“It’s safe,” she admitted miserably.
“I know. But we have to talk, Tina.”
“About?”
“How about the fact that I don’t want to leave town but I feel I should? Or the fact that I know there are things you haven’t told me? Things that make it difficult, if not impossible, for us to ever have the kind of relationship that I want.”
“What kind of relationship is that?” she asked, her voice embarrassingly weak and thready. She shouldn’t have asked. Not when she wasn’t prepared to hear his reply.
“Do you really want to know?” he asked, and she shook her head.
“I’m not sure. I honestly don’t think there’s a future for us beyond what we’ve already had. And that was a lot more than I was prepared to give.”
“Why can’t we have a future, Tina?” His voice was teeming with frustration and anger. He couldn’t possibly understand. And that was her fault. She should tell him the truth. But the prospect of talking about it was daunting and had the power to make her breathing quicken and her heart rate accelerate.
He was still speaking, the anger in his voice giving way to anguish. “Because of some dumb thing I did when I was a kid? I know I hurt you. I know it’s left indelible scars, but I can only say I’m sorry in so many ways. At some point, you’re going to have to forgive me.”
“I’m so sorry, Harris,” she whispered, her voice breaking. She could forgive him. She had forgiven him, but forgiveness wasn’t the problem. He reminded her of everything terrible that had happened in her life, and she didn’t think she could ever be around him without those painful memories constantly haunting her. And that wouldn’t be fair to either of them. Better to make a clean break of it.
She squeezed her eyes shut in a futile effort to prevent her tears from escaping. But they spilled anyway, and her breath whooshed out on a shuddering sob.
“It would be impossi—”
She opened her eyes, trying to find a way to explain why it could never work, but it was hard to find the words to make him understand when she would be omitting so much of the truth. But she needn’t have bothered—he was walking away. The lithe grace of before replaced by a stiff, contained stride that only accentuated how very much he was hurting.
Greyson said something to him as he reached the field, and when Harris ignored him, the other man grabbed his elbow in an attempt to stop him. Tina gasped when Harris shrugged out of his brother’s hold and shoved him violently. Greyson stumbled back but let Harris go, his eyes instead tracking up to the bleachers where Tina still sat with one of her hands helplessly clasped over her mouth and tears streaming down her face.
“Olivia and I have a sort of date,” Greyson shocked Harris by saying the following afternoon. The two men had barely spoken all day, the atmosphere becoming strained after Harris had shoved Greyson without provocation the previous evening. Harris had spent the day packing, again.
It was time to go home. He had urgent business that could no longer wait. The situation in Perth, which had seemed almost resolved just a week ago, had blown up when more parties were discovered to be involved in the embezzlement scheme that he and Greyson had uncovered five months ago. He would probably have to fly to Australia soon. Which would serve as a welcome distraction.
“A what?” Harris asked, not sure if he had understood his brother clearly.
“A date. She asked if we could have dinner tonight, after the baby shower thing. But her regular babysitter has an exam tomorrow, and we need a sitter for Clara. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Not that I mind babysitting, but wouldn’t Tina be the obvious choice?” Harris asked, and Greyson shook his head.
“Well, that’s the thing. Libby wants both you and Tina to watch Clara.”
“Why?”
Harris fought the surge of ridiculous hope from rekindling. That was quite enough of that. His previously strong heart could no longer take the constant upheaval of being around Tina.
“Not a clue.”
More secrets. Of course.
Greyson’s eyes shone with muted happiness and excitement, and Harris found himself unable to disappoint the guy. He hadn’t ever seen that expression on his brother’s face before. If there was a chance Libby and Greyson could salvage something from this entire mess, then Harris was happy to babysit. With Tina. Not that looking after his niece would ever be a chore. He hadn’t spent enough time with her, and he was looking forward to it. Especially since he’d be leaving soon. He was just a little concerned about being around Tina. He wasn’t sure what more there was to say.
“Sure, I’ll be happy to help out.”
“Thank you,” Greyson said with a grin. An honest-to-God grin. Greyson never grinned; in fact, he rarely showed his teeth when he smiled. A grin was unprecedented.