“Did you want to stay to chat with your folks some more?” he asks with a raised brow.
“No, I just?—”
“I’m leaving too,” Bea blurts out.
“What?” Maeve whips her head to her while Noah does the same silently.
“Yeah. Tonight.” Her throat moves. “I bought a ticket yesterday.”
Noah’s brows draw together while he keeps his attention solely on her.Interesting. Is she the reason he wanted to stay here another day?
“Why?” Maeve asks.
“For the same reason you left. I should have done it a long time ago.”
“I—” Maeve looks around helplessly. “I can’t help you yet, but once I find a job, I can help you. Maybe you can wait a little bit?”
For some reason, her words make me angry. Why does she need a job? Why can’t she take my help? I’m her husband now for fuck’s sake.
“No.” Bea stops her with a raised hand. “I need to do it on my own.”
“Bea,” Maeve whispers. “It’s not that easy. We—” she clears her throat before continuing, “weren’t exactly prepared for this life. And it will take you a minute to adjust.”
Beatrice walks up to Maeve and takes her hand. “I know.But I need this.” She lowers her voice. “I need to find me, you know? Like you have.”
“I’m still searching,” my wife whispers back. “I mean, look at me now.” Her voice turns sad. Sad at the prospect of her ending upright here, married to me.
Her sister smiles and pulls her into a hug. I swear to God if Noah opens his mouth to throw a jab at Beatrice, I’ll punch him in the face. Suddenly, I feel very protective of that girl. Like she’s part of my family now. Well, technically she is. But it’s more. I think she means more to Maeve than either of them are willing to admit, so I’ll make sure Maeve always has her sister in her life. God knows I want to throttle my brother ninety percent of the time, but he’s my brother, and he always has my back.
Plus, Beatrice deserves it after letting me off the hook so gracefully. Yes, I heard them fighting, but all siblings do. And I’m sure it’s a little harder when one of the sisters takes someone’s groom. But they came together, and Beatrice has been standing by Maeve’s side since then. It’s changed my perspective. Maeve has changed a lot in this short time.
Beatrice whispers something into Maeve’s ear, gives her a squeeze, and lets go of her. Then she walks up to me with a determined look of an angry hamster. She stands in front of me, pushing her index finger into my chest.
“You, big guy, better take care of my sister. We’ve had shit for parents, so we’ve never known something good growing up. I don’t know what your story is, but you’d better not use her as a therapy tool. Otherwise, I’ll be coming for you.” She rises toward my face on her tippytoes. It doesn’t help much because she’s short, just like her sister. “Trust me, I’ve got some skills to make your life miserable if I need to.”
I want to laugh, but I don’t. So I just nod.
“You think I’m joking?”
Noah snorts.
Beatrice rolls her eyes and continues her threats. “You may laugh all you want, but I can find dirt on anyone.” She inches closer. “And I won’t be scared to use it.”
Fuck me, but at this moment, I believe her. So I nod again, more respectfully this time. She watches me with narrowed eyes for a few long seconds, before nodding back at me and walking away without giving us a spare look.
I glance at Maeve to make sure she’s okay. She’s smiling, looking proud. Well, that’s all I need.
I notice a dark cloud in my periphery: my brother. He looks like he’s about to blow, and I don’t recognize him once again. I know he can be a mean motherfucker when he wants to. But he’s never been like that about a woman—he’s usually very suave with women flying toward him like bees to honey.
I don’t have any doubts in my mind he’s this way because of Beatrice. Something happened between them. Something that made them both this way.
Something that madeusthis way too. Something we can’t quite name yet.
I shift my attention back to Maeve who’s still smiling. But now her attention is on Noah. She knows it too, and she seems to be okay with that. I guess that means I have to be okay with that too.
“Who’s Martin?” she asks suddenly. “I’ve heard the name a couple of times.”
“My assistant.”
