Love in his Lie

Exit

"Pardon? I'm not sure I understand." I watched him with an inquisitive gaze as I took a sip of my espresso and ruined the barista's lovely artistry. Licking the foam from my lip, I gave him a shy smile. "Am I supposed to provide a dowry?"

"No, of course not," he said with a quick, crooked smile and a hand through his hair. "It's just, I appreciate your sentiment, and I think that's how things should be. That when two people get married, it's an acknowledgment of their commitment to one another, that they are two halves made whole." He gestured with his hands, analyzing his open palms before clasping them together to illustrate his point. He gave them a quick squeeze, his knuckles blinking white, before he sighed and parted his hands.

"Yes, okay." I fought off a grin, surprised to hear the rather stiff Wes relay such a romantic notion. "I guess I just misheard you."

"No, you didn't." He rolled his shoulders and shifted in his seat before clearing his throat and taking a sip of his coffee. "That's how things should be, but with my family, unfortunately, when you sign up for one, you get the rest."

"Well, I mean, I know that's how marriage works. You are kind of marrying the family, too."

"No," he said, his voice stern as his eyes flashed forward and dug deep into my deer-like gaze. "Marriage is a contract between two people. My family, however, sees it differently than I do. They seem to believe that when anyone marries into this family, that person is now at the mercy of a whole league of people whose only connection to you is similar genetic material."

"Surely..." I hesitated, an uncomfortable laugh rattling me. "Surely you don't see your family as just genetic material."

"Maybe not my parents." His voice was as shaky as his hands, which he placed in his lap. "Nor my siblings, but some others — the second cousin once removed sort of family — they shouldn't have claim to you."

"I guess." Sometimes family was in title only. I'd been to big reunions with people I'd never met before who claimed my relation to them with six degrees of separation. Even so, it felt very lonely to hear Wes talk like that—and this is coming from someone who relishes their personal quiet time.

"Frankly, immediate family shouldn't be inserting themselves into your life, either."

"Right, okay, then." I figured it was best to agree with him at that point. Some color had blotched his cheeks, and he had trouble maintaining a hold on my eyes. Eventually, he leaned back into his chair with a huff, his hand massaging his chin as he looked over the nearby crosswalk and the pedestrians meandering by.

After a few minutes of silence, he cleared his throat and continued.

"That's what I wanted to say. I invited you out here because I wanted you to know that you had an exit. Justin would understand. He's been keeping you from us for a reason, and I'm glad he at least had the chance to avoid this." I noted the peculiar wording and the suggestion that maybe Wes had his own bias in the matter. "Distancing yourself from our family won't hurt your relationship with Justin so long as we make this a clean break. It wasn't your fault you got thrust into this by Lucy. Justin was trying to prevent this and, as his older brother, I take it as my responsibility to protect you while he's gone."

"Protect me?" I asked with a light laugh. "From what?"

He blushed a little at my amusement and looked away as he continued. "My mom asked me to invite you to the Easter picnic. She's still a little mad at Brendan and Lucy for coming out here without telling her. Brendan doesn't have long until he's an adult, but until then, mom and dad are pretty stiff with their rules and going into the city without permission was a big one. I'm fairly certain mom only lightened their punishment because she was so thrilled to meet you."

"Well, I enjoyed meeting them, too."

He didn't respond to that, he just cleared his throat and continued on as if I had said nothing. "So they left finding you to me, and I gladly took the job. This way I could meet with you one-on-one and be as honest with you as I could be." Finally, he returned his gaze to mine, his cold eyes sharp and sincere. His thin lips arched ever so slightly downward.

"That you are afraid of your family and that I should be too?"

His shoulders rose with his breath, his nostrils flaring before he released it. After another sip of his coffee, his posture loosened, and he continued.

"You can't understand, and I don't want you to be put into the position where you truly get to understand. I'm certain Justin doesn't want that, either."

"Is this really all because you two had to share a bedroom?" I asked, recalling his mother's words. To my surprise, Wes responded with a laugh and a smile.

"No, we might have come close to killing each other a few times, but we got our own rooms by the time we were teenagers, so it really wasn't that bad."

I could see the memories of his childhood, of his family, flicker behind his steely blue eyes. They softened his features, raising his brow, parting his lips, and casting his cheeks in a rosy color. For a moment, I saw the wedge formed between Wes, Justin, and their family wasn't always there.

I knew I should walk away. I knew I shouldn't get myself involved any further with this family until I could talk to Justin and figure out what was really going on. So, I knew I should take Wes's exit, but I thought of the wedge I placed between myself and my family when I moved away. Try as I might, I couldn't even pick up the phone to call my parents to remove the wall I had made between us. However, perhaps I could at least help remove this block sitting between Wes and his family.

"So when's the picnic?" I asked with a straight back and a firm gaze. "Should I bring dinner rolls or some sort of dessert?"