Chapter Twenty-Six
Brent hadn’t realized until he woke up alone that wherever Riley had gone last night, he never came back.
With his heart in his throat, he headed outside in his t-shirt and underwear to check on the RV, terrified that it was going to be gone, that he’d missed his chance to tell Riley how he felt, that he wouldn’t see him again for months.
Instead, he found Riley checking the ropes he used to tie the awnings in place. A ritual he completed every time he left.
Brent was too late.
“Are you going?” Brent asked, not sure what else to say. The thought of Riley leaving now, when they’d been so close to having something wonderful, made him feel sick to his stomach.
“I don’t want to overstay my welcome,” Riley said. “Gotta get out of here before you get sick of me.”
“I’m not sick of you,” Brent responded. He wasn’t even close to sick of Riley.
Riley didn’t mean that, though. That was what he always said when he was leaving. This was a conversation they’d had a dozen times or more.
He meant that he wanted to leave.
“Not yet.” Riley smiled a tiny smile.
The words not ever stuck in Brent’s throat.
He was stupid to think Riley would want to stay. Compared to the life Riley had, the freedom to go anywhere, do anything, Brent had nothing to offer. A house that was falling apart in the same small town they’d both grown up in, the small town Brent never really intended to leave.
It wasn’t enough for Riley. It would never be enough for Riley.
No matter how much Brent wished it would.
“Were you at least gonna say goodbye?” Brent asked. He hated feeling like this, feeling like a child being abandoned, but he couldn’t help it.
He knew he had no claim on Riley. That ship had sailed, and he’d let it.
“Of course. I was just waiting for you to wake up. You had a long night.”
Brent sighed at that. He had. Rose had kept him up until something like three in the morning.
He didn’t mind, exactly. She needed him, and he was glad that she felt he could come to him.
They weren’t right for each other, not romantically, but they’d both felt lost and alone, and that was why they’d ended up together. Brent had assumed Rose had realized that and run away because of it, but apparently it wasn’t that simple.
As if everything that had happened since last Saturday wasn’t enough, it turned out Brent didn’t know Tom at all. He could hardly believe that his friend and business partner had been willing to run away with his fiancée, not because he loved her, but to get his hands on her money.
It was a lot to process.
It made more sense the more Brent thought about it—there’d been hints that something wasn’t right, hints he’d chosen to ignore because they hadn’t felt like any of his business. Or because they’d felt like paranoia.
Or because he was afraid that if he so much as poked his life with a stick, the whole thing would come crashing down.
And now it had, and he was just beginning to realize how badly.
Brent would really have liked Riley to stick around while he dealt with it, but that was too much to ask. Riley didn’t owe him anything. He owed Riley so much already that he couldn’t ask for anything else.
He’d have to handle it himself.
“Yeah,” Brent said eventually, his brain still half asleep. “Yeah, uh. Rose disappeared into Emily’s room around three. She’s really upset, and I don’t blame her. I feel bad for being mad at her now. She’s young, y’know?”
“She’s twenty-seven,” Riley said. “But I take your point. Tom really did a number on her, huh?”
“Yeah,” Brent agreed. “Yeah, and I feel like I should forgive her for what happened. It hurt, but…”
“But she was being manipulated,” Riley said. “Sure, yeah. I get it.”
Riley didn’t sound happy, but maybe he was just tired. Maybe he wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Brent’s heart hurt.
This wasn’t exactly how he’d pictured today going. He’d planned to wake up, make Riley breakfast, and spend the whole morning telling him how happy he was that he’d decided to stay.
Pretty much the opposite of what was actually happening.
“I’m gonna help her deal with it,” Brent said. “She’s pretty sure she wants a divorce, and that’s hard to go through.”
Brent’s feelings about the whole thing had changed overnight. He’d gone from not understanding what had happened, to blaming himself, to blaming Rose.
Now that he understood, he couldn’t blame her anymore. Tom was at the center of this.
Brent should have known. He was smarter than that.
Or maybe he wasn’t, considering what had happened.
“You’re a good man,” Riley said. “Better than any of us deserve.”
Brent shook his head. “I’m no better than anyone else. I’m just trying to do the right thing. You taught me that.”
Riley gave him a look that Brent couldn’t quite decipher. Something between fondness and sadness, something he wasn’t sure he’d ever really seen on Riley before.
Despite knowing him for more than twenty years, Riley was still capable of surprising Brent.
“I never taught you anything you didn’t already know,” Riley said. “Nothing important, anyway.”
Brent wanted to object to that, but he knew Riley wouldn’t hear it. Riley had made him the man he was, been there for him while he grew up from a shy, awkward teenager into a very slightly less shy, awkward adult.
Maybe it didn’t seem important to Riley, but it was important to Brent.
“So, uh…” Brent cleared his throat. “You’ll be back soon, right?”
He didn’t want Riley to go, didn’t want to lose whatever they had between them, but he knew there was no point in arguing with that, either. Riley was a wild bird. He would have withered in a cage, lost his song.
“Well, Charlie’s getting married in a few months, so I have to come back for that. You know me. I can’t miss out on a good wedding.”
“Sorry you didn’t get one this time,” Brent said. “I know how much you love them.”
“It’s okay,” Riley said, glancing over Brent’s shoulder at the house. “Listen… no regrets, okay?”
Brent swallowed. He knew what Riley meant, but he already felt as though he was drowning in regret.
Not regret over what they’d done. Not regret over being with Riley.
Regret over losing him.
He wasn’t sure he’d be able to forgive himself for that. He wished he could tell Riley to hang on, he’d grab a few things and go with him, if Riley would have him, but it wasn’t that simple.
Emily still needed someone to come back to. Brent’s life would always be in Hope Springs.
And Riley’s never would.
“No regrets,” Brent agreed, struggling to get the words out without his voice cracking.
“Good.” Riley smiled at him, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “Take care of yourself. I’ll let you know where I end up,” he said.
Brent nodded, barely holding back the urge to cry. He couldn’t do that right now. He couldn’t guilt Riley into staying, make him feel trapped again.
Riley was a sucker for people who needed him. Brent needed him, more than he ever had, but Riley had already done too much for him.
Brent would just have to learn to stand on his own two feet.
“You too. And I expect pictures,” Brent said.
“You’ll get them.” Riley grinned at him. “Goodbye, Brent,” he said, opening the door of the RV.
“Bye, Riley.”
Brent stepped back, his heart sinking down to his stomach and his throat catching. He watched Riley climb in, settling behind the wheel before turning the engine over, the RV roaring to life.
He almost couldn’t bear to watch, but he knew he had to. He had to hold it together for a few more minutes, wait for Riley to go before he broke down.
He was stupid to think he could ever have kept Riley. No one could. Brent wasn’t anything special.
Riley had just made him feel that way.