Page 120 of Tempting Promises
“I’m sorry, Charlotte,” he says, coming toward me, but I raise my hands. “I’m sorry you didn’t get it. I’m sorry the news came now and like this.”
“You knew?” I ask, feeling a new wave of pain hit me.
He moves toward me again. “I just found out.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
How could he keep this from me?
“I got the email, and it’s your birthday. I didn’t want to ruin it.”
I take two steps back. Everything and everyone in my life sucks. Today was finally looking up. I had this wonderful man come and be so kind and tell me he loves me. It was all I wanted and now this.Instead of joy and laughter, it’s yelling and despair. I can’t deal with all of this. I’m going to lose my mind.
“I’d say the day is ruined, wouldn’t you?”
“It wasn’t supposed to be. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I bet he is. As angry as I am at him for not telling me, I’m just too broken to care. However, he needs to leave. I can’t look at him, not when I know I’m going to lose everything.
My lip trembles as I stare into the blue eyes I love so damn much. “Right now, my heart is breaking, and as much as I want you to comfort me, I need to talk to Aurora. Please, please, I’m begging you, I need...to be with my sister.”
Rowan sighs heavily as he runs his hand down his beautiful face. His eyes find mine. “Okay. I’m coming back tomorrow, and we’ll figure this out.”
There’s nothing to figure out, but I nod because if I speak, it’ll be sobs that escape instead of words.
He tosses his clothes on—well, not his shirt since I have that—and heads to the back door. Rowan pauses, looking at me for a moment. “I’ll fix this.”
“You can’t.”
Rowan walks back to me, both hands cradling my face. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
I grip both wrists, pulling them down. “I’ll let you know when it’s a good time.”
He searches my eyes, and I’m sure he can see my heartache. It’s not his fault that Carson picked him, I know this, but it feels like he did this. It feels like he took something from me, even though he had no say in it.
It’s best he goes home and allows me to process it.
Without another word, he leans into me, pressing his lips to my forehead, and then walks out the door, and I sink to the floor and sob.
My sister comes over, resting her hand on myshoulder. “Now what?”
I look up at her, my tears falling. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to fix this, Aurora. I can’t save the farm.”
She jerks back a little. “I wasn’t talking about the farm.”
What? “Then . . .” It dawns on me, she’s worried about Rowan. “Don’t even,” I warn her.
She gets to her feet, throwing her arms up. “He’s a pig! A fucking piece of shit!”
“He’s not,” I defend.
After she walked in, I felt such relief, in a way, that she knew the truth. I hated carrying this secret around, and I knew it would be bad. At the same time, I didn’t care. My sister showed up here, without a word, after making me cry this morning. Rowan was who soothed my pain and always manages to make me feel better.
She waves her hand. “You’re clearly under the influence of something. Did he drug you? Are you drunk?”
“No, Aurora, I’m none of those. He’s been here for me every day. While you hate him, I don’t.”
“Clearly, since you’re fucking him! How could you, Char? How could you, with him of all the men in the world?”
