‘No?’
He stares at me long and hard, with something desperate in his gaze, and then he parts his lips and I hold my breath.
‘I love you, Summer.’
‘You...’ My voice dies, my gut rolls, my heart—Hell, I don’t want to think about my heart.
‘Did you hear me, Summer? I love you!’
The air rushes from my lungs, his confession ricocheting through my body—very real, very much heard. I shake my head...shake it again as my arms fall away.
‘Don’t say that.’
He frowns at me. ‘Why, when it’s the truth?’
‘You can’t love me!’
He gives a strained laugh. ‘I’m afraid that ship’s sailed.’
‘No, Edward, you don’t understand. No one can love me. There’s something wrong with me. Not even my own flesh and blood loved me! Not even people who’d committed their lives to helping people like me could love me! How can you possibly even begin to love me?’
‘Oh, baby, baby, baby...’
He tries to pull me to him but I back away and he blanches, his eyes pained and so full of sorrow. For me.
‘How can you not see how incredible you are?’ he asks.
I want to press my hands to my ears, block out his words and the sickness rising inside me.
‘You lived through a nightmare childhood and still you smiled, still you cared. You were so full of sunshine and laughter. And, hell, you were a nightmare, too. A hellion with a chip on her shoulder. But you kicked the attitude and kept all the charm. You could have gone down that dark road and kept on walking, but you didn’t. How could I not fall in love with you?’
‘But you didn’t—you never—not back then...not really...’
I wave a shaky hand at him. He can’t be saying that he loved me then. Fancied me, sure. Loved me as a friend, absolutely. But more than that?
‘You had girls flocking around you...girls who belonged in your world. You had Charlotte, and she was so right for you.’
‘So right for my mother, maybe, and what she wanted for me. But she wasn’t you and I wanted you. To hell with what my mother told you. I only kept it from you because I was scared of taking advantage. You were young, vulnerable, mixed-up, I didn’t want to make things worse for you.’
My whole body trembles. ‘This is crazy, ridiculous...’
‘No, what’s ridiculous is you rejecting my love for you...my dreams for a future with you. The future that Gran so clearly wanted for us.’
‘Don’t bring Katherine into this.’
‘At the risk of sounding like a child...’ the hint of a spark reaches his eyes ‘...she started it and now I intend to finish it. I’m done with being afraid, Summer. I want to make Glenrobin a family home again. For us.’
‘Please, Edward...please, don’t do this. Don’t spoil this moment, this night, with heartfelt promises that—that can’t stand the test of time.’
‘It’s a declaration of love, Summer.’
‘Love is fickle, Edward.’
His frown deepens. ‘But that’s where you’re wrong. I loved you twenty years ago and you left before I could tell you. I’m not making that same mistake again.’
‘Edward, please...you’re upset after what happened with your mother...you’re shocked at your father’s kindness.’
I turn away. I can’t bear the pain in his eyes as I reject him. Because the heart is weak. It is changeable. It’s why I always run before it has a chance to change on me.