Chapter 18 #2
“You did what you thought needed to be done, without asking me.” Isabella’s control was fracturing. “You made decisions for me instead of with me. You treated me like I wasn’t even capable of handling my own business.”
“That’s not what I was doing.”
“Then what were you doing, Thomas? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you went behind my back, used your connections to make guarantees that I never approved, and then hid it from me, because you assumed that I couldn’t handle the truth.
And that is not a partnership. That’s not trust. That’s control, dressed up as protection. ”
“Control? I was trying to help you.” His voice rose to match hers.
Thomas hardly ever yelled. She couldn’t even remember a time she’d heard his voice raised this loud.
“You called me terrified about Grayson’s threats.
You asked for my help navigating the crazy island politics.
I used my resources to solve the problem before it became a full-on crisis. How is that control?”
“Because you didn’t tell me what you were doing.
You let me believe that you were making some phone calls and having some conversations.
You never once mentioned you were going to put your own money on the line.
You never gave me the option to say no. I don’t want you taking that risk for me.
You decided, all on your own, what was best for both of us. ”
“Because I love you.” The words erupted from him with raw emotion.
“Because I couldn’t stand watching you struggle with something that I could easily fix.
Because I have relationships and resources to protect what we’ve both built here, and I wasn’t going to let Grayson Williams destroy your dreams through harassment. ”
“My dream. It’s my dream, Thomas, not ours. Mine. You don’t get to make decisions about it without my consent just because you love me. Love doesn’t give you the right to control my business or my finances or even my life.”
They stared at each other across the dining room. Thomas’s phone rang and Emma’s name flashed on the screen. He silenced it. It rang again immediately, Emma calling back.
“Answer it,” Isabella said coldly. “Maybe she knows something else about my life that I don’t.”
Thomas hesitated and then picked up. “Emma, this isn’t a good time…”
But Isabella could hear Emma’s voice, urgent and worried, cutting through the attempt to defer the conversation. Thomas’s expression shifted, looking at Isabella with something that seemed like dread.
“No, Emma, don’t—” He stopped, listened, and then slowly lowered the phone.
“What does Emma know that I don’t?” Isabella asked. “What does Emma know, Thomas?”
“She knows I co-signed your loan. I told her about it last week because—”
“Because what? Because you needed to tell someone? Just not me? Not the person whose business you were making decisions about?” She felt hurt more than angry now.
“You told your daughter, but not me. You told the bank, the county officials, you told everyone except the person most affected. Do you have any idea how that feels? To find out from my banker that my boyfriend secretly guaranteed my loan?”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When? When were you going to tell me, Thomas? After the loan was paid off? After there was no more risk? Or were you going to keep it a secret forever and congratulate yourself on how well you protected me from knowing the truth?”
His phone rang again, and it was Emma calling back. This time he answered, voice tight. “Emma, I said I can’t talk right now.” But Isabella saw his expression change, saw guilt and conflict war across his features. “No, she doesn’t know about that either.”
The bottom fell out of Isabella’s world. “I don’t know about what. What else don’t I know?”
He closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them, he looked directly at her. “I also signed a letter to the county vouching for the inn’s historical accuracy and safety compliance. My professional reputation is tied to this project’s success.”
“You—” she couldn’t even form words. “You put your reputation on the line, too?”
“To expedite the review process. Bill Patterson said a letter of assurance from a recognized expert—”
“I don’t care what Bill Patterson said.” Her voice cracked.
“I care that you made a decision. You made decision after decision about my project without telling me. You’ve tied your finances and your professional reputation to this Inn and made yourself responsible for my success or failure, and you never even once thought that you should ask me if it was okay with me. ”
“You wouldn’t have agreed to it,” Thomas said. “You would have said no, insisted on handling it yourself, refused help even when you needed it.”
“Exactly,” Isabella shouted. “I would have said no, and that was my right to say no. This is my business, my risk, my decision to make, and you don’t get to override it because you think you know better.”
“I do know better. I’ve been navigating this island for over thirty years.
I know how things work here. I know who to talk to and what commitments mean to people.
You’re brilliant at hospitality, at design, at restoration, but you don’t understand the politics of this place.
So I used my strengths to compensate for your weaknesses. That’s what partners do.”
And then there was silence.
“My weaknesses,” Isabella repeated. “That’s what you think this is? Me being too weak to handle the people of this island, so you need to step in and save me?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“That’s exactly what you meant. You think I’m not capable of navigating this world without you, and you think I need protecting and managing and rescuing just like you thought that thirty years ago when you decided for both of us that I was better off without you.
” Her voice broke again. “You haven’t changed at all, have you, Thomas?
You’re still making my decisions for me, treating me like somebody who can’t be trusted with the truth. ”
“Now that’s not fair.”
“Fair? You want to talk about fair?” Her laugh was bitter.
“Let me tell you what’s not fair. I left corporate hospitality to build something of my own, to make my decisions without oversight or interference, and I told you that.
I wanted to prove that I could create something meaningful on my own terms, and you, the man I’m falling in love with, you’ve been undermining that the whole time, making decisions behind my back, treating it like it’s your business to manage. ”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“I don’t need protecting. I need a partner, someone who respects me enough to tell me the truth and trusts me enough to handle my own problems.”
They stared at each other, both breathing hard, a careful distance between them. Emma’s name flashed on Thomas’s phone again.
This time, Isabella reached over and answered it herself, putting it on speaker. “Emma.”
“Oh gosh, Isabella, I’m so sorry.” Emma’s voice sounded distressed. “I didn’t know he hadn’t told you. I assumed that you would know about the loan guarantee. I never would have—”
“What else should I know?” Isabella’s voice was eerily calm. “What else has your father done that he’s kept from me?”
