Enticed by His Forgotten Lover (Pregnancy & Passion #1)(51)

“Not you,” he said painfully. “And not me.”

“Please, Rafael,” she begged. “I’m tired. I’m worn completely out. I just want to sleep before I fall over. Please, just go. I can’t do this with you right now.”

He looked so much like he wanted to argue, but concern darkened his eyes and slowly he eased his fingers from her wrist.

“I love you, Bryony. That’s not going to change. I don’t want it to change. Go get some sleep. Take care of yourself. But this isn’t finished. I’m not letting you go. You think I’m ruthless? You haven’t seen anything yet.”

He touched her cheek and then let it slide down her face before falling away. Then he turned and walked back down the path to her grandmother’s house.

She closed her eyes as pain swelled in her chest and splintered in a thousand different directions. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. But all she could do was stand there numbly while the man she’d given everything to walked away.

Twenty-Three

“It’s been a week,” Rafael said in frustration. “A week and she still won’t acknowledge me, much less talk to me. As much as I loathe the man I used to be, at least he would have no qualms about forcing the issue.”

Rafael stood on Laura’s back deck having a beer with Silas and brooded over the fact that Bryony still refused to see him. He was about to go crazy.

Silas chuckled. “You’ve got stamina, son. I have to give that to you. Most men would have tucked tail and left by now. I’m still amazed that you managed to talk Laura down from killing you and actually got her to side with you. I can’t figure out if you’re the dumbest man alive or just the luckiest.”

Bryony had holed up in her cottage and while Laura went over daily to check in on her, Bryony hadn’t ventured out except to walk on the beach. The one time Rafael had confronted her on the sand, she’d retreated inside. He hadn’t bothered her since because he wanted her to have that time outside without worrying that she’d encounter him.

“I’m not leaving,” Rafael said. “I don’t care how long it takes. I love her. I believe she still loves me, but she’s hurting. I can’t even blame her for that. I was a complete and utter bastard. I don’t deserve her but she’s the one who kept telling me I didn’t have to be the same man. Well, damn it, I’m choosing to be different. I want her to see that.”

Silas put his hand on Rafael’s shoulder. “Around here we have a saying. Go big or go home. I’m thinking you need to go big. Really big.”

Rafael frowned and turned to the other man. “What did you have in mind?”

“It’s not what I have in mind. It’s what you ought to be thinking about. You’ve already promised me and Laura that you have no intention of developing that land, but does she know that? Does the rest of the island know that? Seems to me you’re missing an opportunity to make a grand gesture and prove once and for all you’re a changed man.”

“Okay, I’m with you,” Rafael said slowly.

“No, I don’t think you are. Call a town meeting. I’ll let it leak out that you have a big announcement about the resort. Folks will show up because they’ll want to launch their objections and nothing gets people out to a town meeting more than getting to air their grievances. Trust me, after twenty years of being the sheriff here, I know what I’m talking about.”

“That doesn’t help me when Bryony refuses to leave her cottage,” Rafael pointed out.

“Oh, Laura and I will make sure she’s there. You just worry about how you’re going to humble yourself before everyone,” Silas said with a grin.

Rafael sighed. He had the feeling this wasn’t going to be one of his better moments. He might have no desire to be the unfeeling bastard he’d been before but it didn’t mean he wanted to air his personal life in front of a few hundred witnesses.

But if it would get him in front of Bryony so she’d be forced to listen, he’d swallow his pride and do it.

“Are you crazy?” Bryony sputtered out. “Why would I want to go listen to his spiel about his plans for the resort?”

“Now, Bry, I didn’t imagine you for a coward,” Silas said in exasperation. “By now everyone knows what happened. They don’t blame you.”

“I don’t care what they think,” Bryony said in a low voice. “I was prepared to be the brunt of their censure when I went to New York to tell Rafael to go ahead with the plans, that I wouldn’t fight him.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Mamaw asked.

“I don’t want to see him. Why can’t either of you understand that? Do you have any idea how much it hurts to even look at him?”

“The best thing you can do is show up with your head held high. The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you can start coming out of that cottage of yours. It’s just like a bandage. Better to rip it off and have it done with than to delay the inevitable.”

Bryony sighed. “Okay, I’ll go. If I do, then will you please leave me alone and let me deal with this my own way? I know you’re worried but this isn’t easy for me.”

Mamaw squeezed her into a big hug. “I think things will be a lot better after today. You’ll see.”