Her heart raced, but Natalie slowed down as she walked into the living area holding the bottle in her hand. “Wine?”
The redhead with green eyes and slim build stopped near the entrance and crossed her arms while she stared at Natalie. “So this is your new fiancée?”
Natalie hesitated with the wine bottle in her grip. Did she go and introduce herself with a title this time?
Galen then opened the door and pointed outside, “Alison, it’s time for you to go.”
Alison took a step forward, but she glared at Natalie and said, “You seem nice. Why would you marry Galen with his problems concerning love and how he puts family above any woman?”
Galen walked Alison backward until the woman was on the porch and then he shut the door in her face.
Right. Natalie’s heart beat in her chest warning that a storm brewed, so she walked toward the glasses in the living room and put the wine down. He came beside her and opened the bottle with an opener and poured.
Her heart continued its thunderstorm activity. Galen handed her a glass of wine and finally she asked, “What did she mean, Galen?”
Galen rolled his shoulders like he needed to release tension in his body. He then clinked his glass with hers, and sipped from his glass. “I don’t want to talk about her. Let’s relax. Which wine did you get?”
He turned the bottle over and read the words. Natalie took a drink and it was sweet, but she had no idea which kind she’d chosen as it was in French. “Yes, I thought we could try this one?”
He put the bottle down and placed his hand on her back. “Excellent choice. Let’s get some fruit and relax on the patio.”
True. Right now this wasn’t about her. Galen had just survived another bombshell. She put her glass down and hugged his waist. “You seem stressed my love. I’m sorry I left you alone. I liked that you supported my religious decision right from the beginning when I told you my feelings. Your support meant everything.”
“You’re one of the good ones, Natalie. I’ve known that about you from the get go.”
She rested her head on his shoulder and neither one of them said anything for a few minutes.
She listened to his steady pulse which calmed her too.
But then he picked up her hand, kissed the back of it and pointed them toward a couch near the back patio. She picked up her wine and followed him. Once she sat next to him, Galen patted her knee and said, “We need to talk.”
Curious. She adjusted in her seat and sipped her wine. Galen’s entire body seemed stiff. Whatever this was clearly hurt him and it probably had to do with Alison’s news. She put her glass down once she swallowed. “Okay, about what?”
Galen didn’t move a muscle but his brown hues were hypnotizing and full of stormy emotion. “Love, or the female thinking about the emotion.”
Her body tensed and she turned toward him as she leaned forward. Seriously, had she just heard that? She asked, “Female thinking? I’m all ears.”
He swallowed. “It’s my mother and father. Perhaps yours were different, but my parents were anything but normal.”
Okay. This wasn’t about the bombshell that Alison had detonated but something else. Apprehensive, she said, “Your mother is awfully sweet.”
He nodded and smiled though it didn’t show off his dimples. “She is and she likes you.”
Right. She picked up her wine and sipped it again. She then put it down, knowing she was delaying his words. “That’s good.”
He shook his head and his gaze became glassy, like he was reliving the past instead of being here with her now. “The issue we have islove. My mother cried her eyes out every day because my father left her and every time he came back, she cried because she loved him.”
Natalie gave him a soft tap on the arm. She couldn’t imagine that pain and said in a quiet voice, “That sounds hard.”
Galen pressed his lips together for a while and said nothing. He glanced out at the sunset and gave her a heavy nod. Finally a single shoulder shrugged like something broke inside him. He turned toward her. “She’s even forgiven him for kidnapping Catherine when we were children—because she almost left him once.”
Nothing she could say would distract him from that pain. She had an ache in her throat like she needed to help him, but all she could do was wish that he wasn’t hurting. She then kept her gaze on the sunset as well to not push him. “How do you forgive that?”
A mocking single syllable laugh escaped his throat. “She said we shouldn’t judge the dead.”
Oh. She wasn’t certain what to say because she’d never had to face that much pain, not really. She lightly touched Galen’s shoulder. “Maybe she’s more trying to move on with her life.”
He took her hands in his and pressed them to his knee as he stared into her eyes. “Look, every time you say you love me, I keep thinking about the highs and lows, and how she’d lock herself in her room for days and not check on any of us.”
