My chin quivered. “My Noah is the Noah Black who bought the Grove. He used me.”
Brooke's face went pale. Then red. Then pale again. Her mouth opened, and she worked it silently for a moment as she decided which emotion she wanted to feel first. She finally settled for shock as she stood up and wrapped her arms around me. We could be angry together later. That's why I loved Brooke. She was always there for me.
“Oh, Izzy,” she whispered in my ear as she hugged me close. Her hand ran down my hair to my back in a soothing, petting motion. “I'm so sorry.”
The words were still bitter in my mouth. My Noah was Noah Black... A heaviness descended on my soul. I had said it out loud and made it a reality. Until that moment I had hoped that it wasn't, that if I didn't say anything, by some sort of strange magic, it wouldn't be true. But it was. My Noah was the one who had bought the Grove. My Noah was the one who was going to destroy my research and dreams. And my Noah wasn't here because he loved me.
With Brooke's comforting arms around me and my world teetering on crumbling apart again, I started to cry. Brooke didn't say anything. She just held me close and rocked me gently, like a child. I cuddled into her, wishing I was still small enough that I could hide under my blankets and make the monsters disappear.
Sandcastle Kisses: Chapter 21
“Izzy doesn't want to see you.” Brooke's voice drifted through the open window and interrupted my nightmares. I was in the Grove running from a giant backhoe that was ripping it up. Noah sat in the driver's seat and laughed as he chased me. I was glad to wake up and find I was safe in my bed and not running and tripping on mangrove roots.
I sat up in the dim gray of twilight with a blanket tucked neatly around me. My face was crusty with tears, and my ribs ached from sobbing. My laptop was still open on Noah's Wikipedia page but set neatly on the desk. I must have fallen asleep crying, and Brooke had tucked me in and saved my computer from falling off the bed. I stood up and tiptoed through the living room to stand at the entrance of the kitchen.
Devon and Lucas were sitting stiffly on the couch pretending to read. They were doing a lousy job at it, though. Their ears were practically falling off their heads with how much they were straining to listen. I couldn't blame them. Devon flexed his fist a couple of times. At least I knew if I wanted Noah beat up, they would happily hold him down so I could hit him.
“Please, I just want to see her. She just left this morning and won't pick up her phone. I just want to make sure she's okay.” It was Noah's voice. Just hearing it made my whole body hurt.
“Okay?” Brooke sneered. “You sold her out. She had her heart wrapped up in the Grove, and you stole it from her to make
it into something she'll hate!”
“I didn't know!” he shouted back.
Brooke made an exasperated noise. “Right, sure you didn't. You need to leave.”
“Please,” he begged. “I just need to talk to her. Just for a minute.”
I went to the screen door and looked out at him. Brooke was standing on the edge of the porch, not letting him step foot on it. She reminded me of a rather fierce poodle I had been terrified of as a kid. Noah's eyes met mine through the screen door, and I took pity on him. His hair was a mess, as if he had repeatedly run his hands through it and it had gotten stuck, and his eyes had a lost look to them. He was right. I had just left. I hadn't given him the opportunity to explain himself. I owed him at least that much.
“It's okay, Brooke,” I said, opening the door and stepping onto the porch. My voice sounded ragged and rough. I looked right at him. “You get one minute.”
Brooke crossed her arms and shot him a glare that should have killed him where he stood. She stalked across the deck and grabbed the screen door from me. “I'll be right inside if you need me.”
“Thanks,” I whispered. Brooke put her hand on my shoulder and gave me a long look. Be strong, she said with her eyes. I nodded. I had been played a fool for the last time.
The door shut with a click. I knew Brooke, Devon, and Lucas were listening intently inside. They had my back.
“What do you want?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“Izzy, I swear I didn't mean to buy it out from under you,” Noah answered quickly. He put one foot on the porch and I glared at it until he put it back on the ground.
“I realized this afternoon that I never actually said anything about it to you,” I said. I hoped my voice sounded as cold as I wanted it to. His expression brightened slightly, but I hardened my eyes. “But I did tell you how much the island needs that grove. How bad tourism would be for that reef. That I remember very clearly. Are you going to build condos over the Grove?”
“The tourism will be good for the island,” he answered. His hopeful expression was fading quickly.
“Right.” I tightened my arms. “I made my stance on that pretty clear as well. You can leave now.”
I turned to walk back into the house. This conversation was over. He didn't care about me or the Grove. The next thing I knew, though, he was on the porch, his hand around my wrist to keep me from going inside. My traitorous body responded longingly to his touch. I still wanted him, wanted his hands on me.
“Please let me go,” I whispered, frozen in place by heartache.
“Izzy, I love you. I want to make this right.” There was a note of desperation in his voice. His breath caught and looked at me with sad eyes. I pulled my arm out from his grasp.
“Then don't build the condos. You still have time to reverse the sale.” I held my breath as I waited for his response. He didn't answer. He just frowned and looked at my feet. I knew then that we were very much over. We probably should never have been together in the first place. “But, obviously, the money is more important to you. More important than I am. I get it. Your ex-fiancée would be very proud of you.”
His eyes shot up, flashing with a blue fire. I didn't care. I knew I was hitting below the belt, but I didn't care. He deserved it.