Rush Too Far (Rosemary Beach #4)(15)

She didn’t get angry or snap at me. Instead, she looked surprised. I turned my attention to the water. I didn’t need to look at her. She distracted me. I forgot about everything else when I was focused on her. Remembering why she was here and that I’d had a hand in her pain should have made it easy enough to stay focused. But she made me forget everything. One bat of her eyelashes, and I was lost.

I had been so damn stupid back then. Asking Abe why he was so willing to leave his family of sixteen years for a daughter he had ignored for even longer would have made sense. But I hadn’t asked him. I had just been thankful when he showed up. But the ass**le had left a broken family behind. A young girl alone to take care of her mother.

“How long ago did your mom pass away?” I asked her. I suddenly needed to know how long she had been struggling alone. It wasn’t like I could fix it now. I just wanted to know.

“Thirty-six days ago,” she murmured.

Fuck. She’d lost her mother a little more than a month ago. She hadn’t even had a chance to mourn. “Did your dad know she was sick?” I asked. I would kill him. Someone needed to make the bastard pay. He hurt everything he touched.

“Yes. He knew. I also called him the day she passed away. He didn’t answer. I left a message.”

I had never hated anyone the way I hated Abe Wynn at that moment. “Do you hate him?” I asked. She should. Hell, I hated him enough for both of us. When I beat his face in, I would do it for her. For her mother. And I wasn’t sure I would be able to stop.

“Sometimes,” she said.

I hadn’t expected the truth. Admitting that you hated your father couldn’t be easy. Unable to stop myself, I reached over and slipped my pinkie around hers. I couldn’t hold her hand. That was too much. Too intimate. But I had to do something. She needed some reassurance that she wasn’t alone. Even if I was the last person on earth who deserved to be there for her, I was going to be the one. I just had to find a way to do it and fix this hell I’d created.

“I’m having a party tonight. It’s Nan, my sister’s, birthday. I always give her a party. It may not be your scene, but you’re invited to attend if you want to.”

“You have a sister?”

I thought she knew that already, but when I thought back to the night Blaire had arrived, I realized that Nan had kept her distance and hadn’t actually met Blaire. “Yeah,” I replied.

“Grant said you were an only child,” she said, watching me carefully.

Grant had talked to her about me. He didn’t need me to explain anything to her. I wanted to protect her from the truth. I moved my hand away from her. “Grant really has no business telling you my business. No matter how damn bad he wants in your panties,” I said, before turning and walking back to the house. Why had I let that get to me? Dammit.

CHAPTER TEN

Nan had hired a party planner. I stood at the top of the stairs and watched as the decorating crew hauled in white roses by the truck-load. Did she think this was her wedding? What the hell?

“I don’t want to know what this party is costing you. Here,” Grant said, as he walked up behind me and shoved a glass of what smelled and looked like bourbon into my hand. “Drink it. You’re gonna need it.”

I took a long drink and let the smoothness of the liquor coat my throat. It didn’t make the fact that I was about to be faced with all of Nan’s friends any easier. Normally, when she had parties here, I limited the people she could invite. Tonight I had given her no limits. I was dreading that. All of f**king Rosemary Beach was likely to show up.

“The princess has ordered roses, I see,” Grant said, amused, as he leaned against the banister and watched the activity below.

“It seems that way,” I said. I was still pissed at him for talking to Blaire about me. I knew he wouldn’t tell her anything she didn’t need to know, but it still bothered me.

“Did you invite Blaire?” Grant asked, trying to sound casual.

“Did you expect me to make her hide under the stairs all night?” I replied. Because, honestly, I had thought about it. Inviting her to this damn thing only meant I had to watch her closely. Guys would be all over her, and girls would be vicious. She needed protection from both.

“Well, I wasn’t really sure. This is Nan’s party,” he reminded me, as if I needed reminding.

“It’s at my house,” I said, shooting him an annoyed glare.

Grant chuckled and shook his head. “Damn. Never thought I’d see you put someone else before Nan.”

“Don’t,” I warned him. “Don’t go there. I’m just being nice. Nothing more.”

Grant cocked an eyebrow, which he knew annoyed me. “Really?”

I slammed my glass down on the railing and walked back to my room. I wasn’t in the mood to watch any more of this or listen to Grant. It was going to be a long night.

One would think that Nan was the daughter of royalty, the way my house looked once the decorators were through. I moved through the rooms, keeping my eyes on the kitchen and, when I could, the pantry door. I hadn’t seen Blaire the rest of the day, but I knew she was here. I’d watched her while she’d lain out on the beach long after I’d left. I’d watched her swim in the waves and then take a walk. Hell, I’d even watched her read a book.