She leaned against her dad. “I’ve messed everything up, Daddy. I don’t know what to do. I’ve hurt Erin, and now I’ve hurt Owen. And then he hurt me back.”

  He put his arm around her. It took him a while to say anything, which was typical of her dad, who was always one to ponder his words before speaking.

  “Owen—you love him, yes or no?”

  This time, despite the painful argument they’d just had, she didn’t hesitate. “Yes, I do.”

  “Why didn’t you say so in there?”

  “I don’t know, Dad. I think all the pressure, everyone staring at me. I was scared. I didn’t want to hurt Erin more than I already have.”

  “Does he love you?”

  “I think he does.”

  “Hmm.”

  He went quiet again, but she didn’t mind. It was enough that her dad was there with her, giving her the comfort she so desperately needed.

  “Your sister has always had big feelings,” he said.

  “I know.”

  “But that doesn’t mean your feelings don’t matter, cara, because they do. Being the youngest doesn’t mean you aren’t important. You matter just as much as Erin. I don’t want you to ever forget that.”

  Her heart swelled with love for her dad. She threw her arms around him and hugged him close. “Grazie, Papa.”

  “Now, you have to figure out how to make peace with your sister, and tell Owen you love him.”

  She pulled her knees to her chest. “I don’t know how to fix all of this.”

  He grasped her chin in his hand. “You have always been the peacemaker. You’ll find a way.”

  After her dad left, she thought about it, wondering why it was up to her to fix everything when she wasn’t the only one who’d broken it.

  Okay, that was only partially true. Her fight with Erin was on both Honor and her sister. But with Owen? Yes, she’d definitely wrecked that relationship mostly by herself, and it was on her to repair it. If that was even possible.

  They’d both said things to each other that hurt. And he hadn’t chosen her, hadn’t stayed to fight with her. Instead, he’d walked away. Again.

  But still, she was in love with him. And even though that idea scared the hell out of her, her feelings weren’t going to change.

  So now what was she supposed to do?

  CHAPTER

  thirty-three

  OWEN WAS CLEANING out the chicken coop when he heard a truck pull up out front. Bettie let him know they had company by using her official vicious bark. She was a marshmallow, but at least she sounded mean. He pulled the rag from his back pocket to wipe his hands and headed through the backyard to check things out. By then Jason was already in the yard petting Bettie.

  “Some guard dog you are,” he said to Bettie.

  Jason laughed, then stood. “She also led me right to you. All while wagging her tail.”

  Owen looked down at Bettie, who was currently on her back, wagging her tail, begging for belly rubs. “Yeah she’s a hell of a watchdog. Come on inside and we’ll get something cold to drink.”

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Jason followed him into the house, along with his traitorous dog. After Owen washed his hands, he got some iced tea out of the fridge and poured two glasses, handing one to Jason, who was currently sitting at the table, leaning over to examine Bettie’s ears. Bettie looked up at Jason with something along the lines of adoration on her face.

  “Can’t turn off the veterinarian mode, can you?”

  Jason looked up at him. “Hey, I was just petting her.”

  “Uh-huh. So, how are her ears?”

  “Clean. You’re doing a great job with her.”

  “You had any doubt?”

  “No. But I do like to check.”

  Jason was an excellent vet, one of the many things he liked about his friend. “You’re a good guy. And I appreciate how much you care about Bettie.”

  “Hey, thanks. Speaking of caring, and friendship and all that shit, I have a serious question to ask you.”

  Owen took a seat at the table. “Okay, shoot.”

  “It’s about Erin.”

  “All right.”

  He paused, and Owen could tell it was taking some time for Jason to come up with the right words.

  “Hey, buddy,” Owen said, figuring that maybe he should be the one to start. “We’ve been friends for almost our whole lives. There isn’t anything you can say to me that’ll change that.”

  Jason nodded. “Okay. Do you have any unresolved feelings for Erin?”

  He leaned back. “No. Not at all. Why?”

  “I don’t know.” Jason dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’m trying to figure out where all this shit with Erin has come from. You know, her being pissed off about you and Honor being together. And she keeps telling me she doesn’t want Honor to get hurt. But I think it’s more than that. I think the majority of it has to do with you.”

  “With me?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know if she still has feelings for you that she can’t talk to me about, or if it’s something else. But she won’t speak to me about it. So I thought I’d start with you and see if there was anything you felt.”

  He leaned forward. “I’ll tell you right now, Jason, that I am one hundred percent in love with Honor. Erin is part of my past. I don’t feel anything for her other than friendship.”

  Jason blew out a breath. “Okay, thanks. That’s good to know. I mean, I didn’t think there was anything between the two of you, but at the same time, I think there is, at least on Erin’s part.”

  “Do you doubt that she loves you?”

  “No. And she’s told me that over and over.”

  “And do you believe her?”

  “Yeah. But I still think there’s something in her head—maybe in her heart—that’s unresolved between the two of you.”

  “Then we need to resolve it, so the two of you can move on with your lives. Do you think it’ll hurt or help things if I go talk to her?”

