Chapter Twenty-One
Sometimes I Break Things
I spent some time with Elara after her nap, but my thoughts were so distracted I passed her back to Marta. Grabbing my coat and a bottle of liquor from Remington’s stash, I decided to take a long walk to clear my head.
The estate was enormous and there were plenty of places one could get lost, which was exactly what I wanted to do. Getting lost seemed one mature step above running from my problems, so I didn’t beat myself up too badly for escaping.
Once I lost sight of Remington’s house, I followed a dirt path and swigged straight from the bottle.
“God, what the fuck is this?”
I examined the label, but it was in French. For all I knew it was wine gone bad, but it might have been bourbon. Either way, it was keeping me warm and numbing the tension in my neck.
How could he suggest I marry Hale or adopt Elara as some sort of negotiation strategy? I’d known them for months, not even half a year. It was way too soon to even use words that big.
Guilt stung my conscience as a small voice in my head admitted I’d been thinking such words for weeks now. But no one knew about those thoughts. They were private.
And what about Hale’s opinion on everything? It was usually the guy’s job to propose.
I strolled along a large section of trees, pretty sure I was still on Davenport property, but rather turned around as far as finding my way back home. Remington was a colossal dickhead. He was selfish and never put himself in any sort of vulnerable position, but had no problem suggesting his loved ones lay it all on the line.
“Dear friend, my ass,” I grumbled, stumbling along the trail.
He should be the one to do something. This was his mess. Had he even tried stepping in and talking to Jasmine’s lawyer? And what about that lawyer anyway? He sounded like a total scumbag piece of shit. Gah, I hated greedy people. No doubt he was walking away with a fat commission.
“Whoa.” My feet stopped and my face lifted as I stared at an incredibly large, well-kept home. My head tilted as I recognized the familiar pillars and gable roof. “Where have I seen this place before?”
Frowning, I stumbled forward and took another sip of the bourbon wine. Somehow I knew the floors inside were honey and the windows would be dressed with custom-made shutters painted in a delicate bone white.
I found myself staring up at the mammoth house from the sprawling porch. And then it clicked.
“This is her house.” It was Jasmine’s, the one Hale had promised her, the one that started the lawsuit and was now the cause of so much trouble.
I recalled the day, not too long ago, that Remington sent me to meet with the interior designer. Another dickhead move to hurt my feelings.
Back then he’d been trying to frighten me with Hale’s complicated life. Now, he didn’t give a shit about complications and expected me to dive in headfirst.
My hand reached out and turned the antique knob, shocked to feel the door give way and ease open. “Holy shit.”
The sun reflected off the windows and not a touch of paint was chipped. Everything smelled brand new and nothing was lacking. I stepped into the foyer, very much like the one in Remington’s house on the estate, and I gaped at the untouched beauty.
Stairs, ten feet wide, flowed up the center of the house, splitting into two separate wings. It was so picturesque, so out of a fairytale, I waited for Lumiere and Mrs. Pots to come out to greet me.
“Hello?”
Of course, no one was there. I peeked inside the shade of a lamp, not at all surprised to see a light bulb already installed. Twisting the switch, the lamp turned on.
They’d taken care of everything. Even the bathrooms were prepared with linens and toilet paper.
I walked slowly through the quiet halls, peeking inside every room. Beds were dressed. Linen closets were bursting with luxury towels. Not a single corner was left unfurnished.
I was suddenly angry. What sort of woman was offered all of this and not satisfied? Of course, she had been satisfied, until Hale took this house off the table. But, still! It was so much. So, so, so much.
Unfortunately, there was no food in the pantry or the refrigerator. But that was okay because I had my trusty bourbon wine. I sat on a brand new sofa—one I was pretty certain I’d picked out—and I drank.
I’m not sure how the time went so fast with no television or books to read. I hadn’t even checked Facebook, being that I was too drunk to remember I had a phone. I just sat there, thinking, but not really clear what was going through my head.
This woman… I never let myself judge her, but now, sitting in this incredible home staring at all of the beautiful things waiting to be claimed… I hated her. She was hurting my Davenports.
I watched my foot lift in front of me and slowly nudge a glass figurine off the table. It fell to the floor and shattered. Then I immediately felt guilty, because what if that was part of the original house, some Revolutionary War relic and cost a bazillion dollars? If Hale managed to somehow keep the home, he might want that figurine back.
“Fuck.” I dropped to my knees and collected the pieces. It wasn’t too bad, but there was no way it was worth anything now.
Sitting back on my heels I blew out a breath and burped.
“Whoa.” I waved a hand in front of my face. Whatever I was drinking, my breath smelled flammable.
My phone buzzed, scaring the crap out of me. I gathered the pieces of the broken figurine and shoved them under the couch before I dug my phone out of my pocket. “Hello?”
“Where are you?” Hale greeted. “My dad said you’ve been gone all day.”
I could hear Elara cooing in the background, which meant he was back at the house. Shit. What time was it?
“Um… I went for a walk.”
“All day? It’s getting dark.”
“I was upset.”
“Are you … drunk?”
I looked at my bottle which only had a few swallows left in the bottom. “Probably. I took a bottle from your asshole dad’s office.”
Silence.
In hindsight, calling Remington an asshole to Hale probably wasn’t my wisest choice of the day. Not because Hale might take offense on his father’s behalf. He thought his dad was an asshole on most days. But letting Hale know Remington had upset me enough for me to call him an asshole would probably piss him off.
“What did he do?” he practically growled.
“Nothin’. Just being Remington.”
