Gavin hadn’t been around this many children since Piper’s birthday party the previous year. He’d forgotten how much noise a group of ten- and eleven-year-old girls could make, and it wasn’t as if they were trying to be so loud. Heaven help them all if they were. They just seemed unable to keep from screeching and having six different conversations at the same time. The endless conversations with relatives he hadn’t seen in months and some he’d rather go another few months without seeing weren’t helping his headache either. Add to it the heat and oppressive humidity today, and by the time lunch was served, he was ready to call it a day.
Unfortunately, leaving the party wasn’t an option. Erin’s time with Piper and the rest of his family was limited, so he didn’t want to cut it short on her no matter how lousy he felt.
Even if Erin wasn’t with him, he might suck it up and deal so Leah could get to know his family. For better or worse, if she agreed to marry him, his family would become hers too. Considering the fact a few members of his family might scare even battled-hardened men away, Leah was handling the gathering well. Even Harry’s arrival hadn’t ruffled her feathers.
For perhaps the first time, he wished Harry were as shitty a big brother as he was a boyfriend. In true Harry form, he joined the group as if there was no bad history between any of them.
Leah had responded in kind. She hadn’t snubbed him or hinted at their previous relationship. Instead she offered up a hello, asked him how he’d been, and once he answered, she went back to her conversation with Vivian as if having her ex-boyfriend standing there was no big deal.
Soon after, the small group broke apart. Harry and Kerry’s sister left together and he hadn’t spoken to either again today. Piper and Erin raced off to join Piper’s friends, while Vivian went to introduce Jeff to their grandmother. He hadn’t spoken with either Vivian or Jeff again until they joined them about twenty minutes ago.
Rubbing his temples, Gavin checked his watch. Almost four o’clock and they hadn’t even cut the birthday cake—a huge three-tier work of art he’d spotted in the kitchen—yet.
Seated across from him, Vivian, Leah, and Jeff were talking about something. Lost in his thoughts, he’d stopped paying attention, and no one had tried to pull him into the conversation.
“Are you okay?” Leah asked, momentarily putting a halt to her chat with his sister and Jeff.
He skipped nodding since it would likely cause his head to split down the middle and fall onto the table. “Killer headache. The heat isn’t helping. Do you mind if I go inside for a little while?” Other than when they first arrived and Dad pulled him aside, he hadn’t left Leah alone all day.
“Somehow I’ll survive,” Leah promised.
The likelihood of Erin looking for him with so many girls her age around was slim, but... “If Erin wants me, let her know where I am.”
Vivian laughed. “Yeah, I don’t see that happening, baby brother. But if she needs you, we’ll let her know you’re inside.”
Vivian’s comment made Leah laugh too. At another time he’d offer up a reply, but this afternoon Gavin ignored his sister and left for a cooler, quieter location.
Inside the house, it was not only cool but also silent.
After tracking down three ibuprofens, he grabbed a bottle of iced coffee on his way through the kitchen and entered the game room because he doubted any of Piper’s friends would come in wanting to play pool. The room’s location along the back hallway also made it easier for Erin to find him if she needed him, although he agreed with Vivian’s assessment and didn’t expect she would.
The windows allowed in sufficient sunlight, so he didn’t bother switching on any of the lights in the room. Twisting off the bottle cap, he took a long swig of the cold beverage and hoped the caffeine would assist the medicine sooner rather than later. It was too nice a day to be sitting inside.
Unlike the other rooms, the décor in here made it clear who used this room. There were no bright colors or contemporary works of art on the walls. Leather furniture and dark wood filled the room, along with a full bar, a nine-foot pool table, and a marble chess set. Gavin made himself comfortable in a chair and closed his eyes.
“Needed a break from the noise too?”
Harry’s voice broke through his dream, and Gavin sat up straighter in his chair. Falling asleep hadn’t been his intention, but at least his head no longer had a drum line practicing in it.
His half brother dropped into the chair opposite him and gestured toward the chessboard on the table between them. “Up for a game?”
At a different time, he’d take Harry up on the offer. When it came to playing chess, they were equally matched in skill, but a game could last anywhere from ten minutes to over an hour.
“Not today. I don’t want to stay in here too much longer.”
