When You're Back (Rosemary Beach #12)(25)

Aida let out another sob. “Why can’t that be me? What does she have that I don’t have? How can I be her? How do I win your love?”

Holy hell. “You can’t. It doesn’t work that way. You can’t be like her and win my love. Reese is my one. You will find a guy one day who will be that for you, and no one will ever compare.”

“I don’t want anyone else. I never have,” she said in a sad voice.

“I’m trying to be understanding here, but you’re making it hard. I don’t get it. This isn’t healthy, Aida. You’ve got to see that.”

She began crying softly again, and I just drove. She had to see the truth here and deal with it. The lights of Fort Worth appeared in the distance. I hoped a coffee shop was open, because I needed something to get me through this.

“What if she isn’t your forever? What if one day she leaves? Or you fall out of love with her? You don’t know the future. No one does. People break up, and they even get divorced. What about when you don’t love her anymore?”

None of that was happening, and hearing her even mention it pissed me off. “Not me. That isn’t me. I don’t give up. I’d never give up on her.”

Aida laid her head back on the seat and let out a frustrated groan. “You’re so stubborn.”

I almost laughed. She was calling me stubborn. Seriously? “This has got to end, Aida. I’m not kidding. Reese is mine. She’s my happiness. My reason for waking up in the morning. She is every smile on my face. That’s it. Nothing will change that.”

Aida closed her eyes as I pulled into a Starbucks drive-through. A beer would be better, but I had to drive, so a black coffee was going to have to suffice. “You want anything?” I asked her.

“No,” she said sulkily.

I ordered mine, and we sat there in silence. Once I had my drink I turned back toward the ranch.

“She’ll leave you one day, and I’ll be gone. You’ll regret this. I swear you will,” Aida said, looking out the window.

The only thing I would regret was that I had missed all the signs and let it get this far gone. Aida needed to go home. Her visit was over. I hoped it would be years before her next one.

When I finally got home after dropping Aida back at my parents’ house, I’d been gone for more than two hours. Aida had wanted to talk more, and I had listened, but I didn’t feel like I had made any progress with her. She was still warning me that I was messing up. I was beginning to think my cousin was mentally unbalanced.

As I opened the door, the smell of garlic and butter met my nose. Walking into the kitchen, I could see spaghetti simmering in a pot of boiling water on the stove. Toasted French bread rubbed with garlic and butter sat beside it.

But Reese wasn’t there.

I headed for the bedroom, and just as I reached the door, I heard her voice. I stopped and realized she was reading. Alone. Without me.

She had worked her first day at a new job, and I’d left her here. Instead of pouting like most women would, she had cooked dinner and was now going on with her night. My gut knotted up. I felt like an ass. I should have been here with her. I should have cooked for her. And I should be there holding her while she read. That was our thing.

Opening the door, I stepped into the room, my eyes instantly finding her. She was curled up in our bed, with her hair in low pigtails and dressed in a tank top and pajama pants. She stopped reading and looked up at me.

Then she smiled.

That smile was all that I needed in life. That and having her right there in my bed. Nothing was as perfect as this.

“I’m sorry,” I said, needing to say it. My guilt and regret over leaving her was eating at me.

She shrugged. “It’s OK. She needed you.”

But so did Reese. I never wanted to choose someone else’s needs over Reese’s. “I should have been here with you. I should have cooked you dinner and listened to you talk about your day. And I should be in that bed listening to you read to me.”

Reese put her book down in her lap. “I would have liked that.”

Those honest words sliced through me. That ride with Aida did nothing but let me say how I felt. I’d wasted my time. And I’d let Reese down.

“I have to get up early. I’d like to stay up with you while you eat and shower, but Piper needs me at the office at eight tomorrow morning. She signed on for some earlier lessons, so I need some sleep.”

Although she said everything with a smile, there was a sadness in her eyes that made me feel helpless. Then she lay down and rolled over, ending our conversation.

I had screwed up.

Reese

When my alarm went off at six thirty, I rolled over and stretched. Last night’s events, and the sadness I’d gone to bed with, came back to me. Mase had gone to Aida and stayed gone for hours. I had waited to eat with him for more than an hour, until I was too hungry to wait. Once I’d eaten and cleaned up, I took a shower, and he still wasn’t home.

By the time I’d gotten my book and started reading, I realized this was a pattern. When Aida needed him, he went to her. It concerned me. She wasn’t his blood relative, but he had never told me that. Someone else had.

I shook my head, threw back the covers, and got out of bed. I had to focus on work today. Not Mase. Not Aida. That was a situation I needed to find my way through. I hoped going to sleep on him when he got home last night sent the right message. He had upset me. I wanted him to know that. I didn’t want to take a backseat to his cousin forever.