Her knees bent and she threw her hands in the air. “Why does it matter?”
“This is my hometown. You should be in Florida or with your parents, anywhere but here.”
Is that what it was about? Thomas didn’t want her living in Wyatt Bend? “You knew I bought a house here.”
“I never expected you to stay.”
“I had no money and no job. What did you think I’d do?”
She bit the inside of her lip. The last thing she wanted was to sound pathetic to Thomas.
“Hey, Laura,” Connor yelled from upstairs.
Thomas looked up at the ceiling and then at Laura. She saw a flash of anger in his eyes that she had rarely witnessed during their two years together.
Connor’s boots appeared on the top stair. “I want to get your opinion on this stain color.”
Halfway down the stairway he stopped. “Thomas? What are you doing here?”
Tension filled every square inch of the room. “I could ask you the same thing.”
Laura jumped in, desperate to break the friction in the air. “I asked Connor to help me with the house.”
Thomas whipped around to Laura, taking her arm and leading her to the corner of the entry. When Laura stiffened, he let go. “How could you ask him for help after I told you what he did?”
Laura clenched her teeth and exhaled. “I’m a grown-up, Thomas. I make the decisions about who is in my life and who isn’t. Just like you did.”
Thomas backed up and pulled at the bottom of his shirt. “I see what’s going on here.”
Laura threw her hands out in front of her. “What are you talking about?”
Thomas pointed at her and then Connor, who still stood frozen on the stairs. “Something is going on between you.”
Connor walked down a few more steps. “Nothing is going on, Thomas. You’re being ridiculous.”
“Wait a minute.” Laura faced Connor, her heart pounding. “It wouldn’t be any of his business if there were.”
Thomas pointed a finger at Connor. “So there is something going on! I knew it!”
Thomas spun around on his heel and let the door slam behind him. The sight of Thomas running away had become all too familiar to Laura.
When she heard Connor’s footsteps bounding down the stairs and out the front door, all the blood drained from Laura’s face. Everything moved in slow motion, and it was out of her control.
Connor was chasing after Thomas and leaving her in the house alone.
Walking down the staircase and seeing Thomas with Laura felt worse than Connor could have imagined.
He ran out to the car to catch Thomas. “Slow down.”
Thomas kept walking, his keys rattling. “Back off, Connor.”
Connor didn’t relent. “We need to talk.”
Thomas swung around to face him. Things were about to get messy. “Why did I even bother coming here?”
Connor took a deep breath to take hold of his emotions. The smell in the air said a storm was coming. “What are you doing here?”
Thomas’s face turned crimson. “I came to talk to Laura. What are you doing here, Connor? I thought I told you to stay away from her.”
Connor fought to keep his cool. There would need to be at least one voice of reason for this conversation. “Why didn’t you return my calls?”
“It was pretty clear what you wanted to talk about, and I needed to see it for myself.”
Connor looked up toward the house. Something moved behind the living room window. “Let’s take a walk.”
Thomas threw his hands up and let them smack against the sides of his legs. “Fine.”
They made their way to the drive, Connor’s boots and Thomas’s tennis shoes crunching against the gravel. Thomas huffed through his nostrils as they walked.
Once they had reached the end of the drive, Connor faced him and said, “You need to either leave Laura alone or tell her the truth about what you did.”
Their footsteps stirred up dust from the red dirt road. “What are you talking about?”
Connor rubbed his hand across the tension running along the back of his shoulders. “I know there’s another woman.”
Thomas stopped walking, standing beside the dented mailbox attached to a fence post. “You’re here with my ex, and you have the nerve to accuse me of cheating?”
“Come on, Thomas. You dumped her out of nowhere. You disappeared back to Florida. It all makes sense. Someone else confirmed it. The least you could do is own up to it.”
“Rumors? You’re really going to believe a rumor over my word?”
Connor stared directly at Thomas’s face, searching to find any sign of his childhood friend in the man in front of him. “I’ll only ask you once. Did you ever cheat on Laura?”
Thomas’s shoulders rose. “Connor, I can’t believe you would actually think—”
“Just answer the question. Did you leave Laura for someone else?”
Thomas’s eyes bored into Connor. “No. I never cheated on Laura.”
Connor studied his friend’s face for the truth. Maybe Connor had convinced himself something had happened because of his feelings for Laura. “Then how could you just abandon her like you did? I can’t understand it.”
As they walked down the dusty road, Thomas’s expression shifted from defensive to sorrowful.
“What’s going on?” Connor asked.
Thomas’s eyes turned watery. “I made a huge mistake. I was wrong to leave her.”
Connor almost tripped on a stone in the road. “What?”
Thomas stopped and faced him. “I’ve been a mess.” He threw his arms around as he spoke. “I love her. You’ve got to help me, man.”
This new blubbering Thomas caught Connor off guard. “I don’t get it. I really don’t. You left her, and now you show up out of the blue and want her back.”
“I got scared,” Thomas said. “I’ll do anything to make things right.”
A tornado of questions and fears swirled in Connor’s mind.
“Look. I know I screwed stuff up big-time, but I have to find a way to make it up to her. I’ll stay in Wyatt Bend. I’ll go back to Florida. Anything she wants.”
