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Fists tightening, Henry fought the urge to throw down with his brother. The bitterness he harbored had only gotten worse lately, and Henry couldn’t figure out why. He shot a dark look at his brother out of the corner of his eye, then turned his attention back to the window. “I don’t care if you don’t want to talk to her. You’re going to be respectful even if she can’t hear you. Rachel is a decent person.”
Hudson snorted, turning his back to the window and folding his arms for good measure. “Just because you’ve been getting to know her over the last couple of weeks doesn’t mean you know her. Athena was here for a couple months, and you didn’t see her departure coming.”
That was it, the straw that broke the camel’s back. Henry turned and shoved his brother with both hands, forcing him to stumble and lose his balance. Hudson’s hat left his head and dropped to the floor, and he landed a few feet from it with a thud. He turned wide, angry eyes up at Henry.
“What did you do that for?”
Henry hovered over him, his hands balled up and ready for a fight. “I don’t know what your problem is. I could understand that you weren’t thrilled about a stranger coming into our house. I could even understand when you felt we were overcrowded. But—” He jerked his finger toward the window. “Rachel is Athena’s family. And as far as I’m concerned, that makes her our family too. If you don’t like it, I suggest you find somewhere else to live.”
Fire shot from Hudson’s eyes, sparks igniting and burning out between them. He got to his feet and swiped his hat from the floor before placing it on his head. “You’re an idiot if you think she’s coming back. She didn’t belong here, and she knew it. Neither one of them does. They’re outsiders. They didn’t grow up here. Look at what Shane has done with this town. Do you think any one of those city folks cares about Copper Creek? I guarantee if they didn’t have some of the amenities here, they’d be long gone. Living out here isn’t supposed to be a trend. It’s a lifestyle choice that even our parents didn’t want to pick.” He didn’t bother waiting for a response before he stormed off.
So that was what bothered Hudson. It came back to their parents abandoning them. Henry almost felt bad for the fight he’d allowed himself to join. He couldn’t believe he’d allowed himself to get so caught up in his concern for Athena that he’d gotten physical with his brother.
He groaned, dragging a hand down his face. Two weeks was a long time for Athena to be gone, with no apparent sign of coming back. He’d expected her to show up again. He’d even gone out looking for her around town so he could tell her about her sister, but no one had seen or heard from her.
Athena had left Copper Creek, and there was no changing that. She didn’t have a phone, and she’d left no way to contact her. For all intents and purposes, she was a ghost.
Maybe Hudson was right.
Maybe Rachel needed to cut her losses and accept that Athena wasn’t someone who wanted to be found. He glanced toward the woman who he had gotten to know a little over the last couple of weeks. She was kind and yet cautious. It was like she’d been taught how to act in public, but she remained guarded. He didn’t know what sort of secrets she was trying to keep, but it didn’t matter. As far as he was concerned, her past could remain private.
There was probably a lot he hadn’t discovered about Athena, and he had a feeling that knowing those secrets wouldn’t have helped him keep her here.
Rachel glanced over her shoulder toward the house, and Henry froze. The way the light was shining at the house, he wasn’t sure if she would be able to see him spying on her. At this rate, he should just assume she knew he was there, especially with the noise he and Hudson had made.
She smiled and then turned around once more. He didn’t know what it was about watching her, but he got the distinct impression that she wanted him to join her. His heart thundered as he moved toward the door. His feet had a mind of their own. Did he want to discuss the woman he cared about with this stranger? Absolutely not. But keeping what he knew to himself wasn’t the right thing to do either.
When he reached her side, she glanced at him before motioning for each of them to take a seat in the grass. “I’ve always liked the feel of cool grass,” she said softly, her hands floating above the blades. “There’s just something about being out here with nature that’s good for the soul, don’t you think?”
Henry nodded.
She cocked her head and her eyes locked with his. “Did Diana—” She shook her head. “Athena. Boy, that sounds strange to me.” She let out a soft, sad laugh. “Did Athena like it out here? In nature? I never thought this would be where she would end up.”
His throat closed up. Technically, it wasn’t where she ended up. She’d been on her way through town. He’d told Rachel as much. Athena didn’t like staying in one place. He hadn’t told her a lot of details despite the woman staying in the room where Athena had been. Everyone else didn’t seem to mind sharing what they liked about her sister. But for Henry, it had been too hard. When Rachel made it clear she was willing to wait for an answer for however long it took, he swallowed down the lump in his throat and nodded. “Actually, she spent a lot of her time out here. She liked to watch the sunset.”
Rachel smiled. “We have that in common, then.” She didn’t turn to face him as she stared out at the sun slowly dipping behind the mountains. “Brielle said that Athena was really good with horses. Can you tell me about that?”
Boy, Rachel was getting chatty all of a sudden. So many questions. He turned to look at her, unsure of what she wanted to hear or what she expected him to say. “There’s this horse we have. He’s a wild one—or rather, he was when he got here. But he took to Athena like a fish to water. I don’t think I’ve seen an animal react to a person quite like he did to Athena. They had a connection that I don’t think will ever be broken.”
The smile faded from Rachel’s face. Her clear eyes shifted as if a wall had come down, showing the pain and disappointment she must have been harboring since she found out that Athena had slipped away. “Do you think she’ll come back?”
There it was. The question he’d been anticipating since she’d arrived. He couldn’t fault her for asking it despite him insisting that Athena would return. The truth of the matter was that he had no idea. For how much he’d gotten to know Athena, he didn’t know her well enough to say for certain that she would return. All he could do was hope.
Rachel turned to him. “I get the feeling that she’s not coming.”
His stomach weighed down with his own disappointment. “I think you might be right.”
She nodded, her eyes brimming with emotion, but then she blinked hard and forced a sad smile. “Well, it was worth a shot. I figured I’d give her a few days, and I made it two weeks. I can’t sit around here forever waiting for her.” She rose to her feet and stretched.
He got up as well, heart pounding. If Athena did come back and found out that her sister hadn’t waited for her, that could destroy her. “You’re leaving?”
She gestured around them. “There’s nothing here for me. I came to find my family. She wasn’t here. I can’t sit around waiting for her to come into my life again. It’s up to me to find her.” She took a step toward the house, but he stepped in her way.
“What if she comes back?”
“Then you have my number. You have my email, too. I trust that you’ll do the right thing.” She moved to get past him once more, but he wouldn’t let her, causing her expression to darken. “It’s been nice to get to know a little bit about my sister via your family. But there comes a time when a person has to stop waiting around for what they want and just go for it. Will you kindly move so I can gather my things?”
He didn’t know what it was that prevented him from giving her what she wanted. He was a gentleman. He couldn’t force her to stay if she wanted to leave. And yet, that was exactly what he was doing. “Don’t go,” he muttered.