  “At this point, I honestly don’t know, but we can’t keep fighting about you.”

  Owen nodded. “Then I’ll talk to her. If nothing else, maybe she’ll get pissed off at me and the two of you can get back on track.”

  Jason laughed. “Thanks. Let’s hope that’s not what happens.”

  “I do think it would be a good idea if you were there when we talked. That way you know exactly what’s on her mind.”

  “You’re probably right. Why don’t you drop by the house tonight? The brewery is closed, right?”

  “Yeah. Just text me and let me know what time.”

  “I’ll do that. Now, how are things going with you and Honor?”

  He was hoping that topic wouldn’t come up. “They’re not. We broke up. Or at least I think we did.”

  Jason gave him a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry, man. But you love her, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “So, fix it.”

  “I don’t think it’s that simple.”

  “It never is. But if you love her, you don’t want to lose her, right?”

  “Right. But I hurt her.”

  “Exactly. So you both hurt each other. One of you needs to swallow your pride and take the first step.”

  Owen blew out a breath. “Yeah. You’re right. Thanks, man.”

  “Hey,” Jason said with a half shrug. “I’m always right. If only my wife knew that.”

  Owen laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure she doesn’t buy into that line of bullshit.”

  “You got that right.”

  After Jason left, Owen went back to working outside. But thoughts of Erin crept into his head. He knew she didn’t have feelings for him. They’d settled that long ago, back when he’d confessed the reason he’d bailed on their wedding. They’d had long conversations while he’d been undergoing cancer treatments and he was confident that they’d covered everything.

  But maybe he’d missed something, and he owed it to Erin to let her talk it through. And maybe then she could finally put the past away.

  Even more importantly, he needed to talk to Honor, and that was going to take some thinking and planning. Because he couldn’t just rush over to her house and blurt out that he loved her. That wasn’t going to be enough. He’d hurt her, and he had to tell her all the reasons why. And then some serious groveling would be in order, because she was right. He had walked away, and she deserved better than that.

  Now he had to prove to her that despite all his flaws, he was still the right man for her.

  But one thing at a time, and the first thing on his list was fixing the situation with Erin.

  After he finished up with the yard work and the animals, he did chores like laundry and paying bills, then cleaned up and went to the grocery store. It had been a good, productive day, which he’d needed to get his mind off what was coming tonight.

  Jason had texted and told him to come over around eight, so he grilled some chicken breasts and made a salad, watched sports for a while, then took Bettie out for a wander around the property before it was time to head over to Jason and Erin’s house.

  It was hot and humid and his shirt was sticking to him, which didn’t do much to help his confidence, but he figured he was going to let Erin do the talking anyway. He went up to the door and rang the bell.

  Jason answered. “Thanks for coming.”

  “Thanks for inviting me.”

  He stepped in and followed Jason to the living room, where Erin had her legs curled up on the sofa while she was watching TV. When she saw him, she frowned. “What are you doing here?”

  “I invited him,” Jason said. “It’s time you two talk.”

  She lifted her chin and glared at Jason. “Owen and I don’t have anything to talk about.”

  Jason sat on the ottoman in front of the sofa and took Erin’s hands. “I actually went to Owen today and asked him if he still had feelings for you, because I’m so damn worried about us.”

  Erin sat up. “What? Why would you do that?”

  “Because I keep asking you over and over again what’s bothering you about Honor and Owen being together, and you won’t give me a straight answer. And I think you have some residual feelings for Owen. I want you two to talk it out so we can move forward with our lives.”

  Owen hung in the background, feeling embarrassingly like a voyeur into what should have been a very private conversation between husband and wife. And when he saw tears shimmer in Erin’s eyes, he knew he’d hit the mark about him being involved somehow.

  “Fine,” she said. “Owen and I will talk. But you’ll stay, okay?”

  He took her hand. “Yeah, I’ll stay.”

  Jason looked up at Owen and nodded, so he came forward. Jason got up and sat next to Erin, and Owen took the spot on the ottoman where Jason had been sitting.

  “There’s nothing you can say to me that I haven’t already thought about myself, Erin,” he said. “But there’s no reason to take it out on Honor, if I’m the one you’re pissed at.”

  She sighed. “Honestly, Owen, I just don’t know. My reaction to seeing you two together made me red-hot angry.”

  “Let me make a suggestion. Maybe it’s me you’re mad at, because you never got the chance to express that anger when I was sick.”

  She started to say something, then cocked her head to the side and just stared at him.

  “Babe,” Jason said. “You okay?”

  She reached over and patted Jason’s leg. “Yes, I’m fine. You know, Owen, you might be on to something there. We had talked so much when you were sick, and I thought we had resolved everything. Everything but how utterly pissed off I was about you dumping me and disappearing just days before our wedding.”

  Now they were getting somewhere. Now her real feelings were coming out. “Which was a total dick move.”

  “Yes, it was. How could you do that to me? You said you loved me, and even if things between us hadn’t been ideal, we had been friends since childhood. You don’t treat someone you care about that way. I’m so mad at you for that, Owen. You hurt me.”

