Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 53872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 53872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 269(@200wpm)___ 215(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Her heart ached. “I can’t. I’m leaving next week. Moving, actually. I’m sorry, I thought Jeremy told you.”
Ellen’s smile faded and resignation lit her eyes. “Away from the city?”
“The state,” Tasha corrected quietly. “It’s a great opportunity, it really is, but I’m going to miss…everyone. I can have Adrian bring over a box of tarts. I’ve made him the bakery supervisor until I get the right offer to sell.”
“Next week?” Seamus spoke from the recliner. He hadn’t moved since she arrived.
“That’s when the truck arrives.”
The room grew uncomfortably quiet. She felt like she was betraying them. Like they were disappointed in her. All she wanted to do was stay, but she didn’t belong here anymore. She never really had. Not the way Jeremy did.
Shawn coughed, setting down his half-eaten lemon tart. “Natasha?”
“Yes, sir?”
“It shouldn’t need to be said, but I want to make it clear that as long as Ellen and I are around, you have a place to be. I imagine Jeremy will say the same. You’re a strong girl with a good head on your shoulders, and I’m sure you have your reasons for wanting to pick up and start fresh. So whatever you’re going through, go through it, and when you’re done we’ll still be here.”
“T-thank you.”
She covered her mouth in time to mute her sob. She couldn’t stay any longer. Couldn’t look into their faces, see those Finn-blue eyes, for another minute. She turned for the door and no one tried to stop her.
When she reached the parking garage, she heard footsteps behind her. She whirled with a gasp, her hand going to her throat where her heart had lodged.
Seamus. Not Stephen. Seamus. “Did I forget something in the room?”
His hands were stuffed in his jean pockets and his shoulders were hunched defensively. He was angry? She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Seamus angry before. “Seamus?”
“Why did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“Break his damn heart.” He looked around as the sentence echoed, moving closer to her and lowering his voice. “Left him without a word. Refused to talk to him. And now, he’s not… He’s different.”
Tasha crossed her arms over her chest protectively. “Did he say his heart was broken?”
“Those first few weeks he talked a lot. Called me in the middle of the night, drunk off his ass.”
“Drunk?” Stephen didn’t get drunk.
“Every night,” Seamus emphasized. “And you were what was on his mind. He talked about what happened in college. He mentioned that a lot. You tried to leave him then too, and the only way he could keep his foot in the door was to offer you the no-strings solution. Just sex.”
Seamus shook his head. “If he’d told me about what had been going on in his head all these years, I’d have set him straight. But Stephen doesn’t talk about his feelings. Or he didn’t. He never even told me about you. Not until we all saw that video.”
“What did he say?”
“He was waiting for you to tell him you wanted more, that you were ready for more.” Seamus frowned at her. “You never did.”
What was he saying? “Did he? Want more?”
“Jesus H, my hand to God, you two deserve each other. Did he want more? You know what kind of man Stephen is, and he sure as hell isn’t the type to have a sixteen year affair with someone just for the hell of it.”
“It wasn’t an affair,” she insisted weakly.
Seamus glared. “In all that time did he ever have another relationship? No. Sex, sure, but no love. He just focused on his job and waited for the next time you got an itch.”
Tasha shook her head. “I don’t think you understood him. Stephen wasn’t waiting for me.” It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. “He knows we wouldn’t have worked together. I’d have hurt his career. I still would. I’m not right for him.”
“He sounded depressed,” Seamus continued, as if she hadn’t spoken. “He’s my twin, and I know him better than anyone. He represses his emotions, buttons another button and soldiers on. He doesn’t get sloppy drunk. He doesn’t rage and break things, and he’s never depressed. But he said this time he’d thought you were finally ready. That you were both in the right place and he knew what you wanted. And then you just walked out. Again.”
“Seamus, you don’t know the whole story.”
“No, I don’t. And he’s stopped calling now. Every time I try to reach him, his assistant insists he’s in an important meeting. He’s always in a meeting. Owen drove to his office this morning to tell him about Dad, and he said the place was swarming with men in dark suits that looked like feds.”
Tasha’s heart raced. She was desperate to know what was going on. Did they finally get what they needed to put Burke away? Maybe she could talk to Brady before she left, to see if he could find out.