Page 61 of All You Need Is Love

Chapter 14

Marshall couldn’t wait to leave Walker Beach in the rearview mirror.

He kicked at the water, his toes skimming the surface of the placid ocean as it lapped against the marina dock. Well past midnight, he probably wasn’t supposed to be out here, but the closed gate was hardly a deterrent and only meant to keep vehicles from entering the marina after hours.

After the catastrophe in the middle of Ben and Bella’s wedding, he’d headed straight to the parking lot with Quinn. She’d promised to address the rumors that would surely begin circulating—that photographer who’d been present during the intended family photo had looked like a predatory dog with a bone clamped in its teeth.

Then, he’d left, walking the three miles back to Tyler and Gabrielle’s house and stuffing his bag full of his dirty clothing, laptop, everything.

If it hadn’t been so late and he had a car and they weren’t hours from an airport, he’d have been on the next plane. Instead, he’d changed from his suit coat and tie, wandered downtown, and somehow found himself here, breathing in the brackish tang that personified the ocean. Halyards clanked gently against boat masts somewhere behind where he sat at the edge of the dock.

A long, singular pier. A cubicle. An apartment with absentee roommates. Didn’t matter where he was. Despite lowering his defenses, allowing someone into his heart again, alone seemed to be Marshall’s lot in life.

Because much as Shannon had seemed sure about seeing if this thing between them could work, tonight the truth had been revealed.

“I would love to come to New York, but the timing … I mean.”

“Sure, maybe not right away. But once you’ve got the stuff with Noah resolved?”

If she couldn’t even commit to visiting him, no way would she ever be willing to move. She’d rather stay in this backwater town, among people she really loved, than even consider moving to be with him.

He’d been an idiot to think that love was worth the risk this time.

The yawning hole in his heart told him otherwise.

Behind him, the dock creaked. Marshall glanced back, saw a hulking figure approach in the dark, only the moon to light his path. What did he want? Probably here to smash Marshall’s face in.

Not like Marshall could blame the guy. He’d warned him to be careful with his sisters’ hearts, after all.

Tyler lowered himself beside Marshall. “Hey, man.”

“Hey.”

Shannon’s brother cracked his knuckles. “So … do you love my sister?”

Guess they were just diving in then. Kind of made Marshall respect Tyler even more. “Yes. I mean, I could see myself …” He picked up a pebble embedded between the wooden slats of the dock and tossed it into the water. It plopped, barely producing a ripple. “But not the sister you think.”

“I know.”

Marshall looked at him, sharp. “You do?”

Tyler nodded. “Quinn told me and Gabrielle what was going on tonight after the wedding.”

“Oh.” Good. She hadn’t lied about her intentions to tell the truth after all.

It had been the hardest thing Marshall had ever done, leaving Shannon behind. But he’d promised Quinn that she could handle it in her own way. And besides, he couldn’t last one more minute near the woman who had shot him in the heart with her backtracking. Her “confusion.”

He really needed to stop striving for something he was never going to achieve, like love, a family of his own, one that might stick by his side this time around. Better to focus on things he could control—like doing the best possible job he could, working his way up the corporate ladder.

Sure, it could be a cutthroat world, but better a cut throat than a severed heart.

If only he’d listened to himself sooner.

Tyler knocked his fist against the dock. “I was actually really happy to hear that I don’t have to pummel you. Because I kind of like you, St. John.”

That elicited a slight smirk from Marshall. “Good to know.” Then he frowned.

“So what are you going to do about all of this?”

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