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She nodded. “I didn’t realize it for a long time, but yeah, that’s exactly what he did. He was the only person—with the exception of Shaw—who ever paid any attention to me. He made me feel special and worthy of affection. I’d been starved for those things, so I stupidly viewed him as my savior.”
“Is Briggs the reason why you haven’t talked to your brother in so long?”
“Shaw and I were close most of our lives, even after he joined the Navy. We would talk on the phone at least once a week, and he used to send me postcards from all the cool places he’d been. But after a while…I let Briggs convince me that Shaw only did those things out of obligation. He had a way of twisting things around in my head. I hate that I let him do that. That I let him come between me and Shaw. I pushed my brother away, lashed out at him cruelly, and now, I don’t know how to fix it.”
From the things Theo had learned about Gretchen’s brother through her comments, he suspected her fix would be as simple as a phone call. “You can fix it. I’ll help you figure out how.”
She smiled sadly. “I miss him.”
“I’m sure you do.” Theo gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You’re not alone anymore.”
He started to pull away, but Gretchen stopped him, gripping the front of his shirt.
Theo narrowed his eyes, studying her face.
“Please kiss me,” she whispered.
Theo placed a soft kiss on her lips, but he didn’t seek to deepen it. She was emotionally fragile right now, in need of comfort. Nothing else.
“I guess you understand now why you and I aren’t a good idea,” she murmured. “I’m a mess.”
“There’s not a single part of you that’s a mess.”
Her grin this time was bigger as she rolled her eyes. “You said that about me being ugly, too.”
“Applies to both.”
She snickered. “Even you have to admit I’m not normal.”
“You’re right. You’re not. You’re extraordinary. Resilient, brave, strong. God, you could never be anything as lame and boring as normal.”
Gretchen stared at him, blinking back tears. “Every time I manage to stop crying, you say something wonderful and all, of sudden, I’m a blubbering idiot again.”
Theo ran his fingers through her hair, then brushed his thumbs under her eyes, capturing the wetness there. “Should we get off this hard floor?”
She huffed out a breathy laugh. “Not sure I can. I’m too stiff. I might live here now.”
Theo chuckled, rising, then reaching down to help her to her feet.
Gretchen picked up her phone, hesitating. “I can’t go back to Edith’s tonight. Not if there’s a chance…”
“That’s okay,” Theo said. “Because I can’t let you go there. I won’t sleep tonight if I’m not somewhere nearby to protect you. Please don’t ask me to.”
She released a sigh of relief. “I won’t.”
“The B&B is full this week.” Fall was their busy season, as city dwellers escaped to the mountain to enjoy the foliage. “You could stay with the girls if you wanted, but…” Theo paused a moment, then said what he wanted to say. “I’d prefer it if you stayed with me and my brothers. You can have Levi’s old room. It’s down the hall from mine. I need to know you’re safe.”
“Safe and sound,” she murmured to herself, and he recalled the song they danced to on Halloween.
Their song.
Theo clasped hands with her, the two of them walking along the path that led from the brewhouse to the farmhouse he shared with his brothers. They’d installed solar lights along all the main paths on the farm, so it was easy to make their way through the trees.
When they arrived, Theo was unsurprised to find all six of his brothers, Levi included, sitting in the living room. He wasn’t sure where Kasi was. Most likely she was with the girls at their place.
“Everything good?” Levi asked.
“All good,” Theo wrapped his arm around her shoulders, tucking her close as he replied for them. Gretchen’s head remained bowed as she tried to hide the fact she’d been crying.