“Whoa! What’s wrong?” Max burst into my room. “Who is that?”
“That’s David’s youngest sister. She’s autistic and they won’t leave her alone.”
Tears formed in my eyes as I watched the little girl start hollering and swinging her hands at the reporters. His mother dropped her bags and wrestled with her to get her away from the people.
“This is my fault.” I covered my mouth. “Oh God. He must hate me.”
“This is the reporters’ fault.” Max wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
“I should have insisted that we sneak out. The fallout wouldn’t have been so crazy. It was so reckless to just walk out with him.” I closed my eyes. “No wonder he isn’t answering my texts.”
“You do not control the media.” Max looked down at me. “And if he’s not answering your text messages it could be because he’s trying to handle this. Or he’s an asshole and I’ll beat the shit out of him.”
I shoved his chest. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Do you like him?” Max looked at me with serious eyes.
“I really do.” I really, really liked David.
“Then go find him.” He shrugged. “If you don’t try, you won’t know.”
I thought about it for a minute. Did I want to put myself out there that far? It would be a long, painful fall if he turned away from me. Then again, if I didn’t try, I’d go crazy just thinking about it.
“Okay.” I took a deep breath and picked up my phone.
Where is he?
I waited for Chadwick’s response.
Chadwick: Fishing.
Me: Fishing? Where?
Chadwick: Rousseau. He said he needed to think.
I looked at Max. “Get out. I need to shower.”
“Okay.” He walked to the door. “Remember, I’ll beat the shit out of him if you want.”
“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ve always wanted to meet a nice guy and then have my brother try to kill him.”
“The offer stands.” He closed the door behind him with a wink.
I was ready in record time, throwing on jeans, boots, and a shirt. I braided my wet hair and had Jameson bring the car around. The ride to Rousseau was a long one and I spent it going over in my head what I would say.
What would I say?
Everything I came up with sounded so corny—so pointless. Really, if he was smart he would run from me, and fast. God, I hoped he wasn’t smart.
When Rousseau came into view I bit my lip and took a deep breath. I’d just wait and see how he felt. Maybe I’d be strong enough to let him go without crying. Or at least not crying in front of him.
He was sitting on the front steps when we pulled up. I didn’t know how long he had been sitting there, but when he looked up at the car my heart jerked. His dark eyes were partially obscured by his hair, but I could see the worry that worked through them. He pushed off the stairs and opened the car door for me. We stood there looking at each other without saying anything.
“I—” he started.
“Is your—”
He motioned for me to go on as his jaw worked silently.
“How is your sister?” I was thankful that my voice didn’t shake.
“She’s better. They took her riding this afternoon and are trying to explain things to her.” He took my hand and led me back to an area on the porch where no one would be able to see us. “I was going to call you, but I had to decide what I was going to do.”
“I understand.” I looked down at the steps. “If we stop seeing each other now, this should blow over for your family.”
“What?” He frowned.
“Your decision.” I shrugged. “I figured that would be the easiest thing for you. Dating me is difficult. I understand that.”
“Cathy.” His sigh held a hint of frustration. “Not seeing you wouldn’t be easy. Not seeing you would be the most difficult thing I could do.” He reached up and touched my face. “And I’m not that strong.”
I covered his hand with mine. “Then what are you going to do?”
“I was trying to decide if I should go back home for a quick trip or if that would make it worse.” He let his hand fall from my cheek, but kept our fingers threaded together. “I spent some time talking to her on the phone today.”
“Is she—did she understand?”
“She did. She was pretty excited that my girlfriend is a princess.” He smiled at me.
My heart did a flip in my chest and I leaned forward to gently kiss him. “I’m so sorry for all of this.”
“I knew it could happen.” He frowned. “That’s one of the things I was thinking about today.”