Midnight Sun (21 page)
Authors: M J Fredrick
“His brother told me he wanted the job.”
“His brother? Harris?” Her father raised his eyebrows. “You’ve been keeping some big company.”
“He was on the plane that crashed. I helped take care of him and wanted to make sure he was recovering.”
“When are you going back to San Francisco?”
“Tomorrow. I just wanted to say good-bye.”
“Well, it won’t be long until next summer.”
“Dad, I’m not coming back. I quit the line. I’m going to keep working in San Francisco and earn the money for my restaurant that way.” It would take much longer, but she wouldn’t work for Marcus.
Her father pursed his lips. “I hate to see you running again.”
“Running?”
“Running away from your troubles. You ran here to get away from New York. You’re running back to San Francisco because of what happened here.”
“I go back to San Francisco at the end of every season,” she reminded him. “I just—I know what I want. Marcus isn’t it.”
“Marcus?” Her father sat back in his chair. “I was talking about the hostage situation. What about Marcus?”
Her face heated. “We got—close during the time on the ship. He thought maybe it could be a romance.” She couldn’t bring herself to tell her father about the restaurant because he’d think her a fool for not jumping on it. He’d seen how hard she’d worked to save the money for her own place, and to have it handed to her—he wouldn’t understand why she had to walk away.
“And you didn’t.”
“I don’t think I’m built for that. I need too much control of the situation. I certainly wouldn’t want to end up like you and Mom.”
“Your mother and I had problems like all couples do. But we didn’t know how to talk, how to work together. She thought keeping her hopes and dreams from me would make me happy, but all it did was make her resentful and miserable. By the time I learned what she was thinking, it was too late. Too much damage had been done.”
“What would you have changed to make her dreams come true?”
He met her gaze. “Anything. I miss her every day. It’s hell being alone, Brylie, even when you feel like the most independent person on the planet. There’s nothing like sharing your life with someone who wants to share it with you, who wants to make you happy and see you succeed.”
How could he know about Marcus and what he’d offered her? Did he know her so well? And why had she walked away from a man who understood her, even though he’d known her such a short time?
Because she hadn’t believed it was possible he could know her. She’d been afraid to believe. But now—now she was afraid to walk away.
She stood and kissed her father’s cheek. “Thanks for dinner.”
“You’re leaving? So soon?”
“I have some things to take care of. And I don’t think I’ll be going too far.”
She had the cab stop down the block from the restaurant. The street was well-lit with new cast-iron light poles every few feet. She hurried down to the place when she saw the light on through the plate glass window.
And stopped short to see Marcus inside at the bar, his arm around a slender brunette. Her heart seized when he laughed and let the other woman go in order to pour a glass of wine from a familiar looking bottle. One like they’d shared on board The Ice Queen. She pivoted to turn away, hating that she’d been right about his attention span, that she’d been right about believing the worst in him.
But just then she caught sight of the brunette’s face, the familiar line of nose and jaw. She’d seen that jaw on Harris, the nose on Marcus. And the flash of blue-gray eyes…
His sister. She had to be. The resemblance was too strong.
Marcus stood and her attention snapped to him. Their gazes met through the window. Her urge to flee tensed the muscles in her legs, especially when she saw no welcome in his face as he limped toward the door.
“Brylie. Come meet my sister Maggie. She helped me pick out the place.” He motioned to the “For Sale” sign in the window. “She’s helping me put it up for sale, too. Just thought I’d have one drink here before.”
He didn’t ask why she was here, and she hated the flatness in his voice. No accusation, no emotion at all. She missed the inflections he always used when he spoke, the ones that gave no doubt what he was thinking, what he was feeling. He didn’t hide much. She stepped inside hesitantly, glad to have her purse to hold onto, to use as a barrier this time.
“Want a glass of wine?” Maggie asked from the bar, her tone even less friendly than Marcus’s.
She shook her head. “I’d—like to talk to Marcus.”
Maggie started for the door but Marcus held his hand up to stop her, though he didn’t take his gaze from Brylie. “We’ll go outside.”
The better to give her the bum’s rush, no doubt. Not that she could blame him. She walked out the door ahead of him, her grip on her purse so tight that her knuckles were white. And everything she’d planned to say vanished under the intensity of his gaze.
“I came to apologize.”
The words didn’t ease the crease in his brow at all. “Wanted to make peace before you head back to the States?”
“Actually, no. I’m not going back.”
His brows lifted. “No? What about your hopes and dreams?”
“It turns out you were right. I have nothing back there. I have nothing here—not yet, but I think I can build something here if I had a second chance.” Why was this all coming out so wrong, so cold, so vague?
He folded his arms and inclined his head toward the storefront. “So you changed your mind? You want this, then?”
“No! Yes. I mean—not the way you think. Not the way…” She turned away and pushed her hand through her hair. If he’d just stop looking at her like that, she could get her thoughts together. But the intensity in his gaze made her believe he’d never forgive her. She had to take the chance that he would. She angled her chin up to meet his gaze. “I don’t want you to be my boss.”
“Fair enough.” He nodded toward the “For Sale” sign.
“But I don’t—I never should have walked away. I don’t want to walk away from you. You scared me, Marcus.”
He braced his hand against the brick façade of the building. “You faced terrorists for a week. That didn’t scare you.”
“It did, but not like you did. I knew that would end, and I wanted it to. But this—you and me—I’m scared it
will
end. I don’t—I don’t let myself trust.”
He snorted out a laugh.
She scowled. At least his expression had changed. “I hate that about myself. And I hate that I let my fears hurt you.”
He straightened. “Brylie. I bought you a restaurant to make you happy. I didn’t want anything from it but that. And you walked away because you were a coward. The woman I knew on The Ice Queen was no coward. Neither was the woman who kept my brother alive on the continent. I thought you had balls. I was wrong.”
Her face was hot as she angled her chin up. “Does my coming back here count for anything? Because it was a damned hard thing to do, facing you again after walking out.”
He inclined his head. “Did you know I would be here?”
“Harris told me, after I didn’t find you at your hotel.”
His frown relaxed. “You went to Harris?”
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “Just so you know, he thought I was an idiot for trying to find you.”
“But he still told you where I was.”
“After I convinced him that I’d made a mistake.”
“By walking away from a free restaurant.”
She’d been afraid he’d see it like that. “The restaurant can rot. By walking away from a man who understands me and makes me laugh and makes me scream. By walking away from a man who wants to make me happy and keep me safe, even though he’s never wanted responsibility for another person. I thought if you could change that much, I can too. I can trust that I can turn to you when things are good and when things get hard and I can believe that we can hold onto each other and have a future.” She stepped forward and risked touching him for the first time. His cheek was warm and bristly and familiar, and he didn’t move away from her hand. “I want to be the woman you think I am. I want to be the woman you can love.”
He covered her hand with his. “You are that woman, Brylie. Believe it. I do.”
She leaned in and he captured her mouth in a kiss that promised faithfulness and a future she could believe in. When they broke apart, he took her hand and led her into the restaurant, yanking down the “For Sale” sign on the way.
THE END
