“No.” Janet looked directly at him. “You did that, not me. You broke her heart, Tyler. And it looks as if she’s going to stand by and let you do it all over again.”
He didn’t trust himself to move so he stood there, hands clenched into fists by his side, his temper roaring in his ears as he watched her leave. She did it in her own sweet time, hips swinging and a smile on her lips.
Wherever the guilt lay, it was obvious she wasn’t laying claim to any of it.
Pieces from the past fell into place, forming a hideous picture. Finally, he understood why Brenna had been so reluctant to tell him the name o
f the person who had made her school life a misery.
Janet Carpenter was the bully.
She’d done everything she could to make Brenna unhappy, and he’d unwittingly been part of it.
He closed his eyes, but all he saw was Brenna, her face pinched and white as she’d struggled into school each day. Finally, he had a name and a face for her tormentor. But he knew that whatever pain Janet had caused Brenna, it was nothing compared to what he himself had done.
He knew now that the reason Janet had pulled him into the Carpenters’ barn that day had had nothing to do with sexual chemistry or even teenage lust. She’d wanted to hurt Brenna, and she’d used the weapon she’d known would cause the most damage.
Him.
He waited for the door to close behind her and just made it to the bathroom before he was violently ill.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
BRENNA LET HERSELF into the house along with a flurry of snow. “It’s freezing out there.” Shivering, she kicked the door shut and peeled off her coat. “Tyler?”
She knew Jess was still out on the mountain with the rest of the ski team, so when she’d seen his car outside her heart had lifted. They could snatch some time together without worrying about anyone else.
She walked into the kitchen, made herself a coffee and sipped it while looking at the reflection of the sun on the snowy trees. The lake was frozen over, and she could see people skating at the far end.
Hearing the sound of a heavy, masculine tread, she turned with a smile on her face. “I was hoping you were here. What did you—” The words died on her lips as she saw his expression. “What’s happened? Are you ill? Has something happened to Jess?”
“No.” He leaned against the door frame as if his legs weren’t able to hold him up without help.
“Then what?” She put her coffee down and walked across to him, a feeling of sick dread heavy in her stomach. “Are you hurt? Is it your mother?” She knew that only something happening to a member of his family was likely to affect him this way. “Has something happened to one of your brothers?”
He stared down at her, his eyes blank. “Why didn’t you tell me? Right from the start you should have told me, and then none of this would ever have happened.”
She felt as if a yawning hole had appeared beneath her feet. “What should I have told you?”
“That Janet was the bully. It was Janet who made you so unhappy right through school.”
He knew?
Brenna’s legs started to shake. “How did you find out?”
“Answer my question. Why didn’t you tell me?” He spoke through his teeth, right on the edge. “Why?”
She’d never seen him like this before. She backed away from him until her thighs were pressing against the kitchen table. “Because when I was with you, I forgot about it.”
“You let her get away with it.”
“That wasn’t how it was.” She scrabbled for the words that would help her explain. “She tainted the whole of my school life, I didn’t want her tainting our friendship. I didn’t want to let her do that. Can’t you understand that? I didn’t want to give her that power. That part of my life, the best part, was mine, and I didn’t want her to touch it.”
“But she did.” His voice thickened. “And because I had no idea what she was doing to you, because you hadn’t given me even the slightest clue and refused to give me a name whenever I asked you, I wasn’t even suspicious. When Janet walked into the barn naked that day, I didn’t even pause to wonder if there was a reason other than the obvious. I didn’t stop to ask myself why she’d picked me.”
The pain of it whipped across her skin. “You’re blaming me for the fact you had sex with her?”
“No. The responsibility for that was all mine. But had I known how she was treating you, it would never have happened.” His face was ghost-white. “It was nothing to do with me.”