He loved her. The truth of it pounded at his temples, insisting he acknowledge it. More, that he accept it as the core of his being. As hard as he’d fought it, she’d inveigled her way into his heart with her gentle ways, her quick intelligence and her unreserved passion. And he had sent her away. A deep-seated ache penetrated his chest.
He reached for the phone on his desk once more.
Somehow he had to right the wrongs he’d done her. Somehow, he had to find a way to make her stay.
“Reeny-bean, are you there?”
Rina straightened from the dryer where she was untangling the clean sheets and bedcover in readiness to remake the bed. She dropped everything and ran to the front door of the cottage. Apprehension over what her sister was going to say to her confession flew in the face of her initial joy at seeing her twin again.
Tears flowed freely down her face as they hugged one another tight. It felt far longer than a month had passed since Rina had last seen her sister at Isla Sagrado’s airport. So much had happened.
“I’ve got so much to tell you!” they both blurted at the same time, then laughed through their tears.
“You first,” said Sara. “Is everything okay?”
They walked, hand in hand, into the sitting-room area and sat together on the sofa there. Rina swallowed against the fear in her throat. Sara would understand why she’d done what she’d done. She had to.
“I did the worst thing, Sara. I fell in love with him. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to. I fought it all the way, but—”
“You fell in love with Rey?” Sara interrupted, her voice pitched high in disbelief. “How? Why?”
“I don’t know. It just happened. But he worked out who I was a couple of weeks ago. He’s been playing me along ever since.” She drew back from her sister and squared her shoulders before meeting concerned gray eyes the mirror of her own. “I slept with him, Sara. I’m so sorry. I broke every promise we ever made to one another. I just…” She shook her head and began to sob anew. “He doesn’t want me—he’s basically banished me from Isla Sagrado.”
“It’s okay.” Sara pulled Rina into her arms and hugged her tight, stroking her hair like she had when they were younger and Rina had borne the brunt of their parents’ anger for one thing or another. “Really, it’s okay. I broke our promises first by making you do what I did. I don’t love Rey, I never did. I accepted his proposal for all the wrong reasons and I should never have done it. And I never should have asked you to step in for me, to keep a relationship alive that I wasn’t even sure I wanted. It wasn’t fair to him, to me or to you. I should have been honest with him from the start. You were so right, Reeny-bean. I wish I’d been truthful with you when you arrived here, even if it would only have saved you from being so hurt.”
They sat and rocked together until Rina’s sobs quieted.
“He’s so angry.” Rina said when she could speak again.
“I know, I’ve never seen him so distant before.”
“You’ve seen him?” Rina pulled away from her sister’s arms. “When?”
“Before I came here. I owed him the truth about why I went away. I owe it to you, too. The truth is, I met someone a few months ago, during a tournament in France. We fell in love and he wanted to marry me, but I couldn’t. It was just all so fast, so intense, you know? And we were already competing against one another in the tournaments. All I could think about was how fierce Mum and Dad were about beating one another at everything they did, how horrid they made themselves feel when one or the other won. I didn’t want that to happen to me. So when I got here and met Rey and he was so different, it was a relief to just let myself think we could make a go of things. When he asked me to get engaged, of course I said yes. I figured that when we married, life would just be more of the same. There was no spark, no fierce need, no impatience to be better than him.
“But then I found out I was expecting Paul’s baby, and I knew I couldn’t avoid the truth any longer. I love Paul, and I realized what an idiot I’d been. Of course I’d hurt him so badly when I left him that I had some serious roads and bridges to rebuild. But he’s accepted my apology. He still loves me and wants me to be his wife.”