There was no telling how any of this would work out. When he tried to see his future—the days and weeks beyond now—he still saw Allison there. He’d seen her there last night before everything fell apart, and now in the light of day, she was still there. He didn’t want to imagine tomorrow, the next day or the day after that without her. She’d opened something up in him on the island. She’d done it again last night. It didn’t feel as though he could shut the door on that, even if he wanted to. So how was he going to get past this?
One thing Allison had said last night kept bubbling to the surface—how every black cloud had a silver lining. How BC had ruined one thing, but it had brought them together. It wasn’t all bad, as much as he’d always seen it as such. And Allison in particular was easily the best thing that had happened to him ever. He couldn’t fathom walking away from that. From her. It made no sense.
The realization made his end of the conversation from last night sting. He’d said some horrible things. He’d stupidly let his anger take control, as was so often the case with BC. If he was ever going to move forward in his life, he had to force himself to stop allowing what had happened with BC to define him. He was stronger than that. He knew that. He’d simply let his anger get the best of him.
He had to talk this out with Allison. He had to explain himself to Scott. He had to open himself up to the fact that he’d been wrong about more than a few things. His own mother had proved him wrong yesterday. Allison had done the same with everything she’d said about silver linings. And now he had to talk to her. To find a way through the mess he’d created from years of clinging to anger and resentment. This was about more than making amends. This was about making a future. He had to find Allison. Luckily, he knew exactly where to look.
He jumped in the shower, hoping a little hot water and soap might help to reset his head. He couldn’t begin to figure out where to start with Allison. There was a part of him that wanted to confess his feelings and hope that would be enough to make her step away from Black Crescent. There was another part of him that wanted an apology. There was yet another piece of his soul that knew he should be the one to say he was sorry. He hated that his feelings were so jumbled out of control. He hated that he couldn’t let everything go after all these years.
Freshly shaven and dressed for work, he drove his Porsche over to Scott’s house. When he arrived, his BMW was parked out front, but Allison’s zippy silver rental was noticeably absent from the driveway. Hopefully Scott had let her put it in the garage. He wasn’t worried that she’d left town. Black Crescent was keeping her here for the foreseeable future. But he was concerned that she might not be home. He wasn’t eager to chase her all over Falling Brook, but he would if that was his only option. He had to sort this out, and the only logical path started and ended with Allison.
He rang the doorbell, then stuffed his hands in his pockets. He’d never before been nervous to arrive at his best friend’s house, and the feeling was unsettling.
Scott flung the door open, sweating profusely and wiping it from his forehead with a towel. “Looking for your car keys, I take it?” Scott’s voice had a cutting edge. His best friend had never before taken that tone with him. He disliked it greatly.
“I’m actually looking for Allison. Is she here?” Zane peered around his best friend. “Can I come in?”
“I don’t know, Zane. Right now, I’m trying to keep from punching you in the face.”
At least Zane now knew that the cat was out of the bag. Clearly, Scott had been briefed on the state of his relationship with Allison. “You know I’ll hit you right back, and then where will we be? Fighting in the middle of your front lawn for all of your fine and upstanding neighbors to see.”
Scott stepped back and opened the front door wider. “Fine. Come in.” He closed it as soon as Zane walked past him. “I could literally kill you for sleeping with Allison. How could you treat her like one of your hookups? She’s my damn sister. You’re my best friend, for God’s sake.”
Zane turned back to Scott. The guilt he bore from his own actions was eclipsed by his best friend’s misguided characterization of what had happened. “I did not treat her like a hookup. I care about her. Deeply.” He felt the wobble in his own voice before he heard it. As if he needed any more confirmation that he was in deep with Allison. “That’s why I’m here. I need to talk to her.”
“She left about ten minutes ago.”
“It’s not even eight o’clock. Where did she go?”
“I’m not sure I should tell you.”
Zane swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. His best friend still felt the need to protect his sister from Zane. He had to put an end to that. “Look, man, you and I have got to get past this. I know I crossed a line, but you need to know that I did not do it without thinking about it hard, and for a very long time. I fought our attraction as long as I could, but in the end, Allison made a compelling case. I’m drawn to her, and she’s drawn to me. We work well together, and we care a lot about each other.” Zane directed his gaze down at his feet, knowing he wasn’t 100 percent certain
