Love Letters: A Rose Harbor Novel (38 page)

“I didn’t.” It shocked me that I could be that oblivious, but then little things started adding up. His anger when he saw me climbing a ladder last spring, and how he’d kept Peter McConnell out of the inn and insisted he stay overnight at his house.

My eyes and body language must have betrayed me, because Mark said, “I see you’re filling in the blanks.”

“I … I didn’t know—”

“Before you say anything,” Mark said, cutting me off, “let me tell you this thing I feel, this attraction, isn’t going anywhere. I’m nipping it in the bud right now.”

My thoughts were spinning, and I placed both hands on top of my head, looking to make sense of what seemed impossible.

“The only reason I’m telling you this now,” Mark continued, “is that I can see you’re starting to return those feelings, and it’s got to stop.”

Return his feelings? That was how he’d read the meaning behind that silly throwaway kiss?

“For the sake of argument, can you explain why you feel there could never be anything … romantic between us?” This was all pretty new to me, and I needed clarity.

Mark started pacing the tight area inside of the alcove. “There are things about me you don’t know, things I don’t want to talk about.”

“It’s okay, Mark. I’m sorry I pressed you for information you aren’t willing to share. It doesn’t matter to me what your past is.”

“It matters to me,” he said, nearly shouting, and then he repeated himself, lowering his voice. “It matters to me.”

I didn’t know what to say or how to respond.

He crouched next to me and reached for my hand, gripping it with both of his own. His eyes held mine. “You were married to Paul Rose, and he was a hero. He gave his life in defense of our country. He’s everything I’m not. I’m the antithesis of a hero, make no mistake in that. I’m blemished. Flawed. Broken. I’m crawling out of a black hole. By all that’s fair and just, I should be the one who died, not Paul.”

Again, I was at a loss for words.

He straightened and started to leave, but I leaped up, reached out, and grabbed hold of his elbow. We were only a few inches apart. From the time I took over the inn I’d seen a good deal of Mark Taylor, often two and three times a day, but he was right. I didn’t know him at all.

“This doesn’t change anything,” I whispered.

His eyes were filled with sadness. “You’re wrong.”

“Not on my end.”

His gaze didn’t waver, and I could see him struggle with indecision within himself. “Like I said, we’re headed into dangerous territory.”

“Maybe so,” I agreed, and then I said it again. “Maybe so.”

“I think it might be best if I moved on,” Mark told me, his voice low and serious.

“You mean leave the area?” I couldn’t believe he’d even suggest
such a thing. Then I remembered that he’d mentioned earlier that in the past he’d drifted from town to town. At the same time he’d also mentioned that he was content in Cedar Cove.

“It’s time.”

“What about the gazebo?” I asked desperately, trying to think of something, anything, to get him to reconsider. “You don’t seem the type to leave a project unfinished.”

He hesitated. “All right, I’ll finish that, but then I’m leaving.”

From the look in his eyes I could see nothing I said would be able to change his mind. I suspected it earlier, but now I knew the truth. Mark was running from his past.

It seemed the healing powers of the inn weren’t strong enough to heal the man who had become my closest friend.

BALLANTINE BOOKS BY DEBBIE MACOMBER

ROSE HARBOR INN

Love Letters
Rose Harbor in Bloom
The Inn at Rose Harbor

BLOSSOM STREET

Blossom Street Brides
Starting Now

CHRISTMAS BOOKS

Starry Night
Angels at the Table

For a complete list of books by Debbie Macomber, visit her website,
www.debbiemacomber.com
.

D
EBBIE
M
ACOMBER
, the author of
Blossom Street Brides
,
Starry Night
,
Rose Harbor in Bloom
,
Starting Now
,
Angels at the Table
, and
The Inn at Rose Harbor
, is a leading voice in women’s fiction. Nine of her novels have hit #1 on the
New York Times
bestseller list, with three debuting at #1 on the
New York Times, USA Today
, and
Publishers Weekly
lists. In 2009 and 2010, her
Mrs. Miracle
and
Call Me Mrs. Miracle
were Hallmark Channel’s top-watched movies for the year. In 2013, Hallmark Channel produced the original series
Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove
. She has more than 170 million copies of her books in print worldwide.