Page 200 of Severed Heart

More unease snakes further into me after I enter the back door and head toward the kitchen, catching a muffled exchange before I’m stopped by the two of them facing off. Tobias stands in business dress, sleeves rolled up, at the counter where he appears to becooking.Cecelia stands equally postured up, glaring at him from where she stands on the other side of the island. Feeling as though I’ve stepped on a landmine, I address my taskmaster first.

“All good,” I tell T, and he dips his chin. Just after, I turn and focus on Cecelia, who looks freshly showered and gorgeous in a sundress. Deciding to utilize the moment to my advantage, I stalk toward her. “Look at you”—I flash her a grin—“you only get more beautiful.”

Her lit expression at the sight of me dims considerably with hurt and anger as I near. Seeing it, I stop just short of her and speak the truth. “I’ve missed you, girl.”

She crosses her arms in contempt. “Oh,now I exist. How convenient.”

I blow out an exhale. “I know you’re angry—”

“Angry,” she huffs, “that’s putting it mildly.”

“Cee,” I draw out, hoping she hears the regret in my voice as she shakes her head to refute it.

“Don’t bother. What are you doing here?”

“Errands,” I admit regretfully, feeling T watching our exchange curiously from feet away as Cecelia turns to glare at him. It’s when I feel the energy bouncing between them that I start to confirm my suspicions. There’s pure contempt emanating from them both, but there’s also some undeniable chemistry as well. Deciding that I will be fucking exiting stage left to spare myself from laying witness to whatever’s happening, I toss a thumb over my shoulder. “I guess ... I guess I’ll head out.”

Tobias speaks up. “I’ll get with you later.”

“All right, man,” I say before looking back at Cee, hesitant to leave her. We got close in our short time together last summer, and I’ve felt the burn of her absence since we were forced apart. As I stand idle, I marvel at the difference in both our lives from then to now. Mine especially. Just once, I wish I could fucking relay the secret I’ve been forced to keep. That I haven’t missed a day of her pain. That I’ve been with her every day of it, even if she couldn’t see or feel me. It’s one of the most fucked costs of being in my position. Of being a watcher.

Opting to relay what I safely can, I give her useless words that I mean. “It was good to see you, Cee.”

Turning due to the resentment I feel, every step increases the sting of leaving her this way as she calls after me, increasing it with her question.

“Was it you?” I look back to see her glaring at Tobias, whose jaw ticks before she shifts her focus back to me. “You promised to be there for me, to have my back. I considered you a friend.”

“I do have your back,” I relay instantly. “Always will.”

It’s the evident pain in her ocean blues that makes the decision for me.

Fuck this.

Stalking back toward her, I take her hand, ignoring the blazing amber eyes drilling into my profile from feet away. “And I am your friend,” I assure her, glancing toward Tobias and relaying in that brief exchange what an asshole he is before I turn back to give her more truth. “No, Cee, it wasn’t me, andtrust me, I’m paying for it.”

It’s when her eyes soften substantially that I know she takes my words as truth. “I know it wasn’t,” she relays shakily. “I’m so fucking mad at you.”

“I know,so is he.” I jerk my chin toward T, knowing he’s weighing every word of our exchange as I lean in and press a kiss to her cheek. “I’m sorry,” I utter sincerely before giving her words I’ve longed to since last summer. “And I just wanted to saythank you.”

Turning so she can’t question me why, more so because I don’t want T to know Cecelia’s responsible for uniting me with Delphine, I stalk out.

Heaviness and dread cloak me, shadowing my every step as the mental timer I set days ago starts to tick louder. The sinking feeling staying with me long after I exit Roman’s house, softly closing the back door.

Chapter Fifty-Four

TYLER

BLINK.

Delphine and I sway in the free-standing hammock I put together today at the side of the house, which grants the most optimal view of the hillside next to it. As we settle in for our nightly show and the sun starts its descent, I hold her a little tighter than usual. It’s been a little over a week since her scan and bloodwork, and since, I’ve all but terrorized the Blue Ridge staff and her oncologist at this point in demanding the results back.

Especially after realizing how much weight she’s lost in the last three weeks. Something she didn’t mention, but I’ve been vigilant about monitoring since she got her first clear scan.

It’s the fear of what the sudden shift might mean that’s had me glued to her side day and night. The fact that there is a one- to two-week fucking wait for imaging results for someone who might be or has been ill is fucking bullshit to me. You would think that after billions of dollars have been raised, donated, and spent for both treatment and cure, someone would, at the very least, have found a quicker route to get results.

The fact that it takes so fucking long for anyone that could be terminally ill to gain that life-changing information feels unbelievably and unnecessarily cruel.

I’ve been keeping us as busy as I can with tasks at the orchard, filling every minute with new memories, but tonight, my anxiety refuses to abate. I’m even more on edge because we only have a week before Dom and Sean’s homecoming. Until they discover what Delphine and I now know. That Tobias, too, has fallen for Cecelia Horner. And worse? She’s fallen for him. Not only that, but they’ve set up house at Roman’s.