Spring at Lake Grange by Eliza Bennetts

Author:Eliza Bennetts [Bennetts, Eliza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-25T05:00:00+00:00

20

Ethan wasn't stupid. Watching the video of Maria's brother and sister-in-law at their wedding reception had made things perfectly clear. If Hayley and Ethan opted to do things in the traditional way, having Maria as his best person would be problematic to say the least. Having a female as his best person would impact on the proceedings in ways he’d never imagined.

And yet, the idea of getting married without Maria with him felt about as close as he'd ever come to heartbreak.

Maria was everything to him. She was the sun in his galaxy, his guiding light. How could he do this without her?

She was looking at him, a sheepish smile spreading across her features. ‘I guess when I get married, I won’t be able to have you in my bridal party either. So, don’t feel too bad about it.’

Clearly, Maria had made the comment to comfort him. To help him understand that weddings were traditional, almost silly events. A procedure that mattered little in the scheme of things. She was trying to tell him not to worry.

But it must matter, this thing called a wedding, because the idea of Maria doing it, this wedding thing, with another man, someone other than himself, seemed to grab him by the throat and twist and pull until he had to gasp for breath.

Some days ago, Maria had described the thought of her brother living a lie was like imagining him trying to breathe underwater. Now, he knew exactly what she’d meant, how that felt. Watching Maria marry someone else would be just like trying to breathe underwater.

He tried to steady himself, and somehow, he still had the ability to talk. ‘I guess I need to speak to Hayley about it," he said.

It wasn't what he wanted to say. Not really. What he wanted to say; what he wanted to tell her, was the truth.

The truth—the facts as they were presenting themselves to him so clearly right at that moment.

He didn't want to marry Hayley. He didn't want to marry anyone. At least, not anyone who wasn't Maria. He wanted Maria, not Hayley.

As Maria would say, Fuck.

How could he make this known? How could he ignore the methods and processes that had served him so well? If he denied the life that looked good, a life of certainty, he would be risking safety.

So, he loved Maria. But what use had loving someone been to him in the past. It had been pain—physical and mental. It’d been anguish and betrayal and uncertainty. Love was fraught with danger.

He also knew she deserved someone who knew romance, who knew the world of love and could deliver without stuffing it up. That wasn't him. When it came to love, or emotion of any kind, he was a liability. There was no way he could bring the toxicity and poison that had grown in him since gestation, into her world.

Maria lived in a universe of love and family. Of homemade cake and polished furniture, of brothers and a sister who stood side-by-side no matter what.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.