Breathless_ Steel Brothers Saga - HELEN HARDT Page 0,28
I was off the clock for now. Though I was tempted to curl up with a good book and escape thoughts of Bryce Simpson, I decided instead to go into town. I’d take Jade’s advice and get back to the gym. I hadn’t gained any weight, but I was getting a little soft. Ryan’s wife, Ruby, had given me some pointers for my workouts. That woman had an amazing body, all toned and muscled but still beautifully feminine. In fact, maybe I’d give her a call and see if she wanted to accompany me. She’d quit the police force when they wouldn’t give her time off to go after her father, and though she was toying with opening up a PI business, she hadn’t yet. For now, she was helping Ry with the wine business.
I quickly dialed her cell, but she answered with a text that she was tied up in a meeting all morning. So much for that idea.
Off to the gym by myself, then. I grabbed my workout bag and headed out.
Holy smokes, was I out of shape! A half hour on the elliptical about did me in. I showered quickly, and changed, and then went next door to get a raspberry smoothie. I sat down at a small table and checked my phone, trying not to think about Bryce.
I wasn’t having much luck, until—
“Marjorie.”
A voice I recognized. I looked up. Colin Morse, Jade’s ex-fiancé, who I’d known since college, stood at the opposite end of my small table.
I swallowed. I had no idea what to say.
“Mind if I sit down?” he asked.
“Sure. Go ahead.” I avoided his gaze.
Colin had been held captive, tortured, and raped by Bryce’s father, Tom Simpson. Joe had rescued him, but Colin’s father, instead of being grateful, had threatened Joe with criminal charges, saying Colin was ready to name Joe as his captor.
Joe didn’t bite, however, and Colin came clean.
He hadn’t deserved his fate, but I was still pissed he was ready to blame my brother. Plus, he’d left Jade humiliated at the altar. I couldn’t turn him away, though. I’d never turn away a rape victim.
He sat down.
“What are you doing in Snow Creek?” I asked. This ought to be the last place on earth he’d be hanging out. He was abducted here, after a run-in with all three of my brothers.
“How’s Jade?” he countered.
So much for him answering my question.
“She’s good.” Did he know she was pregnant? I had no idea. None of his business anyway.
He sighed. “Do you know how many times I’ve thought about how much simpler my life would have been if I hadn’t chickened out the day of my wedding?”
Okay, this time I wasn’t holding back. “Look, Colin. I’m sorry for what you’ve been through. Truly I am. But if you think I’m going to let you off the hook for leaving my best friend totally humiliated, think again.”
“Still the same Marjorie Steel,” he said. “You don’t take shit from anyone.”
“Especially not people who hurt my friends.”
“I was your friend once.”
“Jade trumps you, I’m afraid.”
Then I felt like a horrible person. Maybe he was looking for someone to talk to. I wasn’t the right person, but I could at least be nice. Maybe suggest he get help. But first I needed to know why he was here.
“What are you doing here, Colin?”
He didn’t respond right away. Just took several sips of his green smoothie. It looked like pea soup in a clear plastic cup.
Yuck.
“Trying to help myself, so to speak,” he finally said.
“How?”
“By taking back my life. Facing the place where I was kidnapped.”
“How is that supposed to help you?”
“Hell if I know. It was my father’s idea.”
His father? The one who’d been ready to extort money from my brother? Great.
“Have you thought about getting some real help?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean seeing a therapist, Colin.”
He huffed. “My father says that’s only for cowards. Weaklings.”
Well, your father is a supreme douchebag. Seriously, it was on the tip of my tongue.
“So he thinks you should be helping yourself. Facing the music.”
“Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “In a manner of speaking.”
“In other words, ‘get over it.’ Right?”
He nodded.
His hair was growing out nicely. Tom had shaved his head. Colin had always been handsome, with blond hair and greenish eyes.
“Colin,” I said, “what exactly did your father think of you running out on Jade that day?”
“He told me I was a coward.”
Shocking.
“And were you?”
“Well…yeah.”
“You’re putting me in a weird position here,” I said. “I don’t want to give you an