Page 11 of Tell Me Again
“Great,” he answered. “That’s something we agree on, because I don’t want to be here, either. But it’s going to be the easiest way for Grace to spend time with you, and I know my daughter. She will want access to you.” He leveled a look at her. “Are you sure you’re ready for this?”
“When the alternative is a tree in my kitchen?”
He shook his head. “I mean being a part of Grace’s life.”
No, she wanted to scream, I’m not ready for any of it. To have the constant reminder of not only her sister but also the knowledge of an intimate relationship between Bryce and Trevor. Sam had been the link between them growing up, and now she was on the outside again.
“Did you love my sister?” She couldn’t stop the question any more than she could slow the beat of her heart. “After I was gone did you two fall in love? Is that how this happened?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes,” she answered, even though she wished it didn’t.
He blew out a breath. “No, Bryce and I weren’t in love. We weren’t even really a couple. I tried to make it work when she got pregnant but...” He pressed his hands to the counter, his fingers flexing against the edge. “I didn’t realize how bad of shape she was in after you left.”
“She hated me for getting out of that town.”
“It’s not your fault she didn’t make it,” Trevor answered. “She had the same chance you did, Sam.”
She heard a sound escape her lips that might have been a sob. Those simple words slayed her because she’d always blamed herself for her sister’s downward spiral. The need to help other troubled teens the way she hadn’t been able to save her twin had shaped the last decade of her life.
Trevor went to step around the island toward her, but she shook her head. “I just need to know about you and Bryce,” she whispered. Anything more would push her over the emotional cliff she was clinging on to.
“I moved to Tulsa right after graduation and was taking a few classes at a community college. There were three of us in this crappy apartment. I was working construction during the day and going to school at night.” He turned, touched a finger to one of the pine branches, a ghost of a smile playing across his lips. “She’d come down on the weekends to hang out, and it was good to see someone from home. To be with someone...” His voice trailed off as his gaze shifted to Sam. “Bryce wasn’t the only one angry about being left behind. We had fun together and... yeah, things happened.”
“Sex happened.” Sam said the words out loud to remind herself not to get caught up in the memories of that time—everything she’d given up to escape her fate in that dead-end small town. “You two ever think about birth control?”
“She told me she was on the pill.” Trevor’s voice had become a bitter echo. “That was a lie. Not the first one she told me, but the one that changed everything.” Now he did move toward her, stopping when they were only a foot apart. “She wanted to get pregnant. It was her plan all along.”
Sam felt her mouth drop open. “No,” she whispered. “Why?”
“To punish you,” he said through clenched teeth. “Bryce hijacked my whole damn life as part of her irrational war against you. The pregnancy was a shock, but I wanted to marry her. I thought we were going to try...” He choked out a laugh. “It doesn’t matter. I was always a fool for you and your sister.”
“Trevor, no,” she said, shaking her head. No wonder he hated her.
“She didn’t want anyone from Colby to know, which was fine with me. We moved to Oklahoma City. I got a full-time job and she waitressed. I thought she’d change her mind about being a part of the baby’s life, but she was set on relinquishing custody.”
“You should have called me.”
“And risk Bryce disappearing?” He shook his head. “That wasn’t an option even if I’d wanted it to be. It was her choice, Sam.”
She didn’t mention that Bryce had left a message for her during that time. She’d never forgive herself for not returning her sister’s call.
“My grandma moved to town just before Grace was born. She bought a small house, and Gracie and I moved in with her. I’m not sure if Bryce would have come around or eventually told you, but once she moved back to Colby, things went downhill fast. I didn’t want my daughter near that, so we left. I had to protect Grace, and it seemed better than staying.”
Sam felt a tear track down her face, but before she could wipe it, Trevor smoothed a finger across her cheek. As much as she wanted to look away, she held his gaze. As much as she wanted to continue hating him, she couldn’t deny that he’d been the one to bear the brunt of the mistakes she and her sister had made. “So you’ll do the work on the camp and keep an eye on me when I’m with Grace?”
“Unfortunately, I have a difficult time taking my eyes off of you.” He shifted closer and though he didn’t smile, there was a hint of ironic amusement in his gaze. “This is going to be a problem.” He leaned closer and she held her breath. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been kissed by a man, but no one had ever held a candle to what Trevor made her feel.
She should have pulled away, but instead her eyes drifted shut, waiting for and wanting the brush of his mouth against hers. She could feel his breath, warm and minty across her lips, but there was nothing more. After a moment, she opened her eyes. As soon as she did, Trevor pulled away. He lifted his finger from her skin and she almost leaned forward to chase his touch. But the moment was over and she knew it was insanity to try to reclaim it.
Trevor cleared his throat, paced a few steps away from her—a safe distance—then turned. “Grace’s nana died about six months before we moved to Colorado. My grandmother’s family had lived in Oklahoma for four generations, and that was her home. But with her gone, I wanted to make a fresh start for Grace and me. I needed a place that didn’t hold so many memories. Now I see that moving a preteen girl over eight hundred miles from the only home she knew might not have been my smartest move. Grace desperately wants a woman in her life. Apparently I’m not the best person to talk to about teenage-girl stuff.”
“I can imagine.” Sam forced a smile, gathering her hair to refasten her ponytail. “I guess you’re hired then.” Her stomach rolled at the thought of being so close to Trevor, but she was going to have to get used to it. For Grace’s sake. “I have a caretaker who lives on property. Normally the rest of the staff doesn’t arrive until a few weeks before the first camp is scheduled to begin.”
“Why do I hear a but in that sentence?”
She nodded. “But my friend Kendall is supposed to get married up here next month. Invitations have gone out, and I can’t host a wedding without a kitchen.”
