Brian hated pacing more than anything else in the world. It was a waste of a person’s perfectly good physical energy—an energy he could put into doing lots of other things. Such as kicking the desk out of frustration—for starters.
“Yeah, Mom, I’m still here.” He sighed and turned to stare out his office window at the slightly overcast morning sky.
His mother’s voice was cheerful. “I thought you said I wasn’t interrupting your work because, if I am, feel free to let me know. I’ll call you at home later.”
He felt guilty immediately and rushed to make it up to his mother. “No, really, Mom. It’s okay. I’m glad you called. How are the Himalayas?”
Brian’s parents were explorers at heart, though his father had been a real estate agent and his mother an accountant before they’d retired. Every vacation Brian could remember from his childhood had been filled with treks through forests, canoe trips down rivers, and one memorable week spent in the Amazon. As a result, he’d grown up with a thirst for his own adventures and a deep, abiding love for his own corner of the world. Sometimes, he’d learned, a person had to go away and come back to find that what he’d always yearned for had been there all along.
“We’re really enjoying Nepal, hon. Are you sure you don’t want us to bring home something for you? They’ve got some interesting hats here that are really quite warm.”
Brian grinned. “Nope. I’m just wondering when you’re gonna drop by Seven Falls again? Or have you decided to go on another adventure first?”
“Well, we were thinking about dropping down to Australia, but I want to see my darling son. We’ll be coming back at the end of next week,” his mother informed him.
“Great! I can’t wait! I hope you’ve taken tons of good pictures.”
“You know we have. So, tell me, Brian, how’s Juliet doing?”
At the mention of the woman he was supposed to be dating, the frown returned to his face. “She’s all right, Mom. She’s busy with work and all.”
“Of course. And how are the two of you doing—together?” Jackie Littrell wasn’t stupid. She knew her son well and had always known that, despite his affection for the good doctor, he’d never fallen in love with her. Now, there was something in his voice…
Brian shrugged. “We’re…I don’t know, Mom. It’s so confusing, and I’m trying to figure out what to do. I don’t want to hurt her, but there’s someone else. You have to meet her. She and her sister just moved here, and Reena’s something else. Part of me feels like it’s been waiting for her all along, but then there’s…Juliet.” Everything in him froze when she appeared in his doorway.
“Reena? That’s a lovely name, but, you’re right, you do have to think of the relationship you have with Juliet. Brian, honey, I know you’ve been content with her, but I’ve always wondered if you’d ever be happy, and…Brian?”
He snapped back to his mother’s voice. “Mom? I have to go. Juliet’s here, and I need to talk to her. I’ll see you next week, then?”
“Of course. And, Brian? Do the right thing.”
“I will. I love you, Mom.”
“I love you, too.”
Hanging up, Brian turned to face Juliet and immediately felt guilty when he saw the dark circles under her eyes and the obvious unhappiness etched on her face. She managed a small smile as she stepped into the room.
“I thought I’d drop by before going into work. I hope that’s all right.” Her voice was tired.
He gestured her into a chair then sat across from her. “You look exhausted.”
“I am.” She sighed. “I hate that we’re at odds, Brian. I do love you, but I’m not stupid enough to pretend that you love me back and we’ll live happily ever after. I want it to be that way, but it’s not reality.”
Brian reached out and took her hand in his. “Juliet. I care about you—a lot. The thing is, I’ve never been in love with you, and I don’t know if I ever will be. No matter how much time I give myself,” he added, anticipating her protest. “I wish we could go back to the way things were before Tuesday night, but I don’t think I can.”
She nodded, though her heart was slowly cracking into pieces. “Of course, it would be awkward.”
“Exactly.”
“So, now what?”
Brian swallowed. “I don’t want to do this, Juliet. I mean, I know we’ve been together for six years.”
“Off and on,” she reminded both of them.
“Right. Six years is a lot of time, and I can’t overlook that either. The thing is, I can’t give you what you deserve, and I think it’s best if we split—permanently. I want to be your friend, Juliet, and I want you to go out there and find someone who’ll love you. You’re a wonderful woman, and I want you happy.”
And if I can’t be happy without you? she wanted to scream at him. Then what will you do? Instead, she nodded and ruthlessly forced the tears back. “Thank you for wanting the best for me. I want to be your friend as well, Brian.” She squeezed his hand. “I can’t promise that I’ll fall out of love so quickly, but I know putting six years behind me is going to be difficult.”
The guilt was stabbing him in the chest repeatedly. “You know you can always count on me, right? I’ll always be there when you need me.”
She nodded. “You’re a good guy, Brian.”