  “I know. I’m so sorry, Erin. What I did was shitty and reprehensible, and no one who claims to care about someone should ever do that.”

  “You’re right. They shouldn’t. You shouldn’t have. Even a phone call would have been better than that lame-ass email you sent me. You were a coward and a bastard and I hated you.”

  Whoa. It was really coming out now, but she had every right to let him have it, so he was going to sit there and take it.

  “I’m so sorry. You’re right. It’s an unforgivable offense and I offer up no excuses other than what I told you that day we talked. I was afraid and consumed with dealing with treatment. I didn’t think of you or my family or anything other than trying to survive. Which is no excuse for the way I treated you. I should have respected you enough to tell you the truth.”

  “Yes, you should have. Even if we had broken up right then, at least I would have known what was going on, instead of thinking there was something wrong with me.”

  “It was never you. It was me. All me.”

  “You broke my heart. And falling in love with Jason doesn’t erase that.”

  “No, it doesn’t. And I will always feel awful for the way I handled it.” He dragged his fingers through his hair, inhaled a deep breath, those old feelings of guilt wrapping themselves tightly around him again, making it hard for him to breathe. But Erin had every right to express herself. “You have no idea how often thoughts of what I did—how I handled things—creep into my head. I still carry a lot of guilt for how I treated you, how I ended things between us. I don’t have regrets about any part of my past except for that. If I could have one do-over in my life, it would be the way we broke up. I’m so sorry, Erin. I will always feel like shit about that.”

  She almost smiled. “That makes me feel marginally better.”

  “Good.”

  She shifted to face Jason. “And I’m sorry for letting you think for one second that you aren’t the absolute love of my life. You are my one and only love, the only man I want to raise a family with. You have my entire heart, Jason.”

  Jason leaned over and kissed her, and Owen stared out the window, giving them that moment.

  “Okay,” Erin said. “Thanks, Owen. I needed to get that out.”

  “You deserved to let it out and I’m sorry it took this long.”

  She shuddered out an exhale. “When I saw you with Honor, I was angry. Not because I was jealous or had feelings for you, but angry, and I didn’t know where it was coming from. Now I know, of course, but before, I didn’t. And then in my mixed-up head I thought I was trying to protect Honor, hoping the two of you would fail so you couldn’t hurt her. And I’m sorry about that, because it was wrong.”

  She shook her head. “Oh, God. I have got to talk to my sister. I’ve really messed things up with her. And so have you, Owen.”

  “Yeah, I need to talk to her, too.”

  “Aren’t we doing family dinner tomorrow night at your parents’?” Jason asked.

  “Yes.” Erin looked over at Owen. “Please come to dinner. We’ll both talk to Honor.”

  “I don’t know. I don’t think I’m very welcome at your family’s place right now.”

  “You let me take care of that,” Erin said. “Please say you’ll come.”

  It could work in his favor. Maybe she wouldn’t throw him out if he could get Erin on his side. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

  He got up and so did Erin. And then she hugged him.

  When she pulled back, she said, “Owen, I forgive you. Let’s put the past where it belongs, and leave it there for good.”

  “I’d like that.”

  “I’d for sure like that,” Jason said.

  Erin went over and leaned against Jason. “Only the future now, babe.”

  “For sure.”

  Owen was so happy for his friends, and happy to finally be free of the pain and guilt over what he’d done to Erin. Now he could move on. And moving on meant a future with Honor. If she’d forgive him.

  He’d find out tomorrow night.

  CHAPTER

  thirty-four

  HONOR HAD SPENT the entire workday locked in her office, avoiding contact with her family. If she didn’t have to see or talk to anyone, then she wouldn’t have to fight with anyone. And right now, all she craved was some peace. Fortunately, everyone had left her alone, with the exception of Mae, but Mae wasn’t pissed at her, so that was okay.

  She looked up when she heard Mae’s knock on the door and called out for her to come in.

  Mae slid her laptop down on the desk. “Are you going to hide in here all day, or come out for air sometime?”

  “I’ll leave the office. Eventually.”

  “Erin’s in a good mood today. Just FYI.”

  She looked through her office doors to where Erin sat talking on the phone. She was actually smiling, which Honor hadn’t seen lately. “She’s probably in a good mood because she hasn’t had to see me.”

  Mae frowned. “I don’t think that’s it. And you two are going to have to talk eventually.”

  “Will we, though? I have a very comfortable office, and she usually goes home by six.”

  “Not tonight, though. Brenna reminded me it was family dinner night and asked if I’d stay. And Erin said she was looking forward to dinner, and Jason was going to be there, too.”

  Crap. Honor loved family dinner. There was always a huge spread, and Louise had told her they were having a seafood boil tonight. Which meant crab and shrimp and potatoes and corn on the cob. Plus, homemade bread. Honor’s stomach was already growling just thinking about it.

  The hell with it. She wasn’t going to let Erin or anyone in the family keep her from enjoying one of her favorite meals.