they could be like this. Together. ‘Dinner over, then?’
Thea nodded, sitting up and shifting closer to Flynn to make room for Zeke to sit beside them. ‘How did things go? With your father?’
‘Pretty much as expected.’ Zeke eyed the small space on the swing, then perched on the edge of the low table in front of them instead.
‘Which was...?’ Flynn sounded a little impatient. ‘I don’t even know what he wanted to talk to you about. Business, I assume?’
‘You didn’t tell him?’ Zeke asked Thea, eyebrow raised.
‘We were talking about more important things,’ Thea said, which made Flynn smile softly and kiss her hair again.
Zeke’s jaw tightened at the sight. He suspected he didn’t want to know what those ‘more important things’ were. ‘Your father wanted to try and buy my business,’ he told Flynn.
‘He’s your father too,’ Flynn pointed out.
Zeke laughed. ‘Possibly not, after tonight.’
‘You told him no, then?’ Thea guessed. ‘Why? To spite him? You’ve already admitted you want to sell.’
‘He wanted me to come and work for Morrison-Ashton.’
‘And that would be the worst thing ever, of course.’ Sarcasm dripped from her voice. ‘Are you really still so angry with him?’
Tilting his head back, Zeke stared up through the slats of the terrace roof at the stars twinkling through. ‘No,’ he answered honestly. ‘This isn’t... It’s not like it was any more, Thea. I’m not trying to spite him, or hurt him, or pay him back for anything. I just want to move on. Sever all ties and start a whole new life. Maybe a new company, a new field. A new me.’
‘So we won’t be seeing you again after the wedding, then?’ Flynn said, and Zeke realised he’d almost forgotten his brother was even there for a moment. He’d spoken to Thea the same way he’d always talked to Thea—with far more honesty than he’d give anyone else. A bad habit to fall back into.
‘Maybe you two would be worth a visit,’ he said, forcing a smile. ‘After all, I’ll need to come and be favourite Uncle Zeke to your kids, right?’
At his words Flynn’s expression softened, and he gave his fiancée a meaningful look. Thea, for her part, glanced down at her hands, but Zeke thought he saw a matching shy smile on her face.
Realisation slammed into him, hitting him hard in the chest until he almost gasped for breath. That was what they’d been talking about—their ‘more important things’. Children. He’d been so sure that this marriage was a sham, that there was nothing between them. But he hadn’t imagined kids. Even when he’d made the comment he’d expected an evasion, a convenient practised answer. Another sign that this wasn’t real.
Not this. Not the image in his head of Thea’s belly swollen with his brother’s child. Not the thought of how much better parents Flynn and Thea would be than his own father. Of a little girl with Thea’s dark hair curling around a perfect face.
‘Well, you know you’ll always be welcome in our home,’ Flynn said.
The words were too formal for brothers, too distant for anything he’d ever shared with Thea. And Zeke knew without a doubt that he’d never, ever be taking them up on the offer. Maybe he didn’t love Thea any more, but that tightly stitched line of regret inside him still pulled when she tugged on the thread between them.
He couldn’t give Thea what she wanted—never had been able to. She’d made that very clear. And in two days she’d be married, that thread would be cut, and he’d never see her again.
‘I should get to bed,’ Thea said, unfolding her legs from under her. ‘Another long day tomorrow.’
Flynn smiled up at her as she stood. ‘I’ll see you in the morning?’
Thea nodded, then with a quick glance at Zeke bent and kissed Flynn on the lips. It looked soft, but sure, and Zeke got the message—loud and clear, thanks. She’d made her choice—again—and she was sticking with it.
Fine. It was her choice to make, after all. But Zeke knew that the scar of regret would never leave him if he wasn’t sure she was happy with the choice she was making. If he wanted the freedom of that cut thread, he had to be able to leave her behind entirely. He had to be sure she knew what she was doing.
Zeke got to his feet. ‘I’ll walk you to your room.’
THIS WAS EXACTLY what she didn’t want. Which, in fairness, was probably why Zeke was doing it.
It had been too strange, sitting there with the two brothers, talking about her future as if Zeke might be part of it—in a role she’d simply never expected him to take. Hard enough to transition from fiancée to wife to mother with Flynn, without adding in her ex as her brother-in-law. It had all been so much easier when she’d imagined he was out of her life for good. That she’d never have to see him again. She’d got over the hurt of that loss years before.
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