which I whip open, only to find Rupert standing on the other side, and Elizabeth right behind him, holding a stick to his back, as if she’s threatening him.
“What’s going on?” I look between the two of them.
“Rupert has something to say to you.” She jabs him with the stick, causing him to squeal in pain.
“Fucking stop that.” He swats at the stick and then rubs his back. “That thing is sharp.”
“I know, that’s why I used it.” She gestures toward me.
“Go ahead, tell him why you’ve been so upset all summer but refused to talk to your best friend about it until you ran into a woman in her fifties who convinced you that your best friend was using, abusing, and taking advantage of you, when in reality, you were mutually benefiting from each other and you never should have let an older woman get between the two of you. ”
“Wow.” I scratch the side of my face. “That’s a lot to process.”
“Tell me about it,” Rupert says, speaking to me for the first time in what feels like years.
I’m so goddamn happy to hear his voice that I actually might cry. And I’m so goddamn desperate to see my best friend that I’m tempted to throw myself at him and wallow in the crook of his neck.
“Well, go on.” Elizabeth pokes him again, shoving him closer to me. My body itches to wrap my arms around him. “And you better speak quickly, because your idiot friend over there is about to marry Walinda, the armpit sniffer. Is that what you want, Rupert? You want him to marry Walinda?”
Rupert’s face twists in disgust. “What in the bloody hell would possess you to do that?”
“My father told me I was supposed to marry her, and if I didn’t, he would mess with Elizabeth and her life.”
Elizabeth peeks her head between us and says, “I wouldn’t let him—stop using me as an excuse.”
Rupert nods. “Yeah, she’s a strong woman, let her protect herself. Also, because your father said so? Mate, if I told you to let me shit on your chest, would you do it?”
“Gross,” Elizabeth scoffs.
“If it was a dare, I would.”
That pulls the smallest of smiles from Rupert’s lips.
“You two need help.” Elizabeth sets the stick down and then pushes Rupert into the house, following close behind.
When she shuts the door, she leans against it and says, “All of a sudden, Theo has decided to have some sort of need to fulfill his birthright despite never wanting to fulfill it. And he’s ready to give it all up, for what?
To please his father? To seem like the hero in a villain’s storyline?
No, it’s dumb, he’s dumb, and I will not allow it.
That’s why I fetched your sorry arse and made you explain to me why you were not talking to my brother. ”
“Why aren’t you talking to me?” I ask.
When Rupert doesn’t answer but instead looks down at the floor, Elizabeth huffs in frustration.
“Honestly, it’s like I’m your marriage counselor.
” She pauses for a moment, takes a deep breath, and then continues, “Rupert was feeling the need to do something with his life, so before your little truth-or-dare game that ended you up on the fiancé website, he applied to be an English teacher in a third-world country.”
“What?” I ask, completely shocked.
Rupert just shrugs. “Thought I would help people out.”
“Knowing the kind of commitment it would be, Rupert figured this summer would be the last time you two would be able to hang out together for a while.”
“That explains the ‘last hurrah’ comment,” I say, the pieces fitting together.
“Yes, exactly. Rupert wanted one final fun summer with you, but then our father found out about the fiancée thing and you tried to prove a point, which got you in a stickier situation that led you to Cape Meril. This forced you to focus on Renley, even though Rupert was pleading for some alone time with you, apparently quite often.”
“We had our nights out by the fire making popcorn,” I say, even though I know that’s a shit response, because I do recall times when he asked to hang out, just me and him, the trip to Boston being one of them.
“That was nice.” He toes the ground, but I can tell he wanted more and that makes me feel really fucking bad.
“Remember that spider that crawled up your arm that made you dance in place and almost fall in the fire?” I chuckle, and Rupert does as well, lightening the mood.
“It was almost popcorn with a side of roasted arse.”
“It would have been well-salted arse though.”
“Jesus,” Elizabeth mutters. “Please, can we not?” She shivers and then continues. “While you were wooing Renley, in between training sessions with Kitty—which is something I didn’t need to get into, but he insisted on telling me the ins and outs—”
“It’s important to the story to show how I care for other people.”
“We’re not writing a deposition.” Elizabeth rolls her eyes. “Anyway, while you were wooing Renley, he took a few interviews for the volunteering opportunity and he for sure thought he nailed them.”
Uh-oh, I see where this is going.
“Shit, mate…”
Rupert just shrugs. “They thought I didn’t have enough experience.”
“Either way, he found out and you weren’t home to talk to. And when you were, all you did was talk about Renley, so he turned to someone who would listen and that was Kitty, who only fueled the flames.”
“I don’t think it was malicious,” Rupert says. “She just caught me in a vulnerable spot, and well, I took advantage of someone doting over me.” His eyes meet mine. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. I should be the one saying I’m sorry.
I should have been there for you. You were right.
I was very consumed with my own problems. I didn’t even stop to think about how you might be feeling or what you might be going through.
” I pause and then ask, “Is that why you were so upset about the table breaking?”
He shakes his head. “No, I was genuinely mad about you fucking on the table where I enjoy my lemonades.”
“Ew, Theo. You were having sex on a kitchen table?” Elizabeth’s judgy eyes stare back at me.
“If you saw Renley in person, you would understand. I couldn’t help myself.”
Elizabeth seems to be okay with that answer as she nods.
“Anyway, I’m sorry about not talking to you and bottling up my emotions. Our relationship is better than that,” Rupert says.
“It is. And I’m sorry I didn’t see the signs of you feeling down. I should have been there for you.”
“Thank you.”
And then we stare at each other for a few seconds before we both wrap our arms around each other. I bury my head in the crook of his neck and he pats my back.
“I missed you,” I say.
“I missed you more.” He squeezes me tightly, and we stand there embracing each other for probably longer than what is socially acceptable, but I don’t care. I have my mate back and I love him.
After a few more moments, he finally pulls away and says, “Now, what’s this I hear about you marrying Walinda? By the way, totally forgot that’s what her name was.”
“Me too.” I point to myself and then wrap my arms around Rupert again. “God, I missed you.”
“Hasn’t it been a day?” Elizabeth asks.
“Years actually,” Rupert says as I pull away.
“Sure felt like it.”
“Dear God, can we please get on with the situation? Convince your friend that he’s not giving in and marrying Walinda.”