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"Do you still have her letter?"
"No. I burned them. Never wanted you to find them."
"What did my letter say?"
He rubbed his face with his hands and straightened up. "She loved you. She was sorry for how things ended. And since you probably knew the truth by then, she forgave you."
"And that's why you hid the letter. You hadn't told the truth about your non-relationship with Isha," I realized. "Does Caitlyn know?"
"I told her before the wedding."
"And?"
"She was flattered that I went to such lengths to get her."
"Didn't she feel bad about how we all treated Isha?"
"Nope."
"Your wife is a fucking piece of work."
"Yep."
He'd done all this for Caitlyn and was now in an unhappy marriage, just the way my father had been. This is why I'd never wanted to marry. It was a fucking lottery, and I didn't know anyone who'd ever won.
"Brother, I'm truly sorry. I was…am a coward."
I finished my whiskey and rose.
"She fell in love with me and I with her. If I had believed her, if I'd have had the courage to trust her…." I hurled the glass, watching it shatter against the wall and scatter across the wooden floor.
"Ro, I'm so fucking sorry."
I looked at my brother. "I'm not the one you need to apologize to, Ace. I did damage all on my own; that's a fact. What is also true is that I will never in my life again trust you. That's your punishment and mine for what we did to an innocent young girl. I lose my brother in ways that matter to me, just as you lose yours."
I walked to the door and, with my hand on the doorknob, said, "Tell Caitlyn I won't be at the wedding. I can't stomach it, Ace. Also, I'm checking into a hotel."
I went into my bedroom and packed my suitcase.
Ace was at the front door waiting for me. "Will you give me Isha's contact information?"
"No," I said firmly. "I'll give her yours, and she can decide if she wants to give you the time of day."
"Fair."
"And one more thing. You tell Deb what you did. She's not as much of a bitch as your wife." I knew his mother would hate how she treated Isha. She wasn't the best person in the world, but she wasn't Caitlyn.
Chapter 19
Isha
"You want to tell me what Rowan was doing at your place?" Mick asked me the day after Rowan had come over, while we were getting ready to go to Mick's Pub for Family Hour.
The bar was a local hangout, and during Family Hour, kids in the neighborhood made a nuisance of themselves at the bar, which Mick loved, but pretended to tolerate. Once a month, for three hours on a Saturday afternoon, the bar transformed. It offered live music tailored for children, storytelling sessions, and child-friendly finger foods, creating a vibrant and inclusive atmosphere.
"He came to apologize for how he treated me."
Mick had asked me once why I didn't date, and I'd told him I was busy with a baby, but after I got to know him better, I told him about my summer in Montana after I drank a good part of a bottle of wine.
