Page 40 of The Brides Brother

"I’m sorry," I suddenly heard the voice in the car, so I turned and met Evelyn’s gaze through the rearview mirror.

"What?" I asked.

"I did it again," she replied. "Assumed. I didn’t mean that."

At first, I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but when I recalled what she had said about having a sibling, I understood.

I watched her then, and my mother’s words filtered through my head. She was right, I realized. I had taken a liking to her more than any other woman I had met in recent years, and now I wanted to know why.

She was gorgeous for sure, but that was the least criteria that could inexplicably draw me to anyone in this way. Even now when she had stepped out of line again, I wasn’t even mad. At least not as I had been the previous time. Now I was almost beginning to accept that she couldn’t help it and that she wasn’t trying to be judgmental. She just couldn’t help but put herself in Aurora’s shoes, and I completely understood. I sighed and sent her a smile so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable once again around me.

"I know you’ve put yourself in Aurora’s shoes, so you can't help but feel bad for her, that she is not getting the wedding she wants, but I hope you can consider that things are never that simple. And life is never that simple. You've put yourself in her shoes, so you can empathize, but remember that she's only one side of the story. There are others as well, and I'm sure that if you saw my side as well, you’d understand."

At my words, I could see her gaze soften in contriteness, and then she nodded.

"I know," she said, in a low voice. "That’s why I'm apologizing because I meant that simply as a tease. It wasn’t that I was trying to judge or chastise you. I only realized what it sounded like after I had said it."

I didn't respond to this because I didn’t want to give her the whole satisfaction that this interaction had been fruitful. I simply wanted her to not feel too tormented by it as this was already severely affecting the degree and extent to which I could get to know her much better.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Drake

I had followed her out.

At first, it was simply to check if she was alright since I had seen the way she had angrily left the bar thanks to Victoria. This was the second time this had happened and truly I didn't blame her for being absolutely disgusted with her. I was curious, though, what Victoria had said this time that had made her so annoyed. I doubted I would ever know, but at the time, I was trying to avoid stale conversations with my own parents, so I had excused myself and just headed towards her direction.

The garden was gorgeous but given that only sections of it were fully lit, most people remained indoors and only a few littered around. Still, it wasn’t difficult to find her because only a few minutes later, I saw someone sitting alert in a corner and watching the entrance like a hawk. If I didn't know she was there, I would have for sure been startled because her eyes looked crazy.

“What are you doing?” I asked; however, the shock still remained on her face. This time I supposed it was because she hadn’t quite been expecting to see me.

“Um… “ she tried to straighten, but it was as though her arms weakened and she instead almost fell off the bench.

I jumped forward to catch her, but just as my hand closed around her arm, she righted herself. Then she stared at me once again, wide-eyed.

“Sorry, uh,” she said as she moved away, and then she rose to her feet.

“Are you okay?” I asked, and she nodded. “

Just a bit lightheaded from the alcohol.”

I took a seat then because this was a good place to relax. It was away from people and the bustle but still airy and pleasant to look at. Plus, I had to admit to myself that she would take the initiative to join me so that we could have at least one conversation. As the wedding party grew, I was certain that it was going to get more and more difficult for us to be alone.

“I’ll head in,” she said, and I nodded. Disappointed, however, before she could go out of reach, my hand caught hers. I was just as startled as she was, and it took me a while to come up with what I wanted to say.

“Sit,” I told her. “Let's talk.”

“I, uh, I have to work,” she said.

I stared into her eyes, wondering if this was true. And then I saw the danger because I wanted this so badly not to be true, and so I let her go. I couldn’t handle the complication anyway, especially since dark days were coming for the family. I'd already been preparing my mind and could only imagine going through it alone. Adding another person to the mix? Or maybe I was

thinking too far ahead? This was the problem because with her, I just couldn’t help but think far ahead.

“Enjoy your night,” she said, so awkwardly that I was almost amused. I watched her scurry away, and then took a deep breath.

It was a nice quiet space to be in, so I leaned my head back and stared up at the stars. It was as though the heavens knew it was a very special evening for my family because the sky was glittering. However, and despite how gorgeous they were, I felt so inexplicably sad that it was nearly overwhelming. I had truly driven myself into the ground the past few months with work so that I could get moments like this. Moments when I recalled, moments where I thought about anything but work.

So instantly, I got ready to leave, but then, to my surprise, someone came into the area, and I as well was startled.