Page 55 of Falling For The Enemy (The Gilbert Curse)

Kit stood up, realizing this wasn’t going to bring him closure. He was going to have to talk to Rory and hopefully find a way to ask for her forgiveness for Dec’s actions. And then he was going to have to let go of this familial bond that he’d used as his guide all these years.

He wiped his eyes with his gloved hand and heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned to see Aunt Mal standing there in her fake fur coat and those ridiculously high-heeled boots she loved to wear.

“Thought I’d find you here.”

“I’m surprised to be here. I don’t know why I came,” he said gruffly. Honestly, he didn’t. He knew they were both still dead and had been for years. But at the same time he needed to talk to them. Needed to find some understanding and some peace.

“You always thought your father let you down and that if Dec had lived things would have been different,” she said, coming up to him and looping her arm through his. “I think I did, too.”

“I wish I’d been easier on Dad.”

“I know you do,” she said. “I feel the same. I hated that he was so weak and let addiction take control. I still sort of do. But Dec...”

“I can’t forgive what he did,” Kit blurted. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to.”

“I think we are both entitled to that,” she said.

“I just always wanted to be like him,” he said at last.

“You’ve never been like Declan or your father. You’ve always been the best parts of them. I know you think that they shaped the man you are today and in a way their deaths did, but you have always been a strong, honorable man.”

“Except for our revenge plan,” he added, but his aunt’s words helped him more than he’d expected.

“We stink at revenge. Our big plan to buy up property, fix it up and then make sure that the town thrives so that the Gilberts know they aren’t needed... I mean I’m pretty sure other people seeking vengeance would be embarrassed by us,” she said ruefully.

He smiled and turned to hug her. “I love you, Aunt Mal.”

“I love you, too, nephew.”

Kit said goodbye to his aunt and headed back to Gilbert Corners, realizing that he’d done enough waiting. He needed to apologize and see if Rory could forgive him. He loved her and it was time to come clean about how he truly felt.

Kit texted to ask if he could come and see her. Rory responded yes. She had wanted to say more, but really in person would be better than text. She wanted to see his face when he answered her questions.

And she just wanted to see him.

Despite everything that happened between them, she’d finally admitted to herself she was in love with him. She wanted him to be in love with her, too, and she had already come up with too many different scenarios where he might say he cared for her when his feelings were motivated by guilt. He’d lied to her and she knew he felt bad about that. He’d apologized the last time she saw him.

But she hadn’t spent ten years of life sleeping not to spend the rest of it wide-awake. So that meant taking risks. It was funny that she’d thought she’d been taking risks all this time, but until she’d admitted to loving Kit she knew she hadn’t been.

She’d taken some chances but they’d always been with a safety net. And love was the biggest risk of all.

When the doorbell rang, her heart leaped into her throat, her pulse started racing and she shook her head. She had to calm down. This might be him just coming clean and clearing up the past. He might not be back here because he felt the same way about her as she did about him.

Ugh.

Rory stood at the front door, taking deep breaths and trying to rein in her emotions. She was so nervous and she hadn’t been before. Well, other than that one day when she’d walked up to him and told him to pretend to be her friend. She’d been nervous then. The same man was making her feel that way again.

She couldn’t help remembering how he’d smiled and gone along with her. And how that smile had made her feel—

“Rory?”

“Yeah, just need a minute,” she yelled through the closed door.

“Take as long as you need.”

She turned and rested her back against the wall. That right there was why she knew she wanted to believe every word he said. He was always so calm and understanding. And finally something that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding on to was set free.

In the pit of her stomach had been a knot of worry that Kit would be like Declan, now that she knew they were brothers. That stress and anger would make him react the way his brother had. Even though she’d always felt safe with him.

---