“Juliet…I have to tell you the truth, too. I don’t think I would have broken us up so soon if it hadn’t been for you asking me to marry you and me meeting someone new.”
Just when she thought her heart couldn’t break anymore… “Someone new? I mean, that’s good. I hope she sees what a great person you are to be with.”
Brian remembered the tears in Reena’s eyes when she’d told him they couldn’t be together. “I think she might, but she’s holding me at arm’s length.” He shook it off, though. “Either way, I’m sorry for hurting you, Juliet. It was the last thing I’d ever want to do, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”
Juliet briefly let herself wonder who it was he’d met before she nodded. “Of course, I forgive you.” She stood and held out a hand. “No regrets?”
He studied her face, calm and composed, before taking her hand. “No regrets.”
“Well, then.” She slid her hand out of his. “I’ve got to get back to the clinic.” At the door, she turned back to him. “Brian, are you in love with her? Whoever this new woman is?”
He sighed. That question had caused him a lot of unhappy moments late at night. “I think I might be,” he answered honestly, knowing it was the least he owed her after breaking her heart.
Juliet nodded, her heart officially stomped to dust and scattered. “Thanks for the truth. I’ll see you.”
“Yeah.” Brian sank into the desk chair and happily cursed at himself. “I’m such an ass,” he muttered. “She’s a perfectly good woman, and I’ve been happy with her for so long. But no, I just had to go and break her heart. What the hell is wrong with me?”
“Do you really want me to answer that? Because I don’t know where I’d start.” Alex grinned at the startled look on Brian’s face as he walked into the room and took the seat Juliet had recently vacated. “What’s wrong, pal?”
“I broke up with Juliet.”
“Oh. Well, you’ve done that before, haven’t you?”
Brian looked up at Alex. “It’s permanent this time, and I broke her heart in the process. I don’t think there are enough curses to use on myself to make me feel like half the slime I am.”
Alex leaned back in the chair and got comfortable. “Well, this is going to be a fun conversation. Tell me, Brian, did you make her fall in love with you?”
“Uh, no.”
“Did you wave a big sign in her face that said ‘Fall for me, Juliet!’?”
Brian shook his head. “No. Where are you going with this?”
“Brian, I’ve known you all my life, and you’ve never been the kind of person who’s wanted to deliberately hurt someone else. It’s not your fault that you happen to be the man Juliet fell for. You didn’t make her fall in love with you, and you can’t control her emotions.” Alex leaned forward. “Juliet’s a big girl, and she will pick herself up and move on.”
“That sounds harsh,” Brian murmured, but he did understand what Alex was getting at.
Alex shook his head. “It’s not harsh, it’s a good, healthy dose of reality. Juliet told Christine what happened on Tuesday, and even Chris told her that it was possible that the two of you aren’t meant to work out.”
“She did?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah, she did. Don’t beat yourself up over all of this, Brian. I know you care about her and want her happy, but it’s up to Juliet to do that now. Just like it’s up to you to find your own happiness. And speaking of your happiness…” Alex grinned. “I like the pretty photographer. I think she’ll make you work for her.”
Brian scowled at the keyboard in front of him. “She already is. She told me to stick with Juliet, that she didn’t want any part in hurting another woman.”
“So she brushed you off? Wow, she’s good.”
“Shut up, McLean.”
Alex shook his head. “No, no. This is amazing! Brian Littrell, the one all the girls want, is brushed off by the one he wants. I can’t believe it! I should go bake her a cake and give it to her.”
Brian snorted at the image of Alex baking a cake. “Shut up. I think I’m falling for her.”
“What?” Alex studied his best friend. “You’re serious?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” Brian sighed. “I like her. A lot. We have a lot of things in common, and I like her energy, her humor.”
“She’s hot.”
“You have a wife,” Brian reminded him.
Alex shrugged. “So? Chris knows I check other women out, but, at the end of the day, I’m all hers.”
“Whatever.” Brian rolled his eyes. “I want her, Alex. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted another woman quite so badly before, and not just for sex. When I’m around her, I can’t keep myself from touching her, needing to hold her. I love just being around her, talking to her, hearing her voice. And I’m terrified that this is all a dream, and, when I wake up, she’ll be gone. OW!” He rubbed his arm. “What the hell was that for?”
“To make sure you were awake.” Alex tapped his chin. “Let me see. We have a beautiful woman, one who shares common interests with you, is energetic, funny, smart, and you want the hell out of her, but she wants you to back off?”
“To sum it up…yeah.” Brian sighed. “What do I do?”
“Go get her.”