Connor stared out toward a tractor making lazy circles around a field, numb to Thomas’s outburst happening right beside him.
Thomas stepped in front of Connor. “I have to find a way to win Laura back.”
Chapter 18
Connor waited for Will and Cassie to meet him at the end of the newly installed stone walkway leading up to their home. Reveal day was finally here. Connor had anticipated seeing their reactions to their new home for months, but today he couldn’t muster any excitement.
The calm evening was a sharp contrast to how Connor felt.
He had done the right thing—he had reminded himself repeatedly as he climbed in his truck and drove away from Laura’s house earlier today. He kept picturing her standing in the driveway the day Thomas had left her, skirt blowing in the wind. Who would have thought he’d end up walking away from her, too.
“Where’s Laura?” Will asked looking around. “I thought she might be with you.”
Connor stared at the veins in the rock under his feet. The mention of Laura’s name sent an ache down his spine. “Probably with Thomas.”
Will shook his head. “What happened?”
Connor squinted into the bright sun. “Thomas came back and is trying to win her back.”
“You’re an idiot,” Will said.
Connor stepped back. Who needed enemies with a brother like Will? “Excuse me? What are you talking about?”
Will rubbed his hand along Cassie’s shoulders as she nodded in agreement. “Only an idiot would be here with us instead of with Laura.”
Connor clenched his jaw. Will was getting under his skin. Good thing Cassie was here, or he might have tackled Will to the ground like when they were kids. Unfortunately, Will was taller than him now.
Thomas had been right. Connor had done nothing
but mess up their lives, all three of their lives. The least Connor could do was get out of the way and let them figure out if they could salvage what they once had.
Connor held his hands up in the air. “Aren’t you going to help me out here, Cassie?”
Cassie rested her hands on her pregnant belly. She could have the baby any day now, but somehow Connor had finished the house on time. “I’m sorry, Connor,” Cassie said. “I think he’s right.”
“It’s not my fault. She was engaged to my oldest friend. Either way I lose. I’m an idiot for not dating her. But I would have been the ultimate jerk if I had. I just want Laura to be happy.” Besides, they would never work out until she figured out her relationship with God. He had prayed for her so many times. He’d even seen glimpses of her wanting to believe, but fear always pushed her away.
“You’re an idiot for giving up so easily.” Will inspected the underside of the porch. “You really outdid yourself on the front of the house.”
Only his brother could call him an idiot in one breath and give him a compliment in the next. Connor leaned against the brick wall of the front porch. “So you both think I did the wrong thing?”
“You just don’t get it. It’s not about what I think or what Cassie thinks. What do you think? It’s your life. You always work so hard at keeping everybody happy but forget to do it for yourself.”
Deep thoughts coming from his baby brother.
“I think what my dear husband is trying to say is you can’t run from this,” Cassie said.
He didn’t think he would ever understand why God would put someone like Laura in his life but make it so they couldn’t be together.
Will pointed a thumb at his wife. “She’s right, as usual.”
Connor carried a heavy load on his shoulders. It was too late. Laura was probably back with Thomas by now and would be back in Florida soon. It was time for both of them to move on.
He held open the leaded-glass front door for Cassie and Will. “Too much talk about my love life, or lack of one. Let’s take a tour of your home.”
Inside the great room, Cassie’s hands moved up to her cheeks. “It’s perfect.”
Will turned a complete circle, taking in the room. “You’re great at what you do. No doubt about it.”
It was too bad Connor couldn’t enjoy the moment. He felt too miserable.
They toured through the house, lingering in every room. Connor forced a happy face as he described all the special details he had added for them. “I’ve saved the best for last,” he said, standing in front of the nursery door. “I hope you don’t mind, but I asked Laura to help me with this one.”
He opened the door and revealed the mural. The intricate detail of the oak tree that covered the entire wall blew him away every time his eyes rested on it. The individual leaves, each bathed in sunlight, looked so real he wanted to reach out and touch them. The soft colors she had used kept it understated despite the complex design. Every time he saw it, he spotted a new detail, like the tiny ladybug on a flower under the tree.
The mural was breathtaking and painful to look at because it flooded his mind with memories of Laura. He waited for a gasp, but instead only received silence.
“You have to get her back, Connor,” Will said.
“Please, Connor,” Cassie confirmed.
The bed squeaked as Laura kicked at the heavy quilt. Temperatures on the spring nights were rising. The house had an old air-conditioning unit installed in the ’80s, but Laura didn’t have the money to pay the huge electric bill it would take to cool the drafty house.
She flipped her pillow over, searching for a cool spot. The heat wasn’t the only thing keeping her awake. Thomas’s reappearance into her life had shaken her. It had all happened so fast. She thought she had grown stronger during the time he was gone, but right now she felt broken. Seeing him again only brought back the fear of not being accepted or really loved by anyone.
What bothered her more than Thomas was Connor and his vehement disagreement that there was anything between them. Every time she believed someone could accept her for who she really was, they ultimately turned her away.
