personalities. Then Harper met Dare and she’d changed. Not in a bad way, but the protective shell around her heart had melted. Trent didn’t like to think about it, but most of his cousins had changed as they found love. They were happier, lighter, and more comfortable with who they were. Trent was envious because as they talked about love, he knew he’d felt it once and then lost it all in one night.
“Trent,” Harper said, getting his attention again. “You’ve never backed down from anything. You were the first one to enter a fight to protect any one of us. You never quit chasing your dreams even when every roadblock possible was thrown at you. So why are you backing down now? Let me guess, because I have some experience—it’s scary as hell. When I started the bar, it was scary to invest everything I had in it. What did you tell me?”
Dammit. Harper did know him well. “The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.”
Harper grinned. “That’s putting it nicely. I remember something along the lines of ‘grow a pair’”
“I’ll think about talking to her, okay?” Trent finally relented.
“You know you taught me that trick.”
“What trick?”
“The one where you promise to think about it but not do it.”
Trent winked at her and shot the rest of his bourbon. He could promise to think about it since thinking of Skye was all he’d been doing since California.
“Here, Ellery. Will this help?” Georgina asked as she put a Shirley Temple in front of her with extra cherries. Ellery promptly burst into a new round of tears over the nice gesture.
The door opened and Skeeter walked in wearing oversized jeans and a sweatshirt two sizes too big for his frame. He looked around, shuddered, and narrowed his eyes at Ellery. “Miss Ellery, you’ve done scared the ghosts out of here with your caterwauling.”
Everyone sucked in a breath and stared in horror as Ellery froze. Then her lips parted and a laugh burst out. “Y’all, I am so sorry. Gavin said it’d get better the farther along I get.”
Gavin leaned back and tried to look innocent. That caused the rest of them to laugh. Tinsley asked about the baby, the married couples looked at each other as if having a silent discussion about babies, and Ryker poked his head back in. He returned to the table when he saw the tears were gone.
His family and friends talked all around him, but Trent didn’t hear them. They’d given him his space when he’d gotten back from California, never expecting what had happened there. It was another matter when Karri arrived. Then the questions had started, though only his brother, Wade, knew the full truth. That probably meant that Darcy did, too. For that matter, they all probably did but had the good manners not to mention it.
“The women have a point,” Wade said as Darcy joined in talking about baby things. “You know that the media can take an innocent picture and flash a fake headline on it. The only way you’ll know for sure is to talk to Skye.”
“I agree,” Ryker said on Trent’s other side.
Trent’s eyebrow rose in surprise. “You do? The man who has shut himself off from every personal attachment since that night—”
“I told you never to bring that up,” Ryker snapped.
“Exactly my point. It’s a ‘do as I say, not as I do’ situation. I don’t see you moving on and taking a risk with your heart.”
Wade clamped his mouth shut and sat back as if Ryker just might explode.
“What do I care if she’s the love of your life and you’re too scared to go after her?” Ryker tossed back his drink and stood up to leave.
“I’ll remind you of that someday,” Trent said as he looked up at Ryker.
“There’s a difference. I’ll never have that opportunity. But you do and you’re too chicken to go after it.”
Ryker strode angrily from the bar and Trent was left with Wade’s he has a good point shrug. So what if he had a good point? It’s right there in black and white—Skye had moved on. But what if she hadn’t? The voice in his head grew louder the more he tried to ignore it. He’d been hurt and he’d been angry. He’d been betrayed. Could he even afford to recognize the little glimmer of hope that began to take root in his heart?
2
“Has he responded?” Karri asked as she and Skye sat by the pool.