divorced.”
“Why did you?”
“Christine was too…ambitious.”
“Hardly a flaw.”
“It is when I’m just the rung on the social ladder she’s trying to climb.”
“Oh.”
“And then we had some lean years. I was working all the time, and…” He shrugged. Another silence stretched between them.
“Richard never told me what kind of work you do.”
He leaned back, the tension easing away from his face. Unexpectedly he laughed. “Probably because what I do struck him as so damn boring. My partners and I design office buildings.”
“You’re an architect?”
“Structural engineer. My architect partners do the creative work. I make sure the walls don’t come crashing down.”
An engineer. Not exactly a fluff career, she thought, but a real, honest job. Like her father had.
She shook her head. “It’s strange. When I look at you, I can’t quite believe you’re his brother. I always assumed…”
“That we’d be a matched set? No, we were definitely different. In more ways than you’ll ever know.”
Yes, the more she knew about Chase, the less he seemed like a Tremain. And the more she thought she could like him.
“What did you ever see in my brother?” he asked.
His question, voiced so softly, was jarring all the same. It reminded her of the ghosts that still hovered in this house.
She sighed. “I saw what I wanted to see.”
“Which was?”
“A man who needed me. A man I could play savior to.”
“Richard?”
“Oh, it seemed as if he had everything going for him. But he also had this…this vulnerability. This need to be saved. From what, I don’t know. Maybe himself.”
“And you were going to save him.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “I don’t know. You don’t think about these things. You just feel. And you fall into it….”
“You mean you followed your heart.”
She looked up at him. “Yes,” she whispered.
“Didn’t it seem wrong to you?”
“Of course it did!”
“But?”
Her whole body sagged with the weight of her unhappiness. “I couldn’t…see my way out of it. I cared about him. I wanted to be there for him. And he’d string me along. He’d tell me things would work out, as long as we both had faith.” She looked down at her hands, clasped together in her lap. “I guess I lost my faith first.”
“In him? Or the situation?”
“Him. I began to see the flaws. It came out, after a while. How he manipulated people, used people. If he didn’t need you, he’d ignore you. A user, that’s what he was. An expert at making people do what he wanted.”
“Then you broke it off. How did he react?”
“He couldn’t believe it. I don’t think anyone ever left him. He kept calling me, bothering me. And every day, at work, I’d have to face him. Pretend nothing was going on between us.”
“Everyone knew, though.”
She shrugged. “Probably. I’m not very good at hiding things. Annie knew, because I told her. And everyone else must have guessed.” She sighed. The truth was, she hadn’t cared at the time. Love, and then pain, had made her indifferent to public opinion.
They said nothing for a moment. She wondered what he thought of her now, whether any of it made a difference. Suddenly it mattered what he did think of her. He was scarcely more than a stranger, and a hostile one, but it mattered very much.
“You’re not the first one, you know,” he said. “There were other women.”
It was a cruel revelation to spring on her, and Chase didn’t know why he did it. He only knew that he wanted to give her a good, hard shaking. To shatter any rose-colored illusions she might still harbor about Richard. She might say the feelings were gone, but deep inside, might a few warm memories still linger?
He saw, by the look in her eyes, that his words had had their intended effect. Instantly he regretted the wounds he’d inflicted. Still, shouldn’t she know? Shouldn’t she be told just how naive
“Why did you?”
“Christine was too…ambitious.”
“Hardly a flaw.”
“It is when I’m just the rung on the social ladder she’s trying to climb.”
“Oh.”
“And then we had some lean years. I was working all the time, and…” He shrugged. Another silence stretched between them.
“Richard never told me what kind of work you do.”
He leaned back, the tension easing away from his face. Unexpectedly he laughed. “Probably because what I do struck him as so damn boring. My partners and I design office buildings.”
“You’re an architect?”
“Structural engineer. My architect partners do the creative work. I make sure the walls don’t come crashing down.”
An engineer. Not exactly a fluff career, she thought, but a real, honest job. Like her father had.
She shook her head. “It’s strange. When I look at you, I can’t quite believe you’re his brother. I always assumed…”
“That we’d be a matched set? No, we were definitely different. In more ways than you’ll ever know.”
Yes, the more she knew about Chase, the less he seemed like a Tremain. And the more she thought she could like him.
“What did you ever see in my brother?” he asked.
His question, voiced so softly, was jarring all the same. It reminded her of the ghosts that still hovered in this house.
She sighed. “I saw what I wanted to see.”
“Which was?”
“A man who needed me. A man I could play savior to.”
“Richard?”
“Oh, it seemed as if he had everything going for him. But he also had this…this vulnerability. This need to be saved. From what, I don’t know. Maybe himself.”
“And you were going to save him.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “I don’t know. You don’t think about these things. You just feel. And you fall into it….”
“You mean you followed your heart.”
She looked up at him. “Yes,” she whispered.
“Didn’t it seem wrong to you?”
“Of course it did!”
“But?”
Her whole body sagged with the weight of her unhappiness. “I couldn’t…see my way out of it. I cared about him. I wanted to be there for him. And he’d string me along. He’d tell me things would work out, as long as we both had faith.” She looked down at her hands, clasped together in her lap. “I guess I lost my faith first.”
“In him? Or the situation?”
“Him. I began to see the flaws. It came out, after a while. How he manipulated people, used people. If he didn’t need you, he’d ignore you. A user, that’s what he was. An expert at making people do what he wanted.”
“Then you broke it off. How did he react?”
“He couldn’t believe it. I don’t think anyone ever left him. He kept calling me, bothering me. And every day, at work, I’d have to face him. Pretend nothing was going on between us.”
“Everyone knew, though.”
She shrugged. “Probably. I’m not very good at hiding things. Annie knew, because I told her. And everyone else must have guessed.” She sighed. The truth was, she hadn’t cared at the time. Love, and then pain, had made her indifferent to public opinion.
They said nothing for a moment. She wondered what he thought of her now, whether any of it made a difference. Suddenly it mattered what he did think of her. He was scarcely more than a stranger, and a hostile one, but it mattered very much.
“You’re not the first one, you know,” he said. “There were other women.”
It was a cruel revelation to spring on her, and Chase didn’t know why he did it. He only knew that he wanted to give her a good, hard shaking. To shatter any rose-colored illusions she might still harbor about Richard. She might say the feelings were gone, but deep inside, might a few warm memories still linger?
He saw, by the look in her eyes, that his words had had their intended effect. Instantly he regretted the wounds he’d inflicted. Still, shouldn’t she know? Shouldn’t she be told just how naive
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