Finish What We Started (19 page)

If she didn’t think they were a team—and the fact that she never discussed any of this with him proved it—then she could still leave him at any time. It didn’t matter why she left or where she went, Lee wouldn’t do it again. His heart couldn’t take it. He’d been some kind of magnificent fool for dancing right into heartbreak territory again. Sometime around two in the morning he’d realized he couldn’t get married.

Hollywood was wrong, so fucking wrong. Love was not enough.

“I need your help,” he told his brother.

“Yeah, man, anything. Just tell me what’s going on. Sarah and I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Everyone here is completely freaking out. Is Canda—”

Lee stopped him before he could get to the part about Candy. “I need you to tell her that I’m not coming.”

“What?”

“I know it’s a lot to ask from you. But I just can’t...” He paused to get control of himself again. He dug his palms into his eyes and willed the tears to stop. “Please tell her she’s free to go. She should take that job in Thailand. That’s what she studied so hard for, made so many sacrifices for.” Oliver leaned up against him and whined. “Tell her I don’t want to hold her back.”

“Are you saying Candace isn’t with you?”

“No.” Lee shook his head even though no one could see it but Oliver. “No, she’s— Wait, what?”

“She didn’t show up either.”

Goddamn it. She’d left him already.

* * *

Her wedding should have started twenty minutes ago. When she turned her phone back on there were nineteen phone messages and an entire novel of frantic texts from her friends.

Nothing from Lee. Not one single message.

She loved him. She loved him so much that when she’d been offered the job of a lifetime she hadn’t given it a second thought before she said no. Building her clinic and watching it steadily grow had been the whole point of going to college. She was keenly aware of how important pets were in people’s lives, and there was a great deal of satisfaction and pleasure in keeping her patients healthy. She didn’t want anything else. Yes, it had been fun working with Dr. Godwyn again, and she’d consider being a liaison at the zoo, but her clinic and her practice were the career she’d always wanted. She loved her life and the life they were building together. This was the only place she wanted to be.

He had been furious at her for not taking the job. Furious. What the hell had she needed to discuss with him? What part of it did he find appealing? There wasn’t any salary to speak of. It was halfway around the world. In her mind, she deserved a hell of a lot of credit for her decision. She’d done the right thing for him, for her and for their relationship.

Why was he acting like such a dick?

The facts were painfully obvious. He didn’t trust her. He hadn’t forgiven her like he said he had. To be fair, it was entirely possible that he’d entered into their relationship believing they were making a fresh start, but the first time a hurdle came up, he’d immediately assumed the worst. He was so positive she’d destroy him again.

She couldn’t live life like that, waiting for the shoe to drop after every challenge. She wasn’t perfect, and she certainly didn’t claim to be. She was bound to hurt and disappoint him eventually.

He’d certainly disappointed her.

She’d climbed out of bed, gotten dressed in her running gear and driven around in her Jeep until her gaslight came on. Then she’d parked herself in a corner booth in an all-night diner. No one paid any attention to her when she sobbed, save a wizened old waitress who brought a cup of tea and a stack of pancakes.

“On the house, honey,” she’d said and went back to the counter and the book she was reading.

Certainly by now everyone must have deduced she wasn’t coming. She’d been in that booth all day knowing she should call someone, but unable to make herself do it. She didn’t know what to say. God, she was such a coward. She should really put Marisol out of her misery.

“A dios mio,”
Marisol said when she answered. “
Cara,
where are you?”

“I’m sorry, Mari. Really, I am.”

“Are you okay?”

Candace could hear voices in the background. Angry voices. “Physically, yes.”

“You’re not coming, are you?”

“No.”

“What the hell happened?”

She felt the tears returning and took a minute until she thought her voice wouldn’t crack. “There’s too much to tell you over the phone. Please tell Lee how sorry I am. Will you do that for me? I can’t face him today.”

There was a deep sigh over the phone. “I can’t. He’s not here, either. I think Mark’s on the phone with him now.”

She pushed herself out of the booth. “Are you telling me he stood me up at our
wedding?
” That was infuriating. And humiliating.

And very telling.

Based on the rotten way he’d ended the phone call last night, she shouldn’t be surprised.

But her heart broke anyway.

Chapter Nineteen

The sound of a boat motor cut through the afternoon silence. There’d been other fishermen on the lake during Lee’s nearly weeklong stay at the campsite, but no one had pestered him. For five days he’d had no one to talk to about his self-imposed exile but Oliver. Even though the dog was a good listener, he was beginning to think it was time to talk to a human.

He kept his eyes closed and concentrated on the lazy swing of the hammock. Eventually the buzz of the motor would fade and peace would be restored in his tiny slice of the world. Well, outer peace would anyway. There was nothing peaceful about what was going on in his head. Oliver knew. Lee was a fucking mess.

What an idiot he was for setting himself up again. He had to have known his luck wouldn’t hold. Still, he was flabbergasted that she’d left already. Had he really meant so little to her?