Laura flipped onto her back. The moonlight cast shadows across the ceiling. He had called Thomas’s claims “ridiculous.” The kiss they’d shared had meant something to her, but obviously Connor didn’t feel the same way.
He had chased after Thomas and hadn’t even come back to say good-bye. When Connor walked out, it was just another rejection, another person telling her she would never be good enough.
She didn’t want to spend all night thinking about Connor’s words, so she shoved the sheet off and stomped out of the room, her bare feet on the cool wood floor. She flipped the living room light on and blinked, trying to adjust to the brightness.
An ugly landscape from the attic leaned against the fireplace. The canvas deserved another life as something more beautiful. If she couldn’t sleep, she might as well paint.
The next morning, the rumble of a motor woke Laura from her fog. She lifted herself up on her arms. Where had she fallen asleep? The canvas that had once displayed an ugly ’70s landscape was now a vibrant orange and red abstract.
She plopped her head back on the couch.
When the vehicle door slammed, she sprang up. Connor’s truck.
Her head pounded. She had stayed up too late last night releasing her swell of emotions on the canvas.
She jogged to the door, left it ajar, and headed for the bathroom. She needed to brush her teeth before she dealt with Connor this morning. She wished she had time to start a pot of tea.
In the bathroom mirror, the pink, puffy skin under her eyes stared back at her. The faucet squeaked as she turned the porcelain handle. She splashed cold water on her face but wondered why she bothered. Connor didn’t care about her. He had slapped her with that stark reality yesterday when he walked away. She squeezed toothpaste onto her toothbrush and thrust it into her mouth.
“Hello?” Connor yelled.
She pulled her toothbrush out of her mouth. “Come on in,” she said with a mouthful of toothpaste.
Laura slipped out of her pajama pants and into a pair of jeans and a pink T-shirt she had left draped across the bathtub, but she couldn’t shake the dread of facing Connor.
When she found him staring out the front window in the dining room, he didn’t have a tool in hand. He wore a button-down gray shirt and an unshaven face, and his arms hung at his sides.
Her breath shuddered in disappointment at his stony expression. “We’re not working on the stairway today. Are we?”
His eyes met hers and darted away toward the plastic tarps taped to the wall to protect the wainscoting. “No. I wanted to talk to you. Make sure you’re okay.”
He was always trying to be the nice guy, and Laura still couldn’t tell when he was being completely honest with her—or himself. He wasn’t the liar she had once believed he was, but sometimes he said what she wanted to hear.
She licked her dry lips, needing something to prevent the words from sticking in her mouth. “I’m fine,” she said, but the truth she’d tried to hide slipped out in her tone.
Laura crossed her arms. Thomas’s visit had created a new chasm between them that seemed impossible to cross.
Her chest filled with air. She closed her eyes and let it out. “Connor, I need to say something.”
He stepped forward and ducked under the chandelier in the center of the room. “I have some things I need to say, too.” His low voice vibrated against her chest.
“I’m going first.” Laura flexed her hands, which tingled with anxiety.
His face wrinkled with concern. “Okay.”
Thoughts raced through her head. Too many things needed to be said. She didn’t know where to start. “I don’t understand how you could just walk out of here like that yesterday.”
His mask finally melted away. “It’s complicated. I needed to work some things out with Thomas.”
Everything about he
r life was complicated. “And?”
He rubbed the back of his hand across the dark stubble on his chin. “Thomas was really upset yesterday. I’ve never seen him like that. He said he wanted to win you back.”
Heat traveled up her neck and ears. This was still about Connor’s loyalty to Thomas. She was tired of other people deciding her fate for her, and she refused to give them that kind of control. “And did you get the answers you needed?”
Connor’s blue eyes bored into hers. “Not exactly, but I came here to tell you that none of it matters. No matter what Thomas has done or hasn’t done, I care about you.”
Connor reached for her hand, but she pulled it away.
If she felt his touch, all her resolve might float out the window. “Connor, I can’t.”
Not backing down, he stood in front of her, forcing her to look at him. “Why not?”
She blew out an adrenaline-filled breath through her nose. “I’m tired of getting hurt.” She had to learn to look out for herself, protect her heart from the rejection.
Connor stood between her and the door. “Laura, I’m sorry for walking out. I wouldn’t turn my back on you.”
She was tired of always living in fear of being rejected. She couldn’t put herself in that position again. Seeing Connor chase after Thomas yesterday only made her realize how much she had to lose. “I want to believe all the things you say, but I can’t. I’ve decided to go back to Florida.”
Connor’s eyes filled with sadness. “No matter how you feel about me or Thomas or anyone, you have to know that you have a God who loves you.”
Her conversations with Connor always led back to God, but she couldn’t put her heart on the line again. It was too fragile. Even now, it felt as though her heart might shatter in her chest.
Laura didn’t reply.
“Jesus accepts you no matter what,” Connor said. “All you have to do is be open to His love. I just pray that someday you’ll be able to see that.”
Laura wished it was that simple, but right now she couldn’t make sense of it all.
Laura looked up at Connor, and for the first time since she had met him, he didn’t look strong at all. His shoulders were slumped, and his skin was ashen.
Canyon Weddings Page 27