***
He dabbed paint onto the canvas, controlling the urge to just slap the colors on and call it a day. He’d never been quite so antsy with a piece of work before, but he knew, this time, the jumpiness didn’t come from the actual painting as it did from what the painting represented. Gwen’s model was nearly completed on his easel, but the questions he had from the revelations of the night before still circled in his mind.
After her shocking words, Gwen had practically disappeared on him, leaving him to stare at her retreating figure. By the time he’d recovered enough to go after her, she’d been gone.
So Liliane had been pregnant. He didn’t doubt Gwen’s words for a second, but he wondered at the look in her eyes when she’d revealed the news. There had been a lingering sadness, and he wondered what had caused it. But, again, he hadn’t had a chance as she’d run off.
“First chance I get, I’m prying it out of her,” Kevin muttered to himself as he put the finishing touches on the bronze willows. “You can’t just run off after something big like that.”
He stepped away from the canvas and set the palette down. The model for the town meeting later that day was done, and he hoped Gwen would come by to pick it up. He needed to know how she’d known Liliane was pregnant. Of course, he didn’t doubt her words because, after thinking about it, he’d realized that it was the only logical conclusion to why Liliane had been upset.
“Probably didn’t have birth control in those days,” he reminded himself. And if Liliane and Laurent had been lovers, it would have been simple to conceive…Not so simple to carry the child to term with the family feud as it was, though. Which was probably why she’d been upset over it.
The whole thing was confusing, Kevin had to admit. He’d been involved with the legend for all thirty-four years of his life, and it was still a mystery. Especially now with everyone having dreams all over the place that were related to the lovers. No one knew what it meant, though, and Kevin knew that, after the events of the previous night, he was more confused than he’d ever been about the legend.
There was no denying the fact that breaking the spell would not be as easy as waiting for the three-century mark to pass, but the actual method to breaking the spell remained a mystery.
Of course, the dream he’d had confused him even more than all the rest. He’d finally dreamt of the falls, but it hadn’t been a dream with the lovers. It had been Mia.
“I like her.” Mia smiled at him as her blonde curls flew around her face.
Kevin frowned. “Who?”
“Gwen, Kevin. Keep up. We’re talking about your love life.” She chuckled. “I can’t say I’d ever imagined talking to you about your love life with other women, but, well, things do change.”
He shrugged. “You told Kirby that I had to move on. Am I moving on?”
The smile disappeared. “Oh, Kevin. Only you can answer that question. I can only tell you that I’m happy you’re with someone who cares about you and will frustrate you as much as you might frustrate her. Good luck!”
“What about the legend? Do you know what we need to do?”
The flicker in her eyes told him she knew something though she shook her head. “You’ve always been good about looking into the past, Kevin. That’s really all I can give you—all I’m allowed to give you.” She smiled wistfully. “I’ll always love you, Kevin, and I’m happy for you.”
Before he’d been able to ponder over the oddity of his wife’s delight in his newfound love life, Kevin had woken, mist from the falls dewing his face as it had often done in previous dreams. After a night full of mostly tossing and turning with Gwen’s words playing repeatedly in his mind, he’d managed to conk out at dawn and fallen into Mia’s presence.
He’d been excited to see her as she was still as beautiful as she’d been in life. She’d been nearly the same as she’d always been, with the exception of her sheer happiness. Mia had lacked that in the last few months of her life, and Kevin had often wondered if the hormones from her pregnancy had caused her depression. And then she’d been gone.
In his dream, though, she’d been happy that he was with someone else, and Kevin was pleased with that fact. Perhaps he really was doing what Mia had told Kirby to relay to him. Of course, she’d said the same thing about listening to his heart that Liliane had, which was starting to annoy him.
Kevin glanced over at the drying painting again and reached for the telephone. “Damn ghosts and their crazy riddles,” he muttered as he dialed. “If they’d just give me a straight answer, I could help out more easily. But no…” He put the phone up to his ear and tapped his foot. “Hey, Howie. Yeah, the painting’s done…Listen, do you have time later today and tomorrow, maybe? I need your help and the history of Seven Falls that’s in the town hall vault…I know, but I think there’s something in there about the legend that we’ve overlooked…Really? Great! I’m dragging Alex, Brian, and Nick into this, too. They should pull their weight, right…Sure. I’ll see you then.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
So...here's the next set of chapters! thanks for all the feedback everyone, and, despite the fact that Kevin has sadly left the group, i will definitely be finishing this story up as planned! i love Kevin and best of luck to him! oh, and of course, thanks to everyone for reading and enjoy!