To get his mind off her, he was designing a guest house on the back of his property. He was thinking twelve hundred square feet and a facade to complement the main house.

With a happy woof, Oliver splashed into the water. The dog had better not be chasing ducks again.
Lee swung his legs down and levered himself out of the hammock. The boat he’d heard was skimming nearer to his shore.

He wanted to talk to humans, but he wanted it to be one of his humans, not some random fisherman who was going to annoy him with questions about lures and trout. Oliver bounced around in the water, barking with excitement as the boat idled closer.

With a hand shading his eyes, he saw Sarah in the passenger seat of the little speedboat. He didn’t recognize the man driving.

“Hey!” She waved her hand in a broad arc over her head. “Come get your dog. I don’t want to get all icky.”

Lee, who’d been wearing his swim trunks all week, waded out to grab Oliver’s collar and drag him to shore. Sarah slid over the side and waved the man away, thanking him with a broad smile.

“Who was that?” he asked, holding tight to the dog who was straining and wiggling like a maniac.

“Some fisherman I asked to bring me out here. I think his name was Bob or Rob or something.” She patted the dog on the head. She probably hoped that would calm him down but it only made him more desperate to prove his affection.

“That wasn’t very safe. What if he’d taken you out into the woods somewhere and attacked you? Damn it, Sarah. What were you thinking?”

The look she gave him was a mixture of annoyance and disbelief. She topped it off with an eye roll. “I don’t need you to take care of me anymore. I’m a grown woman.” He looked unimpressed. “First I would kick him in the knee. Then, when he bent over, I would have grabbed his hair, pulled him off-balance, then finished him off with a forward kick to the balls.”

All nice techniques he’d taught her. It was good to know she listened some of the time. “What if he had a gun? Huh, what then?”

She fisted her hands on her hips. “I guess I’d be dead. Is that what you want to hear?”

“No, I just want you to use your head.” Oliver gave up squirming, sat on Lee’s foot and started whining.

She flapped her hand in annoyance and marched up the strip of beach to where he’d set up one lawn chair. “We’re getting way off topic here.”

“What is the topic? Why
are
you here?”

“To pull your head out of your ass.”

He didn’t need this shit. He let Oliver go, thinking that would precipitate his sister leaving sooner. Instead of going for Sarah with his muddy paws, the dog dashed off into the woods after some creature or another.

“My head is fine,” he lied. Even he knew his head was a jacked-up, confused, convoluted cesspit.

“Then why are you hiding in the woods like Bigfoot?”

“First I don’t think I need to explain myself to you, little sister. Second, I’m not hiding. I’m thinking.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “Also called pouting.”

He crossed his arms over his chest. “Was your agenda to risk your safety by coming all the way out here so you could insult me?”

Suddenly she seemed to go soft, losing the usual armor she wore to protect herself against all the hurts the world had to offer. “No. I came to make sure you were okay. This time it’s my turn to take care of you.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t need taking care of. I’ll come home at the end of the week. I was supposed to be on my honeymoon anyway, so no one is expecting me until Monday.” She didn’t argue, which was very un-Sarah-like.

She was quiet. He got tired of standing there, being stared at, so he went about stoking the low embers back into a fire so he could roast the fish he’d caught that morning.

“Why didn’t you come to your wedding?” she asked finally.

“What difference would it have made anyway? She didn’t bother to come either. Maybe it was a lucky star that kept me from being humiliated. I’m gonna call it serendipity.”

She leaned back in the chair and looked like she was preparing to make herself comfortable for the long haul. “I’m not here about Candace. I’m asking about you. Why didn’t you show up at your wedding?”

She wasn’t going to let up, and he
had
wanted to talk to a human. Technically, his sister was human. “Did you know she was offered a job by her old professor, that guy she’s been working with at the zoo, on a prestigious project to save the clouded leopard? She’s a highly regarded researcher, did you know that? It was an amazing opportunity for her. She could be instrumental in keeping that animal from extinction. I mean, holy shit.” He shook his head in amazement of all she could accomplish. “The job’s in Thailand.”

Sarah didn’t say whether she’d known this or not. “What’s the problem with all of that?”

“She didn’t take the job. What the fuck, right? Who doesn’t jump at that? When something that amazing falls in your lap, you take it or you regret it for the rest of your life. Then before you know it, she’d be miserable and she’d hate me.”

“This is what your fight was about the night before?”

“Yeah, ’cause I realized I was holding her back. I don’t want to be that guy.” She gave him a look that suggested there must be a more, less altruistic reason. “Fine. There was no way I was going to hold her attention for the rest of our lives. She was going to leave me again, anyway. Is that what you want to hear? Mine was a preemptive strike.”

“Sounds like you’re chicken.”

“Okay. And we’re done here.” He turned his back on her and whistled for his stupid dog.

