Chapter 3 - WHY HE WAITED NINE YEARS
The car was silent for nearly ten minutes.
I sat beside Adrian in the back seat.
The city passed outside the window.
Neither of us spoke.
Finally, I asked the question Ethan had left hanging in the doorway.
“Why did you wait nine years?”
Adrian didn't look at me.
“I knew you'd ask.”
“That doesn't answer me.”
“No.”
He glanced down at his hands.
“My grandfather told me to stay away from you.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because your family had already been through enough.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It made sense to him.”
Adrian looked out the window.
“You were twelve when you joined the Bennett family. You were learning how to trust people again.”
I stared at him.
“You thought loving me would hurt me?”
“I thought wanting anything from you would.”
I didn't know what to say.
He continued.
“I was seventeen. You were twelve. Whatever feelings existed then were not something I was going to act on.”
“I know.”
“At eighteen, I left for London.”
“I remember.”
“I stayed away because I thought distance was the honorable thing.”
“And when I got older?”
He was quiet.
“By then you loved Ethan.”
That hurt.
Not because it was untrue.
Because of the sadness in his voice.
“You knew?”
“Everyone knew.”
I looked down.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were happy.”
I almost laughed.
“Was I?”
“I thought you were.”
The car stopped at a red light.
Adrian finally looked at me.
“I wasn't going to become the man who stood beside your relationship waiting for it to fail.”
That sentence stayed with me.
We arrived at Hayes House just before six.
It was an old stone estate on the outskirts of Las Vegas, surrounded by tall palms and carefully maintained gardens.
I had been there many times.
But never as Adrian's wife.
A housekeeper opened the door.
Then another employee appeared.
They both froze when they saw us.
Adrian's voice remained calm.
“Mrs. Hayes will be staying here.”
The housekeeper smiled.
“Yes, sir.”
Mrs. Hayes.
The words felt strange.
Almost unreal.
I turned toward Adrian.
“You're not going to make me live here, are you?”
“No.”
He looked almost offended.
“You have your own home.”
“Good.”
“You can stay here tonight if you want.”
“I might.”
“You can stay in your house.”
“I might.”
“You can do whatever makes you comfortable.”
I smiled.
“You're very good at not telling people what to do.”
“I learned.”
“From whom?”
He looked at me.
“You.”
Before I could answer, his grandfather appeared at the top of the staircase.
Charles Hayes was eighty-one.
Straight-backed.
Sharp-eyed.
And far too pleased with himself.
He looked at our hands.
Then at me.
“Finally.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Grandfather.”
Charles smiled.
“Don't ‘Grandfather’ me. I've waited nine years.”
I stared.
“Nine years?”
Charles nodded.
“Your husband was determined to be noble.”
Adrian sighed.
“Please don't.”
Charles ignored him.
“I told him three years ago that if he didn't tell you how he felt, someone else would.”
I looked at Adrian.
He said nothing.
“Three years ago?”
Charles nodded.
“Your engagement announcement arrived the next morning.”
My stomach tightened.
Adrian had known I was engaged.
He had said nothing.
Charles continued.
“He came to me that night.”
“Grandfather.”
“What?”
“You promised.”
“I promised not to interfere with your marriage.”
Charles looked at me.
“I never promised to hide the truth from you forever.”
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Then Charles did something unexpected.
He removed an old gold pocket watch from his vest.
He placed it in my hand.
“This belonged to Adrian's father.”
I looked at it.
“Why are you giving it to me?”
“Because he wanted you to have it.”
Adrian looked sharply at him.
“Grandfather.”
Charles shrugged.
“Secrets have expiration dates.”
The watch was heavy.
Warm from Charles's hand.
I turned it over.
There was a small engraving.
C.B. — When the time is right.
My initials.
I looked at Adrian.
“You had this?”
“For years.”
“Why?”
“Because my father gave it to me.”
“Why would he engrave my initials?”
Adrian didn't answer.
Charles did.
“Because he knew.”
“Knew what?”
Charles looked at his grandson.
Then at me.
“That Adrian loved you.”
Silence.
I looked at Adrian.
He didn't deny it.
That somehow hurt more than a confession would have.
I sat down.
“I need air.”
Adrian nodded.
“I'll show you the garden.”
We walked outside.
The sky was turning orange.
I held the pocket watch in my hand.
“Were you ever going to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“When you were free.”
“I was free three years ago.”
“You were engaged.”
“That doesn't mean I was happy.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because if I told you and you stayed with Ethan, I would have lost you.”
“And if you told me and I chose you?”
He looked at me.
“I would have spent the rest of my life wondering whether you chose me or simply escaped him.”
That answer stopped me.
“You really thought about everything.”
“I thought about you.”
I looked away.
Then I noticed something on a stone bench.
A small envelope.
My name was written on it.
I picked it up.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Adrian at twenty-two.
Standing outside a hospital.
Beside him was my father.
On the back were four words.
He kept his promise.
I looked at Adrian.
“What promise?”
He was silent.
Then my father called.
I answered.
His voice was tense.
“Claire, where are you?”
“At Adrian's.”
A long pause.
“Did Charles give you the watch?”
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“Then Adrian finally told you.”
“Told me what?”
My father's voice dropped.
“The reason he stayed away wasn't only because he loved you.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Then what was it?”
May you like
“Because nine years ago, Adrian discovered something about Ethan.”
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