Second Chance Girl
Page 53

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CAROL SILENTLY YELLED at herself the entire way up the mountain—worse, she knew she was right. It was a family matter—she shouldn’t get involved. No good deed went unpunished. The list went on and on. Still, she was compelled. She had to do what she could, even if it went badly. Despite their cruel and disinterested father, the Mitchell brothers were all basically good guys. If the meeting went badly, she would throw herself on Ronan’s mercy and beg him to forgive her. Or at least not tell anyone what she’d said.
She parked by the front door and took a second to admire the grandeur of the house. The solitude of the structure had a peaceful quality to it. Not that she was having anything close to house-envy. She liked where she lived just fine. Her view of the animal preserve was all she wanted.
She got out of her Jeep and headed up the path. The front door opened before she could knock.
“You’re unexpected,” Ronan said mildly.
“Did the perimeter alarms alert you to company?” she asked, only half joking.
“In a manner of speaking.” He held open the door. “Come on in.”
“Thanks.”
Once they were in the foyer, he put his hands in his jeans front pockets. “Is this a long visit or a short visit?”
Was he asking if they could talk while standing here? She wasn’t sure and while sitting down was probably a good idea; she kind of liked the idea of being able to bolt if he got mad.
“This is fine. I’ll be quick.”
“If you’re going to ask my permission to marry my brother, I’m happy to agree. He has some quirks and a few annoying habits, but basically he’s a good guy.”
Carol felt herself flush. Considering her mouth also dropped open, she couldn’t begin to imagine how pretty that made her look.
“I... We...”
Ronan’s eyes brightened with amusement. “Not that, then. Okay, I’m intrigued. Go ahead.”
She couldn’t get past the marriage thing. “Why would you think I’m here about Mathias?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Yes, but not because I want to marry him.”
No way. They were friends. Sure, she liked him and all but that wasn’t anything like being in love with him. Loving someone was different. It was big and loud and flashy. It was like a roller coaster and she’d never been a roller-coaster kind of girl. She’d never liked big parties or fancy events. She liked—
Her mind whipped all those thoughts around five or six times before settling on something that might be truth. Love wouldn’t be flashy for her. It would be like her regular life. Steady, ordinary, happy. It would be kindness and affection and laughter and holy, holy crap, was she in love with Mathias? Was she?
“Carol?”
She liked being with him and talking to him. She knew she desperately wanted to make love with him, but only because it was what he wanted, too, and not out of duty. She wanted him smiling at her and teasing her about her cows and holding her tight. She wanted to be there for him, too, to be his partner and his support and what if she was in love with him?
“Carol?”
“This is all your fault!”
Ronan looked at her. “What is?”
“All of it.”
All right, maybe her being in love with Mathias wasn’t technically Ronan’s fault, but he’d been the one to make her see it.
“I didn’t want to know,” she added, hoping she didn’t sound as desperate as she felt. “This is a disaster. Why would you say that? Why?”
He took a step back and held up both his hands. “I was kidding, trying to be friendly. I thought you and Mathias were just friends and that you’d laugh.”
She glared at him. “This is not a good time to develop a sense of humor!”
“It won’t happen again.”
“It’s too late now. How could you? I don’t want to be in love with him. Do you know what’s going to happen now? Do you?”
The last two words came out louder than she’d wanted and Ronan flinched.
“Something that isn’t good and is also my fault?” he ventured.
“You got that right. Now we both have to pretend this never happened. You are not going to say a word, do you hear me?”
“The last person I want to talk to about this is my brother.”
“Not good enough. No. One. Am I clear?”
“Crystal.”
She narrowed her gaze. “You’ve really upset me. I have to deal with this now. The auction is in two days. I don’t have time to worry about being in love with your brother.”
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not good enough. Make it go away.”
“I can’t. Once you know something, you can’t forget it. Trust me, I know.”
Her terror and wonder and worry evaporated as she got his point. Of course Ronan would know about not being able to let something emotionally significant go. It was how he lived his life.
“It’s okay,” she told him, not sure if she was talking about him or herself.
“It’s not, but dealing isn’t an option.”
Only with him, it kind of was, she thought with a sigh, which brought her right back to why she was here in the first place.
“We should go sit down,” she said.
“Sure.”
They went into the living room. There were two couches covered in a dark plaid. Club chairs picked up the deep green from the pattern. She sat on a sofa while he took a chair. There was a moment of uneasy silence.
“I wouldn’t have picked you as a plaid man,” she admitted.
“They were the floor models. It was faster to just take them than to order something.”
“You’re such a guy.”
Humor replaced wariness. “Thanks.”
“What makes you think I meant it as a compliment?”
“We both know you did. Now what’s going on?”
He could work on his small-talk skills, she thought, but then she’d been the one to show up unannounced. He’d probably thought polite chitchat wasn’t required.
“Your dad’s in town,” she began.
“That I know.”
“He’s having a piece shipped for the event on Thursday.”
“I’ve heard.”
“And while I appreciate the extra income and Atsuko’s thrilled about it because she’d already said she wouldn’t take a commission off your piece but now she’ll get one from Ceallach’s, it doesn’t feel right.”
“Do you need money for the herd?”
“You know I do. That’s the whole point of this.”
“Now you’ll get an extra three or four hundred thousand dollars. Go buy a hippo.”
She opened her mouth to explain that they were in no way equipped to house a hippo. The water requirements alone were impractical. They lived in a desert and while there was an aquifer, she still tried to conserve wherever possible. Besides, hippos weren’t the fun, dancing creatures from the movies. Hippos could be aggressive and she had no training when it came to...
Her brain kicked in. Ronan wasn’t talking about hippos, he was talking about taking the money and being grateful.
“I am grateful,” she murmured. “This isn’t about me or even Millie. It’s about how it makes you feel.” She looked at him. “You specifically.”
Nothing about his expression changed, yet in less than a heartbeat he went from semi-friendly and engaged to disconnected.