He staggered into the doorway and ended up in a crumpled heap on the floor.
She didn’t offer to help him up and instead growled, ‘Go and sit in the lounge, Kendric. I’m making you some strong coffee.’
Once she’d made a pot of fresh coffee, she walked back to the living room to find Kendric slumped on the sofa.
She thrust a mug in his direction, angry at what she was being dragged into. ‘Drink this.’
He took the drink. ‘I had no one else in the village to turn to,’ he told her by way of explanation. ‘Everyone thinks of me as an outsider since I left. And those who don’t think that are too star-struck by me to want to listen to the fact I have issues too. But you… you’re an outsider too.’
‘You hardly know me. I don’t know why you felt it was okay to come here.’
He scowled up at her where she stood, arms folded defensively across her chest. He opened his mouth and gawped for a moment. ‘Wait, why are you mad? You don’t even know—’
‘That you slept with your brother’s wife and may be Evin’s father? Let’s say I had a hunch.’
His eyes widened and he covered his mouth with one hand. ‘Shit! How did you…? When did you…?’
‘I saw how you talked about her, aboutKate. The insults you doled out about her. It didn’t take a genius, Kendric.’ Anger spiked within her and she clenched her fists. ‘I just don’t know how the hell you could do something like that to your own brother!’
Suddenly, he seemed sober and lucid. He stared at the rug, a look of desolation in his eyes. ‘I wanted him to know what she wasreallylike. How she was using him and manipulating him, cheating on him with anyone and everyone.’
‘So, you slept with your own brother’s bloody wife? Oh yeah, you showed him all right! Good for you!’ she shouted; her whole body shook with fury as she paced up and down.
He put his mug down and sighed deeply, rubbing his hands over his face as his eyes welled with unshed tears. ‘I know how it makes me look.’
‘Like a total bastard? Like a man who shags his brother’s wife to prove a point?’
‘Jules! Please!’ he shouted. ‘I didn’t do it out of malice. I had no feelings for her. I never meant to hurt him. You have to believe me when I say that. Ilovehim. I’d never hurt him intentionally.’
Her nostrils flared and she clenched her jaw. ‘But you never told him. So how did you prove anything?’
‘I couldn’t. I was ashamed when I realised how stupid I’d been. So, I took the coward’s way out and moved away.’
‘What a waste of a brother’s trust. Was it worth it?’
‘Of course not. I was drunk when it happened. We were at a party, but Reid had gone home early due to a migraine. I promised to get Kate back safely. In my own twisted, alcohol-addled brain, I was helping. I know that sounds crazy. But I knew she wasn’t right for him. I wanted him to realise. But I screwed up. I’ve never been able to tell him and then… Then, she started talking about paternity… I thought he’d just know. But he doesn’t have a clue.’ A sob escaped his chest. ‘I know I have to tell him. I just don’t know how.’
Juliette sighed and ran her fingers through her already messed up hair. ‘You do know you’ll lose him, don’t you?’
He nodded and his chin trembled. ‘I know. And I know I don’t deserve him.’
‘And if Evin turns out to be yours?’
Kendric lifted his chin; tears escaped his pained eyes. ‘I have no idea.’
* * *
Juliette’s head was pounding from all the unwanted information she had acquired the night before. The aspirin hadn’t kicked in yet and she was already checking the clock for when she could take the next dose. She wondered what was going on back in Mistford, where life had been so simple; where she wasn’t dragged into family dramas that were nothing at all to do with her.
The museum was as busy as usual, and Hamish’s latest visit had made her want to cry. ‘I can’t believe it’s closing,’ he’d said, the heartbreak evident in his eyes. ‘I can’t believe my darling will be forgotten.’ His voice had broken, and she’d had to swallow the lump of emotion in her throat before she could speak.
She’d reached across the countertop and taken his hand. ‘She won’t be forgotten, Hamish. She’ll always be in your heart.’
He’d smiled, but his words had pierced her heart. ‘ButIwon’t be here forever. Then, who’ll remember her? She deserves to be remembered. Just as your Laurie deserves to be remembered.’ Once he’d gone, Juliette had closed the museum temporarily and returned to the house to compose herself.
Just after lunch, Caitlin burst into the museum, panting, out of breath. ‘You’ll never believe what’s happened!’
‘Good grief, Caitlin, are you okay?’
