He said quietly, “Let’s go back.”
Gregory swallowed whatever he’d wanted to say and asked, “Back to the house, Mr. Fawkes?”
Soren was about to nod, but an image flashed through his mind–the night he’d come home to find the house sitting alone in the darkness, silent and empty.
Evangeline had moved out. The place would feel even more desolate now.
Soren stayed silent for a long moment.
Gregory glanced at his boss in the rearview mirror, catching the uncertainty on his face, and pieced together what was going on.
Soren was fearless in most things–except the dark.
Rumor had it, some childhood trauma lay at the root, but nobody seemed to know the details.
Gregory was just about to say something when a phone rang, cutting through the quiet of the car.
Soren glanced at the screen. Flora. Without hesitation, he answered.
Before he could speak, Flora’s wailing came through the line: “Bro, I just got dumped!”
Soren blinked. “What?”
Since when was she even dating anyone?
Flora could barely get the story out between sobs, so Soren just sighed and told Gregory to turn the car around–back to the Fawkes family estate.
When he walked in, Flora was curled up on the sofa, her eyes red and puffy, nose pink, a mountain of used tissues overflowing from the trash can.
Clyde and Helena hovered nearby, trying to offer comfort.
Helena gently wiped away Flora’s tears. “Sweetheart, there are plenty of fish in the sea. And you’re a Fawkes, darling–if you want a man, you could have any man you like.
Flora shook her head, sniffling. “He’s different. He’s one of a kind.”
Chapter
Clyde frowned, fretting over his little girl. “If that’s the case, I’ll find his girlfriend and pay her to leave. Problem solved.”
He adored his daughter; seeing her this heartbroken nearly broke him, too.
But Flora shook her head even harder. “No, that’ll just make him hate me.”
“Besides, he’s not like my brother. He’s proud and stubborn–he’d never go along with something like that.”
Soren, who’d just come in and caught the tail end of the conversation, looked baffled. “Excuse me?”
He tried to sound stern, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice. “Flora, have some dignity. Crying like this over a crush? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
Seeing Soren, Clyde and Helena both let out a breath of relief.
Neither of them really understood modern romances anymore. Helena had already been making calls, ready to investigate and avenge her precious daughter, Clyde had been gearing up to go after the poor boy who’d supposedly broken Flora’s heart.
But after a little questioning, it turned out Flora and this guy had hardly even spoken. They’d barely met, never held hands, and this “breakup” was just gossip that he might have a girlfriend.
Clyde and Helena were speechless–but they didn’t dare upset Flora further. All they could do was sit with her and try to help her through it.
But things changed when Soren got home.
He and Flora were only a year apart, and they’d been close since childhood. Flora always listened to her brother.
After a few words of encouragement from Clyde and Helena to “talk some sense into your sister,” they left the two alone and headed upstairs.
Now, only Soren and Flora remained in the living room.
Through hiccupping sobs, Flora poured her heart out to Soren, telling him the whole story from the beginning.
“Bro, what should I do? I’ve liked him for years, and I was waiting for him to come back so I could finally confess.”
Soren stared at her in disbelief.
3/3
“All this over a photo?” he asked.
Flora’s eyes widened indignantly. “But he was hugging her! If they’re not a couple, why would he do that?”
Soren paused, her words striking a chord.
He couldn’t help but remember what he’d seen not long ago–Evangeline, wrapped up in another man’s arms.
