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I searched my brain and mentioned the first thing that came to mind aside from whatever it was about this pact that tormented him so badly.
“Why did you want to buy this house?” I asked.
Duncan exhaled. Gradually, his posture relaxed, and the action was so visible I was struck by just how tense he was moments before.
“My grandfather used to own this house. He wanted to clear his debts, since he was getting older and wanted to settle into retirement.”
“You’re kidding? He lived here?”
Why hadn’t he told me?
Duncan nodded. “You should’ve heard Grandmother when we would drive past when I was younger. She would say how this was her favorite house in Eureka Springs, how it was the reason she’d married Grandpa in the first place. She hated him for selling it.”
“I can see why,” I said, smiling, hoping to lighten the mood.
Duncan’s scowl remained in place. He took a few steps toward the car once more, so I kept pace with him, stopping again when he paused at the car’s trunk.
“I tried standing up to him about it. Tried defending her. Young and hotheaded as I was, I went too far in our argument. Grandpa had a heart attack right there as I was yelling at him. He died the next day.”
He placed his fist on the sleek, black trunk. The admission was so sudden that it seized a gasp from me.
Did that have something to do with this pact? Was it why he was so upset?
TWENTY
rosabel
Duncan’s admission was unsettling.
“Oh, Duncan. I’m so sorry.” I lifted my hand again, wanting to place it on his back or something, to soothe him in some way.
But I didn’t want him retreating from my touch again, so I thought better of it.
He went on, still staring off toward the houses across the street. Away from me.
“My family blamed me for his death. I blamed myself. I couldn’t face them, so I left town—which, apparently, was even worse. They shut me out.”
Pieces began clicking into place. Why his family was so resentful toward him. Why they hadn’t spoken in three years. Why he so badly wanted this particular house.
“Then why did you not push for the purchase? Did you not think Eudora would sell it to you?”
He rested his arms against the car and hunched over. He didn’t respond to my question about Eudora but instead continued explaining his previous story.
“I carried on the best that I could, trying to cope and pretend like my loss of temper, like Grandpa’s resulting death, never happened. My friends noticed a change in me, too, but I justblew them off and focused on my business. The email inviting me to my grandmother’s birthday was the first I’ve heard from any of them since the incident.”
“You hoped this house would be the peace offering you needed.” He’d mentioned as much before, but I hadn’t grasped what he’d really meant.
“And The Pact?”
He sniffed, warding off emotion. “I told you, I can’t tell you.”
I geared myself, readying for the battle I knew was coming. Because I wasn’t going to back down. Not yet, anyway.
“Is it because you don’t trust me?” I asked.
He’d just shared something extremely personal about his family. Why could he share that with me and not this?
Duncan faced me. He stared at me so long I thought he might give in. But he didn’t. He just stared at me like he’d never seen me before.
