Shamus didn’t move. “You made Gemma cry.”
“I know,” Colin said, “and I regret it. I thought it would be better if Jean’s uncle heard that I’d broken up with Gemma. I was afraid . . . am still afraid that . . .” For a moment he looked at her and his eyes held hers. All that he felt—and feared—was there for her to see. “I won’t do it again,” he said, and there was promise in his voice.
Shamus flipped his drawing pad closed and got off the wagon.
Colin followed, and they stood at the end, both of them lifting their arms up to Gemma to help her down. She went to Shamus and he swung her down to stand beside him on the side away from Colin.
“How long will it be before you forgive me?” Colin asked.
“I have no idea,” Gemma said. “Tris and I will talk about it.”
When Colin groaned, Shamus grinned. “She should never let you off the hook,” he said.
Colin took a breath. “I’ll work hard to make that statement untrue,” he said, looking at Gemma, then he lifted his head. “Little brother, I’m taking you home and after I make sure you call Mom and Dad and tell them you’re sorry for worrying them, I’m taking Gemma to my house and I’m going to start begging. Pleading. Whatever I have to do to get her to forgive me.”
Shamus nodded. “You should listen to her. She has a lot to tell you.”
“And I want to hear every word,” Colin said.
Gemma didn’t dare look at Shamus for fear that her face would give away her secret. Whereas Colin was talking about one thing, she was sure Shamus was referring to the baby. As Gemma kept her eyes on Colin, she knew she wasn’t going to easily get over her hurt. The things he’d said about her and Tris still rang in her head. There needed to be some big changes between them.
As for Gemma, she was going to have to give up some of her own independence. They needed to become a team, not two individuals who came together when their paths happened to cross.
Shamus and Colin were watching her, waiting for her reply.
Her eyes were on Colin’s. “I think we need to do a great deal of talking.”
“I agree,” he said, and they left the warehouse.
27
COLIN WAS WAITING for Gemma when she pulled into the carport of the guesthouse. As soon as they were inside, he turned to her.
“I made mistakes,” he said. “I should have explained about Jean from the beginning. And I should have told her about you the day after I met you. I shouldn’t have been jealous of you and Tristan. I shouldn’t—”
He broke off because Gemma reached up and put her fingertips over his lips. “If it’s going to work between us, I need to know what’s going on. I need to know where I stand. I can’t take spending a glorious day with you then the next knowing you’re with Jean. I really need to know what I am to you.”
Colin put his hand on the side of her face. “I love you,” he said softly. “It’s taken me a while to realize it, but I love you.”
The pain of Colin’s accusations was too fresh for Gemma to say the words back to him. Maybe it was because of her love of research, but she needed to hear facts. “I want to know what you’ve been doing. The town knows you’ve been with Jean, and I’m tired of the looks of pity.”
“Fair enough,” he said and they sat down on the couch together. Colin began the long story of everything he’d found out on his trip to D.C. and what he’d managed to get from Jean.
“I still don’t know what the man is after,” Colin said, “and Jean says she doesn’t know.”
The sun came up and they were still talking.
“You won’t leave me out again?” Gemma asked.
“Never,” Colin said as he kissed her.
They made love, sweetly and gently, and Colin told her how the thought of losing her had nearly driven him insane. “I’ve never felt this way before,” he said. “All I can think of is that I want to talk to you, be with you. I’ve spent my life alone. Even when I’m with my family and through all the years I was with Jean, I felt that I was alone. But when I’m with you . . .”
“I know,” she whispered, her head on his bare chest. “I feel the same way. I love you, Colin. I think I have since I saw you standing in the doorway. I don’t know what I would have done if your mother hadn’t given me the job.”
“I would have gone after you.”
She raised her head to look at him. “And leave your beloved Edilean? Ha!”