Page 90 of Hold You Close
“You love her. She loves you. She’s crying nonstop and you’re in here pouting. I think you’re scared.”
“I think you should shut your mouth.” I get to my feet.
“Fine. If that’s what you want.” He shakes his head. “Maybe you’re right, Uncle Ian . . . you don’t deserve her.”
With that, he walks away and slams the door behind him.
I can’t even go after him, because he’s right.
Tossing the letter aside, I lie back again and fling one arm across my eyes. I can’t face hearing my sister’s voice right now. It will only make me feel worse, if that’s even possible.
I’ve never felt so fucking alone.
An hour later,I’m still lying there when I hear another knock on the door. “Yeah?”
“Can we come in?” It’s Christopher voice again.
“We?”
“Morgan and me.”
I frown. Great—just what I need, those two know-it-all’s coming in here to tell me I’m a coward or complain about London or bitch at me about how I’m doing everything wrong. “Go away.”
“No.” Morgan opens the door and strides in, stopping at the foot of the bed. She sticks her hands on her hips. “We want to talk to you.”
Christopher follows her in and stands by her side, arms folded over his chest, feet planted wide.
I sit up, scowling at them. “About what?”
Brother and sister exchange a glance. “Chris and I have been talking about you and Aunt London,” says Morgan.
“That’s none of your business,” I snap.
“We’ve been comparing notes,” she goes on, completely disregarding what I said.
“Yeah.” Christopher nods. “And we have some questions.”
“This is ridiculous.” I get off the bed and stand as tall as I can. “I don’t answer to you. You’re not the boss of me.”
“Maybe we should be.” Morgan’s eyes narrow, and it’s clear she’ll take no shit from me tonight. “Chris told me what you did. You broke things off so she’d take that job. You gave her up because you love her, just like you did after the prom.”
My heart thuds painfully in my chest. My face burns with outrage. “She told you about that?”
“Yes!” she snaps. “And I told Christopher, and we realized what you’d done—you broke her heart so she’d go away to school. And you’re doing the same stupid thing all over again.”
“You don’t know anything about it.” I glare at them both. “You’re too young to understand.”
“No, we’re not,” Christopher says. “We understand perfectly. You think you’re doing the right thing, you think you’re fixing it, but you aren’t.”
“Yes, I am!” I shouldn’t raise my voice to them like this, but I can’t help it. I feel myself coming apart at the seams. “She was going to turn down that scholarship to Northwestern if I hadn’t done what I did! And she’d have passed on this promotion!”
“But that’s her choice, isn’t it?” Morgan challenges. “Why should you get to make it for her?”
“Because she—” I struggle to answer the question. Run a hand through my messed-up hair. “She’d hate me for this eventually. I know she would.”
“How do you know?” My niece throws her hands in the air. “You’ve never told her the truth about what you did back then! She doesn’t know you love her now! You’ve never given her a chance to choose you.”
“I tried to tell her the truth back then, after she came home,” I inform them. “She wouldn’t even talk to me.”