With a shrug, Harry picked up his drink and raised it toward his mouth. “I can’t stick around long either. I told Sharon I’d be back soon. I just wanted to get away from the noise.”
Early in the day, he’d noticed Harry had his arm around Sharon, Kerry’s sister, but otherwise nothing during their brief conversation had suggested they were involved with each other.
“What happened to Milan?” Gavin asked.
If Harry was still dating the model, Gavin was going to advise he stay away from Sharon.
“I haven’t seen her in a couple of weeks. Last I knew, she was headed to Los Angeles.”
Well, at least he wasn’t screwing around behind the woman’s back. It still didn’t mean Harry should get involved with Sharon. Considering the age difference, it was easy to forget, but Sharon was their dad’s sister-in-law. She often attended family gatherings. A disastrous relationship between the two could make things uncomfortable in the future.
When they’d been younger, he’d given Harry his opinion on his relationships. He’d stopped a long time ago. Gavin wanted to say something now, but he knew it’d only fall on deaf ears. Harry conducted his life the way he wanted. He didn’t care what anyone thought.
“How long have you and Sharon been together?”
Harry tipped several of the pawns on the chessboard on their side. “On and off for about a year.”
That wasn’t the answer he expected to get.
“Kerry’s got one hell of a body even after having a kid, but compared to Sharon, she’s your average housewife,” Harry continued.
Gavin didn’t want to think about his stepmother’s body or anything else about her.
“What about you? I didn’t expect to see you here with a date, never mind with Leah. Dad was pissed when I couldn’t get her to take me back. He accused me of screwing up the opportunity of a lifetime. It seemed unlike him when he let the matter go. Now it makes sense. Dad got you to go after her. I guess I owe you one for getting him off my ass.”
They weren’t the closest of brothers. Their opposite personalities made it impossible. Harry should know him better than to think he’d date anyone because it would benefit the family, and Gavin got ready to tell Harry where he could shove his theory.
The sound of a throat clearing stopped him.
It took all his willpower to not wrap his hands around his brother’s throat, because the individual behind him had likely heard Harry’s little speech.
Turning in his seat, Gavin witnessed his worst nightmare: Leah crossing the threshold into the room.
Her face was pale except for two pink blotches on her cheeks. Whether her complexion was the result of what she’d most likely heard or something else, he didn’t know. Whatever the cause, she didn’t bother with a greeting.
“Erin needs you.” She sounded out of breath, as if she’d run into the house looking for him, but there was also an angry edge to her tone. “She hurt her ankle. I think it might be broken.”
Gavin jumped out of his seat.
“Good, you found him.” Vivian appeared in the doorway, sounding out of breath as well. “Kerry and Dad are with Erin, but she needs you.”
No matter what, Erin came first. Fixing any damage caused by Harry’s dumbass comments would have to wait.
Thanks to his dad’s height, locating him was always easy. This afternoon was no different, and Gavin sprinted across the lawn. Erin was sitting on the grass with Kerry kneeling on one side of her and his dad standing on the other. His daughter had her hands wrapped around her left ankle and tears streamed down her cheeks. The other adults at the party were keeping the rest of the girls away.
Kneeling, he wiped the tears from Erin’s face. “It’s okay, Bug. I’m here.” Gently he moved her hands for a better look. Until now Erin had never seriously hurt herself. He wasn’t sure how she’d react to a trip to the emergency room.
“We need to get this checked out,” he said softly, because he didn’t want to upset her more. Then he lifted her off the ground and cradled her against his body.
Erin sniffed loudly and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Will you stay with me?”
“Of course, Bug.” He glanced in Leah’s direction. “We might be a while, do you want to wait here?”
He held his breath as he waited for her response. After the conversation she’d most likely overheard, Gavin wasn’t sure she’d stick around and wait for him to come back. The likelihood she’d come with them was even slimmer.
“You and Erin might be at the emergency room for hours. I’ll give Leah a ride home,” Vivian offered before Leah answered.
Gavin couldn’t argue with his sister. “Thanks, Viv.” He glanced back at Leah, who was standing as far away from him she as could and still be part of the group around Erin. “I’ll call you when we’re done.”
