Page 46 of So Close

“People think they know what they want, but they don’t. She doesn’t have the resources to take care of herself and Carl. She’s so stubborn. She’ll take on more than she can handle.”

“She told me you tried to buy her a house.”

“Jesus, Brynn,” Trey said to the sky in exasperation. “Can’t a man have some secrets?”

Auburn smiled. “That was nice of you. To try to take care of her that way.”

“Yeah, well, she didn’t think so.”

“I understand that, too. She wants to do it for herself.” She was quiet for a moment, looking out to where just a few streaks of lighter sky still shone out of the dark. “Trey?”

“Yeah?”

“What happened between Carl and your dad?”

He felt like he’d been smacked in the chest. “What did Brynn tell you?”

“Just that after your mom died, Carl was angry.”

He knew that if he shut her down now, she wouldn’t push. He couldn’t say how he knew that, but he knew.

So he wasn’t sure what made him step into it. Right into the heart of it. Call it beach magic. Or Auburn magic. Because increasingly, he was beginning to think that that’s what it was about. What she called beach magic or Beachcrest magic was really Auburn herself, the way she saw. The way she listened. The way she cared. Magic happened around her, all right, but not because of something outside her. Because of what was inside her.

“I told you my dad drank. Couldn’t hold down a job. Got into crazy schemes.”

She nodded, eyes huge.

“My mom made up for it. Worked two and sometimes three jobs to compensate.”

The old pain had seized him around the chest, tightening like a vise. It was tough to breathe. Like how it must have been for his mother.

“She got sick at one of the factory jobs. They didn’t have adequate ventilation for the particulates, and she ended up with all kinds of breathing problems. They thought it was asthma, but it turned out to be lung cancer. Stage four when they caught it. It was so fast. Less than a month, if you can believe it.”

“Oh. Oh,God,Trey.”

“Working like that killed her,” he said quietly. “Hekilled her.”

She reached out a hand and took his. Without stopping to think about whether he’d regret it, he turned his hand in hers so they were holding hands for real. Ran his thumb over her smooth skin.

“Is that why you do what you do? Make money so you can keep everyone you love safe in gilded cages?” Auburn paused, pushed her hair out of her eyes, drawing his gaze back to her face. “You don’t want to be anything like your father?”

“I’m nothing like my father,” he said.

It came out harsher than he’d intended—but not as forceful as it felt in his gut.

“No,” she said, thoughtfully. “I don’t imagine you are.”

Her eyes held his until he couldn’t stand the intensity and looked away. “Gilded cages, huh?” The characterization hurt—but he recognized the truth in it, too.

“I’m sorry. That was harsh. I know you’re just trying to do what you think is best. For Brynn. For Carl.”

“No,” he said quietly. “I think you’re probably right. And I probably did it to Karina, my ex-wife, too. She left me a year ago. After I canceled the first vacation we’d booked in two years. Because a deal fell through and I needed to fix it.”

He wasn’t expecting Auburn to be sympathetic. He knew it had been an asshole move. But that deal had been a big next step for him, and he hadn’t been able to walk away from it.

He thought Karina had understood how important it was to him. He thought she understood that it would practically guarantee that nothing could touch them again financially. He thought she understood that literally everything he’d done from the moment he’d met her had beenforher. Every hour he’d worked, every dollar he’d made. To keep her safe, make her happy, ensure she never suffered or needed anything.

Auburn’s eyes were soft. “I’m sorry,” she said, and it made his chest hurt like hell.

---