“Let me tell you what I know for sure.” She stood. Apparently proselytizing was most effectively done on one’s feet. “Five years ago you were madly in love with her. You guys had plans for a future and you weren’t going to let an ocean or a continent keep you apart. Then my life shattered and you were there to pick up the pieces and take care of me and Sid. That’s something I can never thank you enough for. You were my rock, Lee, my always dependable big brother. I’m certain we wouldn’t have made it without you. But, in order to do all that, you let her go without a fight. I understood at the time how hurt you were by what you thought was abandonment, but the reality of the situation was she really didn’t have a choice. Surely you recognize that now. Maybe she could have delayed by a week or so, but she had to go. Scholarships were at stake. Thousands of dollars and limited-time offers, and Candace’s dream. But you should have fought for her like you did for our family when Dad died, like you did for me when Pete died. But you didn’t fight for you and her at all.”

Lee closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Instead you sealed yourself away and built a mansion. So you’re cruising along, building your life, taking care of your family, and one day, there she is again. I’ll be honest. I’m jealous. The love of your life walked right back in. Some people never get that.
I’ll
never get that. You see this story as a tragedy, but you’re wrong. I still can’t believe how lucky you are. It’s like you won the lottery twice.”

That made him feel like shit. He’d give just about anything if he could bring Pete back for Sarah. Sadly, all the things he could plan and build and put back together, he could never fix that for his sister.

“If you don’t fight for her this time, then you’re a selfish asshole. Do it for me, if that makes you feel better. Just don’t let her go. Do what you didn’t do the first time. Tell her you support her. That you’ll wait for her. That you were an idiot. Tell her that her passion and dedication are a huge part of why you fell in love with her. But, honey, if it isn’t a hundred percent true, don’t say any of it. You hurt her once. Don’t do it again.”

His heart was beating so slowly. His whole body felt heavy. He’d fucked up again. In the end, it didn’t matter who was right, he just wished he could fix it. “It’s too late. She’s already gone.”

“No, she isn’t, you jerk. She’s still living with Marisol.”

* * *

Candace pulled the chart from the rack on the door. Another new patient. A chinchilla wellness check. There was no name on the file for the owner. She was going to have to talk to Lisa
again
about making sure all the information was completed at registration.

Back to the file. The animal’s name was Gertie. Ha! Cute. No specific concerns. Recently adopted from a breeder.

She was still looking at the chart—age, weight, coloring—when she entered the examination room. She pasted on her best competent-doctor smile, then looked up.

She froze.

Lee.

He stood there looking like the sexiest thing on two legs. Black hair artfully tousled. Vivid green eyes smiling at her. He was wearing a tuxedo, and the hands she loved so much held a silvery-gray chinchilla.

She didn’t know what to say to him. No, she knew what to say. She didn’t know where to start.

“Hi,” he said.

She nodded, waiting to see where he was going with this before showing her hand. Besides, she didn’t know if she could actually speak or not. It had been a very tough week. She’d offered to move out since it seemed classless to keep living with her ex-fiancé’s friend, but Marisol told her she was
estúpida
, so she’d gratefully stayed.

His smile didn’t waiver. “This is Gertie.” He offered up the chinchilla. The animal looked at her with huge eyes. “She is a peace offering.”

She didn’t need a chinchilla. On the other hand, she was pretty sure Romeo Darling would very much enjoy the arrival of Gertie.

“Sidney is so angry at me for screwing up his chance to be in a wedding, he’s not talking to me. She’s really more of a bribe.” He lifted the fuzzy beastie to his cheek and the two of them gave her a plaintive look. “Also, she needs to see a vet.”

She nodded again, like an idiot.

“I needed to see the vet, too.” He held Gertie out to her and Candace reflexively took her.

“I’m so sorry. I freaked out. I didn’t fight for us last time but I’m fighting for us now. I was wrong then. I should have called you in Scotland. I should have gotten on a damn plane and come after you. You made the right decision back then. I never, ever stopped loving you, but I also never let that anger go when you left. I might not ever be good enough for you, but I trust you, and I love you, and I’ll love you with everything I have for the rest of your life if you’ll let me.”

Her voice came out like a squeak so she cleared her throat and started again. “Oh God. I was never going to go to Thailand. We are a team. I didn’t talk to you about it because I didn’t want it.”

“Really? Not even a little?” he asked.

“Not if you weren’t going to be there with me. You’re the only man I’ve ever loved. This is home. You’re home. You’re all I ever wanted. I want to fill up that crazy house with kids with you.”

His happy smile turned serious. Taking the distance between them in one giant stride, he took her in his arms and kissed her. She tucked Gertie safely next to her body and wrapped her free arm around his neck, holding on for all she was worth.

Chinchilla whiskers tickling their cheeks reminded them where they were.

“I love you so much,” he told her with his forehead pressed to hers.

“Me, too. I’m so sorry.”

He kissed her again.

“Hey,” she said, pulling back. “Why are you wearing a tux?”

He laughed. “I was trying to make an impression.”

She kissed his lips, his nose, his lips again. “Well done.”

“Candace Claesson, will you marry me?”

She grinned. “We should finish what we started. But this time, I want a huge wedding.”

* * * * *