Straight From the Hip(96)
When he was done, the sisters again exchanged another look—this one he couldn’t read.
“You paid for what you did,” Skye said. “And maybe you suffered. That doesn’t excuse what you did to Izzy. Garth is trying to destroy our entire family. You don’t seem to get that. He nearly killed Izzy.”
Risking their wrath, he said, “Garth has admitted to all his actions, except the explosion. He claims he had nothing to do with it.”
“And you believe him?” Lexi asked, sounding outraged.
“Yeah, I do. I don’t agree with what he’s doing to you and your sister. If he had a problem with Jed, fine. Jed ignored his own son when he begged for Kathy’s life. Jed deserves whatever happens to him. But you two and Izzy are innocent. Garth was wrong. His vengeance is misplaced. He’s used us all.”
His best friend. He still had trouble wrapping his mind around that truth. His own family had betrayed him.
“I’ve severed my financial and personal ties with Garth,” he continued. “I’ve resigned from his board, sold my shares in his company. He’s out of my life.”
“Too little, too late,” Lexi snapped. “You knew Garth was behind bringing Izzy here and you didn’t say anything.”
“The way he told it, he wanted Izzy helped out of concern. He said you wouldn’t accept his help. I believed him because I didn’t have any reason not to.”
“But when you found out what he was doing,” Skye said. “You could have said something.”
“I know.” He drew in a breath. “It was too late, then. If I’d told Izzy the truth, she would have left and not had the surgery. At first that’s what I wanted—her to see again. She’s so full of life. So tough and sweet and honest. She leads with her heart. She’s fearless. I’ve never known anyone like her. She needed more than half a life.”
“The surgery could have left her blind,” Lexi said, studying him.
“She needed to know.” He shrugged. “If things had gone badly, she would have been all right. She would have found a way. That’s what she does. I couldn’t tell her about Garth because she had to have the surgery.”
“And after?” Skye asked.
“I didn’t want to lose her. If she knew, she would be gone. I…I liked having her around.”
For the third time, the sisters shared a look. He’d given up trying to figure out what they were thinking.
“Why should we believe you?” Lexi asked.
“I don’t know. I can’t prove it. I could show you my letter of resignation from Garth’s board, but so what? He could reinstate me in a second. He was my friend and I trusted him. That’s my mistake and I have to live with it. I trusted a man I’d known for years, who had saved me and been like family. I don’t know where everything went wrong for him, but it did.”
Lexi leaned toward him. “Knowing everything you know, having lost Izzy, you still believe Garth didn’t blow up the oil rig?”
“Yes.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Maybe, but why lie about only that? Garth’s proud of what he’s doing to your family. He wouldn’t deny something that big.”
“Fine,” Skye said. “To go back to my original question, what do you want?”
He smiled. “Izzy. You want to shoot me here or should I stand?”
“We’re not going to help you get her,” Lexi said.
Apparently they’d already discussed that because she didn’t have to look at her sister for confirmation.
“You hurt her,” Skye said. “She didn’t ever want to fall in love. She didn’t want to take the chance. But she did and you devastated her.”
“I know. I’m not saying I deserve her, just that I love her. I’m not asking for your help. I’m asking you not to get in the way.”
“What could we do?” Lexi asked. “Izzy is her own person.”
“You’re the people she loves and respects most in the world. If you told her not to trust me, that I wasn’t worth it, she’d listen.”
“Then you don’t know Izzy. She never listens,” Skye told him.
“You’re wrong. She listens to both of you.”
“Interesting that you’ve figured that out,” Lexi said. “I’m not sure even Izzy is aware our opinion matters to her. At least not on a conscious level.”
“Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn now and then,” he said.
Lexi smiled. “Meaning guys aren’t inherently insightful?”
“Something like that.”