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"So you still don’t re?" Cam asked when they’d cleared one particularly nasty snarl "No Nothing"
"And yet you believe her? Have you even started the process for paternity testing yet?"
"It doesn’t matter what happened before I love her now," Rafael said quietly
There was dead silence in the car Only the sounds of traffic and car horns penetrated the thick silence inside the car
"And the resort deal?" Ca we can work out It’s why I’m here We have to fix this, Cam My future depends on it"
"How nice of you to be so concerned about your future," Cah"
"Lo, ive a damn about you and Ryan and Dev, I wouldn’t be here I would have just called off the whole dao to hell"
Cam shook his head "And you wonder why I’ve sworn off wo to play for the other tealowered "You know da ht as well neuter himself and be done with it"
Rafael chuckled "You know I look forward to the day that I get to shove those words down your throat Even better, I can’t wait to meet the woman who does it for you"
"Look, I just don’t understand what’s changed Four ot what you wanted And now suddenly it’s not what you want"
They pulled to a stop in front of Rafael’s apart Rafael turned to Caed And how the hell would you know that I got what I wanted four o? I didn’t see you until I woke up in a hospital bed after the plane crash"
Cam shook his head "You calledSaid you’d closed the land deal that day and that next you were going to be on a plane back to New York I asked if you’d had a good vacation since you’d been gone for four das orth the sacrifice"
Rafe went still Suddenly it was hard to get air into his lungs His chest squeezed painfully as pain thudded relentlessly in his head
"Rafael? You okay, h his head like photos The pieces of his lost memory shot out of a cannon Random Out of order It all hurled at him at supersonic speed until he was dizzy and disoriented
"Rafe, talk to ed to open the car door and stumble out onto the curb He put a hand back toward Caotten out, too
"I’e out of the trunk and then walked lass doors and offered a cheerful greeting
Like a zoot into the elevator, cluan its ascent
Me sx with her The day at the closing agent’s office when Bryony had signed over her land and he’d given her the check Of the day he’d told her goodbye
It all caoing to be sick
The elevator doors opened and it took hi his luggage inside the doorway, he staggered toward one of the couches in the living room, so sick, so devastated that he wanted to die
He slumped onto the sofa and lowered his head to his hands
Oh, God, Bryony would never forgive hiive himself
"Mamaould it really be so terrible if they built a resort here?" Bryony asked quietly as the tolanced over at Bryony, her eyes soft with love "You’re taking on too much, Bryony You have to decide what’s best for you It’s not your responsibility tobetween you and Rafael, you have to decide what is theeveryone here happy? Or is it being happy yourself?"
Bryony frowned "A unreasonable to hold him to a promise he made? It seemed so simple then, but apparently he has business partners--close friends of his--and investors counting on hiive all that up because we’re all afraid that our lives will change"
Ma only you can answer We’ve been lucky for a lot of years We’ve been overlooked Galveston gets all the tourists We stay over here and no one ever co But we can’t expect that to last forever If Rafael doesn’t build his resort, someone else will eventually We’d probably be better off if Rafael builds it because he at least hasfroive a damn about you or me or anyone else here"
"I don’t want everyone to hate me," Bryony said ently "Rafael loves you I love you Who else do you want to love you?"
Suddenly she felt incredibly foolish She closed her eyes and slapped her head to her forehead "You knohat? You’re right, Maht to decide who I sell it to and what they do with it If the other people here wanted things to reether to buy the land It was okay when they didn’t have to foot the tax bill They were more than happy to tell me what I could or couldn’t do with ry Tell theain at Bryony’s horrified expression
"You’ve tied yourself in knots for too long, honey First you were upset that he left Then you were convinced he left you for good Then you found out you were pregnant and you grieved for hiain Then he caive it up this ti about it"
Bryony leaned forward and hugged her grandmother "I love you so oing to turn these words back on you about Silas"
Her grandhed and pulled away "You leave Silas to me He knows I’ll come around sooner or later and he see hie me my fun"
"I don’t want to be away frorandchild when he’s born"
Mahed in exasperation "You act like we’d never see each other anyet If he can’t afford to fly you to see ood is he? You should ask for a jet as a wedding present Then you can go where you want and when you want"