Page 48 of Truth and Temptation
There’s no mistaking Giselle’s dismay at that. “Oh Hank, I knew he would do this again. We should never have tried to force him to be with us tomorrow. He’s probably halfway to St. Thomas by now.”
“What’s happening tomorrow and what’s in St. Thomas?” Once again, Mila comes to my rescue, asking the questions I so desperately want answers to.
Giselle lifts her tear-streaked face up to look me square in the eye. “Tomorrow is the anniversary of Wyatt’s twin brother’s death.”
“And St. Thomas? Is that where his wife is? I mean, come on, what other secrets and lies is this guy hiding?”
“Mila,” I say sharply. “That’s not necessary.” Mila huffs and folds her arms over her chest, and continues to glare at Hank and Giselle, as if it is all their fault.
“I assure you, my son is not married. He, well, he spoke of you, Paige. The last time we talked.” Hank looks at me with a sad smile. “He said he wanted to stay in Dogwood Cove because of a woman. I assume he meant you.”
I stumble backward as if his words are a physical blow.
“St. Thomas is nothing more than the location of a resort Wyatt and his friend Jacob have visited in the past. The Indigo Royal Resort. Jacob is down there and invited Wyatt to join him.”
Mila and Wyatt’s parents carry on talking, but the conversation fades to a buzz around me as I find a stool behind the counter and sink onto it. All this talk of resorts, and anniversaries, and who knows what else is confusing and simply too much to process.
“None of this matters; the bottom line is that Wyatt disappeared several days ago when I was in the ER with an asthma attack. I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”
Hank and Giselle share another look, this one with far more understanding.
“Paige, I’m not certain how much Wyatt shared with you about his brother Ryder. But ever since we lost Ryder, Wyatt has struggled greatly to cope anytime someone he knows is sick or injured. Hospitals are his least favourite place to be, and if you, a woman he clearly cares about deeply, were hospitalized, I am not surprised that he handled it poorly.”
“If by ‘poorly’ you mean disappeared without even checking to see if she’s okay, and then ignoring every single attempt by Paige and the rest of us to get in touch with him? Then, yeah. He handled it poorly.”
Mila’s acerbic words surprise me. I suppose I didn’t realize my friends would also be hurt by Wyatt’s disappearance. She shrugs her shoulders at my curious look. “What? We all liked the guy. He was good for you, and he was good here.”
“Ladies, please excuse us, we should go and see if Wyatt has returned to the house. I suppose if he isn’t there, we’ll return to the mainland.”
I incline my head in acknowledgment of Hank’s words. But as they go, Giselle stops and pivots back to face us. I don’t want to see the hope written in her expression, but I do.
“If my son is wise enough to realize his mistake and come back to you, I do hope you’ll hear him out. Wyatt has so much love to give, and whether it’s a mother’s intuition or something else, I can see that you are who he needs — this town is what he needs — to properly heal at last.”
I have absolutely no idea how to respond to her. Instead, all I do is nod slowly. She gives me one last smile. “And your store is absolutely lovely.”
As the door closes behind them, Mila mutters, “What in the actual fuck.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
Chapter twenty-one
Wyatt
“Twelve years, brother. Twelve fucking years.”
I take another drink of Jack straight from the flask, ironically, one of an engraved set given to Ryder and I on our twenty-first birthday, my eyes staring out over the grey waters of English Bay. The beach is empty, no one else is stupid enough to be outside in this cold drizzle.
I’ve spent this day alone for the last twelve years. It seems appropriate, seeing as I left Ryder to die alone. A small penance, but one I must bear.
“Things were going good for awhile this year. The company is fine, Mom and Dad are fine. I bought a new car, a Tesla. Figured you’d get a kick out of me being environmentally conscious.” A sad laugh escapes me, thinking of how often Ryder and I butted heads on issues like carbon footprint. It was one of those dumb brother arguments, seeing as I was just as concerned about those types of things as he was, but with him being the brainiac of us, it was fun to rile him up in a debate. “We opened three new locations, including another one over on the island. Westport. I stayed at the old summer house in Dogwood Cove. Man, that place has changed, and yet, seemed exactly the same as when we were kids. You would probably hate how chill and relaxed it was, but…I loved it.”
Another swig of whiskey goes down, and I let the heat of it slide down my throat, reminding me that for better or worse, I’m still here. A seagull screeches over my head, the only sound other than the never-ending traffic noise behind me, and the waves hitting the shore in front of me.
“Do you ever wonder where we would be if you were still alive? I sure as shit wouldn’t be sitting on a beach in the rain like some bum, drinking Jack out of a paper bag.” I let out a harsh laugh and take another drink. “You’d be on your way to taking over the company. Dad would be gearing up to retire. I’d be, ah, who the fuck knows. Probably on a different beach, hopefully not drunk and alone.” My head drops down with the weight of everything. “Guess it doesn’t matter anyway,” I mumble under my breath. Nothing matters right now.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. Damnit, I thought I left it in the car. There’s no point in looking to see who it is, the only people still trying to reach me are my parents. And I don’t want to talk to them. They know I’m okay, I did tell them that. But I didn’t say where I was or what I was doing. The last thing I need is them showing up. I doubt anyone else would be trying to reach me today. Everyone at work knows what November 8th is in our family, and they leave us alone. As for everyone in Dogwood Cove? Those calls and messages stopped yesterday. I guess everyone finally gave up. The first two days after I left, Paige tried to reach me several times. Aside from reading the one that said she was home from the hospital, I’ve deleted them all. Then Serena, Summer, and even Finn started trying to contact me. I’d say I was touched that they all care enough to reach out, but the truth is, it just made me angry. At myself, not them.
How the hell did I let myself get so close to them? Close enough that they apparently miss me, and I miss them. I miss the life I fooled myself into believing I was living in Dogwood Cove.