“Isabella, don’t—” Thomas reached for the phone, but she pulled it away.
“Emma, what else?”
Emma was quiet for a long moment. “He’s been having conversations with the Architectural Review Board.
He made assurances to them about the project, too, but he’s just trying to use favors he built up over the decades.
I know he’s just trying to help you. He has good intentions. He loves you so much.”
“Thank you for being honest with me.” Isabella ended the call and handed it back to Thomas.
“Isabella—”
“I interviewed for a job in Paris,” she said abruptly.
The words seemed to land like a physical blow because Thomas’s face went white. “What?”
“Vice President of European Operations for Rousseau International Hotels. They made me an offer two weeks ago. I have a meeting with the CEO on Thursday in Charleston to discuss details.” She watched his expression shatter.
“I haven’t mentioned it to you, haven’t told you I’m considering leaving, haven’t even given you any say in decisions that would affect both our lives. ”
Thomas seemed unable to process what she was saying. “Wait, you’re planning to leave to take a job in Paris? I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know what I’m planning, but I’ve been keeping it a secret and making decisions about my future without consulting you, protecting you from information that you might find upsetting. Does that sound familiar?”
The parallel hit him visibly. “That’s different.”
“Oh, is it? How is it different, Thomas? Because you think your secrets are justified, but mine aren’t? Because you were protecting me, but I’m just planning to abandon you?”
“Yes.” The word exploded from him. “Because you weren’t trying to save me. I was trying to save what you were building here, and you’re planning to destroy it anyway. I kept secrets to protect you, and you kept secrets to plan your exit.”
“I kept secrets because I’m scared.” Her voice broke completely.
“Grayson’s threats showed me just how vulnerable I am here because I’ve put everything into this project, and one wealthy man with the right connections could destroy it.
Because I’m falling in love with you, but you hurt me once before, and I don’t know if I can survive you doing it again.
So yes, I’ve been keeping my options open, creating an escape plan, protecting myself because clearly I can’t trust you to be honest with me. ”
“You’re gonna leave.” He said it flatly, as if the realization had just landed. “You were interviewing for jobs in Paris while kissing me, while telling me you loved me, while planning our future together.”
“And you were guaranteeing my loan while claiming partnership. You were making decisions about my business while pretending to respect me.” Her tears were falling now, hot and angry. “At least I was protecting myself. You were controlling me.”
“I was protecting you,” he corrected.
“Stop saying that. Stop pretending this was about protecting me when it was really about controlling the outcome because you can’t stand feeling helpless.
You did this with your father. You made his decision for him.
You did this with me. Made my decision for me.
And you probably did it with Sarah. Made decisions for her without asking.
It’s who you are, Thomas. You manage and control and decide for everyone else because you’re so scared of being helpless again that you’d rather destroy the trust than risk not being in control. ”
Thomas flinched as if she’d slapped him.
“You’re right.” His voice was hollow. “You’re absolutely right.
I made your decision for you thirty years ago, and I’ve been making decisions for you the last couple of weeks.
I thought I was being helpful, being protective, and being a good partner, but really, I was just too afraid to face the challenges.
Too afraid to let you face challenges without me trying to fix the outcome. ”
The admission should have felt like a victory, but instead it felt like devastation.
“But let’s be honest about what you do, Isabella.
You’re devising an exit plan because commitment scares you.
You’re planning to leave before I get the chance to leave you first. It’s what you do when things get tough.
You jumped between corporate jobs instead of staying long enough to build roots, but now you’re running from me, from us, because you - who’s actually willing to commit - would have to risk vulnerability. ”
“That’s not—”
“Isn’t it?” His eyes met hers. The pain there was almost unbearable.
“Be honest. You don’t really want that Paris job.
It’s more corporate hospitality, the thing that you left to escape, but it’s safe and familiar.
It’s an escape route from having to trust me, from having to stay in one place long enough to build something real. ”
She opened her mouth to deny it, but the words wouldn’t come because he was right. She didn’t want the Paris job, not really. She wanted The Wexley Inn. She wanted the community she was building. She wanted Thomas and the life they could create together, but the thought of wanting it terrified her.
“Maybe we’re both too broken for this,” Isabella finally said, exhausted. “Maybe thirty years wasn’t enough time. Maybe we’re just going to keep hurting each other because we can’t seem to break these patterns that destroyed everything the first time.”
“Maybe you’re right.” Thomas’s voice was hoarse. “Maybe some things are just too broken to fix. You know, some foundations are too cracked to ever bear weight again.”
They stood in the beautiful dining room that they restored together. The space that should have represented their collaboration felt like a monument to their failure.
“I should go,” Isabella said.
“Yeah.” Thomas didn’t move to stop her.
She walked to the door and then turned around. “For what it’s worth, I really do love you. I really thought this time could be different.”
“So did I.” His smile was heartbreaking. “I guess we were both wrong.”
Isabella left before her tears could completely blind her.
She got in her car and drove without knowing where she was heading, eventually reaching the beach access across the road where she and Thomas had first gone kayaking to the hidden cove.
She sat in her parked car as the afternoon light faded, her phone displaying missed calls from everyone - Maggie, Daphne, Emma.
She couldn’t answer any of them. She couldn’t even explain what had just happened or process the devastation of losing Thomas all over again.
This time in a fight where they had both been right and both been wrong.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Thomas. I’m sorry for all of it. You deserved better than I gave you.
She stared at the message for a long time before she finally responded with So did you. I’m sorry.
Then she turned off her phone and sat in the darkening car, watching as the sun set over the marsh.
She wondered how something that had felt so right could have gone so catastrophically wrong.
And then she wondered if there was any possible way they could come back from this, or if they had destroyed whatever chance they had at a second beginning.