That Second Chance (Getting Lucky #1)(57)

With a hand to my back, Griffin leads me toward the stone harbor wall that connects with the back of the Lobster Landing. The space gives us a little privacy, but the other three Knightly boys can still see us, and when I look up, they’re all staring straight at us.

Great.

“Is everything okay?” Griffin takes a seat on the wall, and I do as well.

I set my purse down and twist my hands in my lap. It dawns on me that I’m probably way too emotional to have this conversation.

I feel guilty, sad, broken for the man in front of me, all kinds of things that I’m sure are showing up on my face.

“Hey,” Griffin says, tilting my chin up just as a lone tear runs down my cheek. He wipes it away, his thumb grazing my skin—a much-needed connection with the man who’s slowly been capturing every inch of me since I moved here. “Did someone upset you? Seriously, just tell us who, and we’ll take care of it, Ren.”

I shake my head. “No one did anything to me.” I wipe my eye. “I’m sorry; I don’t know why I’m crying, and I don’t mean to cry in front of you.” I take a deep breath and look up at him. His brow is furrowed with concern as his hand inches toward mine. He grips my fingers, fusing us together.

Another wave of tears.

Jesus. Why can’t I keep it together?

I quickly wipe away the tears and try to calm my rapidly beating heart.

“Ren, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

“I’m sorry.” I wave my hand. “This was not how this conversation was supposed to go. Give me a second.” I take a few deep breaths as he squeezes my hand for reassurance. When I feel like I’ve finally calmed down, I look him in the eyes again. “I had lunch with two teachers today, and they told me something personal about you, something that wasn’t fair for them to say or for me to listen to.”

He sits up straight, his grip on my hand loosening. “What did they say?”

Nerves bubble up in my stomach again, and from the way he’s immediately put distance between us, I can tell this might have been a mistake. But there’s no turning back now.

I nibble on my inner cheek, contemplating how I want to say this. I think touching upon the curse is ridiculous. After all, I don’t believe it. But the information about his wife? He should know I know.

“They, um . . . they told me that you were married.”

At that, his hand leaves mine completely, and his body goes stiff. He turns away from me, and I quickly continue before he can drum up any ideas in his head.

“They told me you tragically lost her a few years ago.” I press my hand to his thigh to comfort him, but he shudders beneath my touch, standing abruptly. I do the same and stand in front of him, not giving him a chance to flee. “I’m so sorry, Griffin. I can’t—”

“I have to get back to work.” He starts to move past me, but I press my hand against his chest.

“Please.” I choke on my words, tears ready to fall from my eyes. “Please don’t be mad. I’m sorry. I had no idea they were going to tell me that. It’s something I should have heard from you.”

Body still stiff, he shoves his hands in his pockets and looks down. “Well, that’s Port Snow for ya. You get the good and the bad. But now you know . . . so no need for me to say anything.”

I want to hold him, to cry with him, to tell him how sorry I am that he had to go through something like that, but I don’t get a chance, as he pushes past me.

“Griffin . . .”

“Don’t worry about it, Ren.” He pauses but refuses to meet my gaze. “It’s not a big deal, but thanks for telling me you know. I’ll, uh . . . I’ll see you around.”

And with that, he walks past his brothers and back into the shop. I feel even worse than before. With a sigh, I sit back down on the rock wall and cradle my head in my hands. What a mess. Here I thought I was doing a good thing by talking to him, and instead, I drove a wedge between us.

“You okay?” I look up to find all three brothers standing over me, a concerned look on each of their faces.

I nod and wipe away my tears. “Yup. Fine.”

Not wanting to stay here and hash everything out, I grab my purse and go to stand, but Brig gently pushes down on my shoulder, making it almost impossible to go anywhere. “You’re not fine. Nice try, though. What happened?”

“Do we need to knock some sense into our brother?” Reid asks, stepping in.

“We’re not opposed to it,” Rogan adds, surprising me with the sincerity in his voice.

I shake my head. “He didn’t do anything wrong. He’s just upset, I think.”

“Why?” Brig asks.

I take a deep breath, trying to steady the quiver in my voice. “Some girls at work told me about his wife and how he lost her. It was personal information, so I wanted to let Griffin know I knew. I thought it was important.”

“And what did he say?” Rogan asks.

“Just that it’s what to expect when living here, and thanks for letting him know. He wasn’t happy. I feel . . . stupid for saying anything.”

Reid and Rogan exchange a meaningful glance while Brig pats my shoulder. “Don’t feel stupid, Ren. You did the right thing.”

Rogan continues, “He doesn’t talk about it much, so it probably took him by surprise. I’m sure he wanted to be the one who told you. Let him cool off a bit; he’ll be fine.”