When he only received a slight nod in response, he took a step forward. For now he’d have to settle for that and worry about the rest later.
“I want Leah to come with us,” Erin said, forcing him to come to a halt. “Please.”
No one ever looked more torn than Leah did right then. She closed her eyes momentarily. When she opened them again, she focused on Erin. “Sure.”
***
Leah didn’t care where she was. All she cared about was not being around Gavin right then. She wanted time alone so she could think and sort out her emotions. When Erin asked her to come along, she couldn’t refuse—not for a trip to the emergency room. If Erin had been asking her to tag along to the zoo or the movies, it would’ve been another story. A trip to the hospital, even if it wasn’t a life-threatening injury, was another matter.
Although she wasn’t the one suffering from an ankle injury, the visit to the emergency room was an incredibly uncomfortable ordeal. Normally conversation flowed easily between them, even when Erin was in the room.
Not tonight.
Instead they’d both sat holding Erin’s hands and pretending like Leah hadn’t heard every word Harry said. All the while, the conversation she’d walked in on played over and over in her head.
Like it was now.
They’d left the emergency room almost twenty minutes ago. For the first few minutes of the drive, Erin remained awake, but the snores coming from the back seat indicated the events of the day had finally caught up to her.
Pulling up to a stop sign, Gavin checked his rearview mirror as if to make sure Erin was asleep despite the snoring. “Leah, did you…?” He trailed off. “How much of our conversation did you hear?” It was the most he’d said to her since she found him with Harry.
“Enough.”
Gavin swore, something she didn’t remember ever hearing him do, and raked a hand down his face.
Is he upset because the truth is out or because Harry was lying?
She wanted to believe the latter. Unfortunately, at the moment she couldn’t. At the same time, she was finding it difficult to believe Gavin would pursue a relationship with her simply because his dad wanted him to.
Without saying another word, Gavin turned onto her street. The original plan had been for them to spend the night at her home in Greenwich, since it was closer to his dad’s, rather than return to Gavin’s condo in the city. Then in the morning they’d drive Erin back to Providence before heading up to Maine.
After this afternoon, she didn’t want Gavin staying with her tonight or maybe ever again.
“I can explain.” Gavin followed the driveway down to the garage, and the sensor lights went on.
Leah unclipped her seat belt and twisted in her seat. She needed to see his face, see his reaction to her questions. A person could fake their emotions, but she wanted to see his anyway.
“Leah—” he began, but she cut him off. She’d hear him out, but first she had questions.
“Before you say anything else, I need to make sure I understand something.” The conversation she overheard had been pretty clear, but on the off chance she’d misunderstood, she wanted clarification.
After unclipping his seat belt, Gavin turned as well. “Ask me anything you want.”
“Harry was with me because your father wanted us together?”
She’d met a lot of power-driven individuals, people who stopped at nothing to get ahead in society or in business. She knew couples who had married because it was advantageous for both parties. Rather than as a romantic endeavor, they viewed marriage as a business contract. However, asking your son to be in a relationship because it was an opportunity of a lifetime put Gavin’s dad in a class all his own.
Before he could answer, the snoring in the back seat stopped. “Are we at Leah’s?” Erin sounded groggy, and Leah expected that once her head hit a pillow she’d fall right back to sleep.
“Just got here, Bug,” Gavin replied, glancing into the back seat.
“Good. I’m tired. I want to go to bed.”
Finally, Leah knew what it took to tire his daughter out.
Words weren’t necessary. Gavin’s expression when he looked back at her asked the question for him. Do you want us to spend the night?
No. But it was late, and she didn’t know how to explain a sudden change in plans to a nine-year-old girl who’d just left the emergency room with a broken ankle.
“Then we better get you inside,” she said. The house had plenty of bedrooms. She’d survive the night with him under her roof.
Although Erin had a pair of crutches, Gavin carried her from the car and into the house. He followed Leah up the staircase to the second floor and down a hallway. Opening the door to the only full guest suite in the home, she switched on the light. Unlike the guest bedroom across the hall that only had a private bathroom, the suite had a full bathroom complete with a Jacuzzi tub and a separate sitting area.
