Page 12 of See It Through

After a pause, he huffed. “Got a lot of messages. It was Henry’s that brought me here.”

“You don’t know how difficult it was for me to track down your phone number. It took me weeks, or I would have called you sooner.” I shoved more hair off my forehead. “Maybe if I’d gotten it sooner, you would have come. That’s what I think about. If I’d tried harder, started searching earlier, you would have made it in time.”

“You don’t need to worry about that anymore,” he gruffed.

I looked up at him through bleary eyes. “It’s not something I can help.”

He shook his head, not meeting my gaze. “I mean, I wouldn’t have been here. Nothing you can do to change what happened.”

“Oh.”

I’d sort of lied when I’d said I hadn’t paid attention to Remi’s career. The moment Graham had brought it to my attention, I’d looked him up on my own, becoming enthralled with the evocative and emotional images.

Remi had traveled all over the world, taking pictures during political coups, famines, uprisings, wars. He had a special talent for capturing heartbreak, showing the world the horrors other human beings were capable of inflicting on each other. A child covered in dust, tears carving paths down their face. A husband bent over the body of his broken, bloody wife. Soldiers who didn’t look old enough to even touch a gun, let alone use one. His work was utterly haunting yet filled with empathy for the people and tragedy he’d witnessed.

The man standing before me, expressionless and indifferent after I’d poured my damn heart out, didn’t seem capable of caring for anyone but himself. Maybe the empathy I thought I’d detected in his work had just been me projecting.

Remi took a step toward me. “What I mean is—”

“Nope.” I swerved around him, done with this man. “I get what you mean. I don’t need to hear anything else.”

His heavy sigh was followed by his footsteps nipping at my heels. He let me get to my truck but put his hand on the door so I couldn’t leave, pissing me right off.

“Hannah, listen to me.” His voice dropped to something low and soothing. Not that I could have been soothed. Had I been looking for that, though, his soft tenor would have done it.

“It’s fine, really. You’re here for an indeterminate amount of time. I work out of the house. But we don’t have to mingle. You stay out of my way, and I’ll gladly stay out of yours. I don’t have anything else to say to you, so…”

He dipped his head, trying to catch my eyes, but I wasn’t having it. I gave the shoulder of his Henley more attention than a square inch of a shirt had ever received.

“I’m sorry you had to face that on your own. That shouldn’t have been on you. I can only imagine it must’ve been incredibly hard. I know, without a doubt, you did right by Graham. His last thought might’ve been of me, but I bet his second-to-last one was of you.”

He reached toward me, for my hair or face, maybe, but I flinched before he could touch me, and his hand fell to his side.

He sighed. “If I could change how things played out, I would, but there’s no going back.”

I swallowed hard, and his boot scuffed the gravel. I was done, but he wasn’t.

“Like I said, I’ll be here for a while, but not forever. You want me to stay out of your way, I’ll do that. Just know, no matter what you think of me and my absence, I’m grateful you were the one who was here for Graham.”

My eyes flicked to his, there and back. He was hurting me, being tender when all I wanted was a brick wall to wail on. I shouldn’t have started this conversation at all, but I had a big mouth and didn’t always clue in on when I should stop.

“If you want me to buy you out, I can get the money.” I shifted on my feet. “My parents will help me. It won’t be instant, but I can do it.”

“Ah. Dell mentioned that.”

“Think about it,” I said. “It’ll be easier for all of us, but especially you. You won’t have a reason to stayorcome back. Isn’t that what you want?”

His boot scuffed the gravel again before he slapped the door of my truck. “I’m not gonna keep you any longer. Get on your way.”

He stepped back just enough for me to squeeze by him. My back brushed his front, but he didn’t shift away. I didn’t know what he thought he was doing, but it wasn’t working on me.

He lifted his chin, and I slammed the door.

I’d never driven away from Graham’s house quicker.

Chapter Seven

Hannah