“Rayne.”
“I don’t wanna talk about it. How was your meeting?”
“Terrible. Where are you? I’m coming to pick you up.”
I could no longer hear Elara. Glancing around the pristine Jasmine palace, I bit my lip. “I can probably get back on my own.”
“You can’t even talk without slurring your words. Do you know where you are?”
“Umm… It’s big. There are a lot of windows.”
“Are… Are you on the property?”
“Maybe.”
“Rayne, I’m in no mood for twenty questions. Please just tell me where you are so I can come get you before it gets dark.”
“You’ll be mad at me.”
“No, I won’t. I’m getting in the car. I need an address.”
My face scrunched tight and I shut my eyes. “I’m on the estate.”
More silence followed by a hissed curse. “I know where you are. I’ll be there in a few minutes.” The line went dead.
“Oh, that’s not good.” Moving back to the couch, I slid my phone onto the table and stared at it.
Shadows lengthened along the walls as the sun fell behind the trees surrounding the house and soon enough I was sitting in the subtle light of one lamp as Hale pulled up.
“Rayne?”
“In here.”
I didn’t turn when I heard his footsteps, too afraid he’d yell at me for breaking and entering.
“How did you get in here?”
“The door was unlocked.”
He rounded the sofa and glanced at the table. Did he know a figurine was missing? Lifting the bottle, he eyed the label. “Tell me you didn’t drink all of this.”
“Sorry.”
He returned the bottle to the table and sat down with a sigh. We stared at the vacant fireplace between two large windows but said nothing. Chances were, he couldn’t handle more Remington related frustration. And I wasn’t in the mood for any Jasmine crap, so neither of us asked about the other’s day.
“This place is nice,” I eventually commented when the silence got to me, but there was no inflection in my voice. Being here pissed me off.
Hale gave a grunt, which could have been agreement or something else. “How bad was he? Do I need to get involved?”
Would Hale yelling at Remington change anything? “No. He was just in a mood and talking crazy.”
“Are you okay? He’s a thorn in my side, but you two have a special relationship. I know you care about him, Rayne.”
Sometimes caring about Remington was the biggest complication of all. “We’ll be fine.”
He glanced at me. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
“If you want me to say something to him, I will.”
I shook my head. “There’s no point. He’s just Remington being Remington. Why didn’t you tell me you offered Jasmine more money?”
His body stiffened. “Is that what you two argued about?”
I looked at him, wondering why he’d confide details about Jasmine to his father, but not to me. “You could have told me you were doing that.”
“I hate that she’s even an issue to consider in our lives. I don’t like letting that stuff interfere with us. It’ll all work out in the end.”
“What if it doesn’t?”
“It will.”
“But what if it doesn’t, Hale? What if she keeps trying to get more from you until you have nothing left to give?”
His lashes lowered. “I appreciate that the least attractive thing I can offer you is my fortune, Rayne, but it’s a substantial one. You’re the only woman who’s never taken the time to measure it. Jasmine’s not going to drain me dry. Trust me on that.”
“But when is enough, enough? How much more will you offer her? How much more is she going to take?” How many more trips up the coast to meet with her snake lawyer and rip off another layer of flesh?
“You know I can’t go back now. I’ve already established she’s in the power seat. There’s nothing I can do but finish what I’ve started.”
“This is so unfair.”
“People are generally unfair. We aren’t in this situation because of Jasmine’s sense of honor.”
Wasn’t that the truth. Leaning into his shoulder, I laced my fingers with his. “I’m sorry this happened to you. You were the victim in all of this and you’ve done so much to make things right and take care of Elara. I hate that they betrayed you at all.” And every day they took more and more advantage of his kindness.
“I have no regrets. Erasing their betrayal removes Elara from my life. I couldn’t imagine not having my daughter.”
And that was why he was so amazing. He’d found a silver lining in the shittiest storm cloud. “I love you.”
His hand tightened around mine. “You know, if I actually get my way, this house will be ours. Do you like it?”
“Yours. And yes, it’s very Beauty and the Beast. I want to eat baguettes in the kitchen and dance around with teacups and books.”
He laughed. “Did they do that in Beauty and the Beast?”
“You really need to expand your horizons. Your music is all from last century and you never get my movie references.”
“That’s not true. I get some of them.”
I sighed, my belly hungry and my eyes tired. “Do you think we’ll get married, Hale?”
He shifted and turned to fully face me. “Where did that come from?”
I shrugged. “Just wondering.”
“I’d marry you tomorrow if that was what you wanted. Is it?”
“I don’t know. I love you, but…”
“We’re still new.”
“It’s not just that. It’s me. This is all new to me. You’ve had tons of relationships. But for me … you’re it.”
“Well, I’m not letting you see other people, so if that’s what you’re getting at—”
“No. I just mean I have no point of reference with this stuff. I don’t know if what I’m feeling is normal at this stage or super advanced or what.”
“Are you happy?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s all that matters. Whatever came before means nothing. All those relationships… Not a single one measured up to what we have. You’re it for me, Rayne. I don’t want to go backward when I’m convinced I’ve found the absolute best person to share my future with.”
I smiled and gave him a shoulder bump. “Charmer.”
“Should I be shopping for rings?”
“I’m not answering that. I think—whenever you pop the question—if you do—you’ll be as surprised as me by the answer. I won’t know until we get there.”
“For the record, I’m perfectly fine with waiting until you’re ready. Unlike the Davenports before me, I intend to marry once and make my marriage a happy one.”
And that was why I loved him.