“Erin can use this room. If you want to be close, you can sleep on the sofa in here or you can use the room across the hall.”
And I’ll be in my room on the opposite side of the house. Alone.
She’d carried their overnight bags inside, since he had his hands full carrying Erin. Leah dropped them on the floor near the door. “Goodnight, Erin. Gavin, I’ll be in the kitchen.” She didn’t stick around for a response from either of them.
She filled the teakettle with water and set it on the stove before selecting a canister of loose leaf tea from the cupboard. She didn’t feel like tea, but brewing a pot the proper way, which according to her cousin was the only way to make it, gave her something more productive to do than chew her fingernails while she waited for Gavin. And he would come. Gavin didn’t leave conversations unfinished, no matter the topic.
By the time he finally joined her, the tea leaves were steeping in the china teapot Sara had given her as a gift one year ago.
“Sorry. She wanted me to stay with her until she fell asleep.” He didn’t try to touch her. Instead he pulled out a chair at the table opposite her and sat. “What you heard isn’t true,” he began before she could ask any other questions.
“Then Harry didn’t get involved with me because your father wanted him to? Because it sure sounded like it to me.”
“No, not in the beginning. But he stayed with you because Dad wanted him to,” Gavin admitted. “I didn’t know that until the day you found him with Amy.”
He sounded sincere. She’d give him that much.
“And when your dad found out I asked you to Newport, he asked you to take over since Harry blew it with me?”
“Only Vivian knew you invited me along on the Fourth.”
That she wasn’t buying. “You saw him the morning you came to pick me up.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t tell him we had plans. Before today, he didn’t know you and I were together. I don’t discuss any of my relationships with him.”
Gavin and his dad worked together. They talked on the phone. How could his father not know? Maybe if they’d only gone on a single date, she could accept his claim. She didn’t share the names of every man she dated with her parents. But they’d been together for over a month. Not only that, but lately she’d been spending more nights at his condo than her house. While she hadn’t shared those details with her parents—talking about her sex life wasn’t something she felt comfortable doing even with Mom—her family knew the relationship was serious between them.
He reached across the table and took her hand. “I’m telling you the truth. I’m with you because I love you, not for any other reason. When Dad saw you with me today, he was as surprised as Harry.”
She wanted his words to be true and his feelings to be real. But wanting something to be real didn’t make it so. If it did, unicorns would be real because as a little girl she’d always wanted one for a pet.
Tugging her hand free, Leah poured her tea. She didn’t offer Gavin a cup. Instead she walked away to get some milk and sugar. If he wanted any, he didn’t mention it.
“The day you dumped Harry, I was mad at him for treating you like that. But I was also happy because I wanted to be with you,” he continued, putting extra emphasis on the word I. “If you hadn’t been with someone the first time we met, I would’ve asked you out then. When you showed up at my condo with Harry, I was pissed because if I’d known you weren’t with anyone, I would’ve tried to contact you before your cousin introduced you to him.”
Leah sipped her tea and considered his words. She’d never heard anyone sound more sincere. But sincerity didn’t equate with truth.
“Leah?” His voice cracked with emotion.
Her heart urged her to accept Gavin’s words and forget everything she’d heard Harry say this afternoon.
Her brain cautioned her against it. Twice men had betrayed her. She didn’t want to add a third to her track record.
“I need some time.”
Time to think and sort through everything they’d shared up until today as well as their conversation tonight. Leah couldn’t even attempt to do that with him sitting across from her.
He steepled his hands together near his face and closed his eyes. She waited for him to further argue his case or press her for a different answer.
He didn’t. Instead he lowered his hands and opened his eyes. They shone with the same sadness gripping her heart. Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell if it was real or not.
“Okay. Take whatever time you need.” Standing, Gavin came around to the other side of the table. He didn’t try to hug her or pull her in close. He simply took her hand and raised it to his lips. “I love you, and time won’t change that.” His lips brushed across her knuckles before he released her hand. “Goodnight. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Leah swallowed, trying to dislodge the softball stuck in her throat. “Goodnight.” She watched him leave the room and reached for her teacup. Getting any sleep tonight was unlikely. She might as well drink her tea and try to sort out the thousand and one emotions crashing over her.