Her parents departed and Florence was alone with Clay. She smoothed her skirts, focusing on the fabric instead of the man next to her.

“I am sorry.”

Her breath caught. An apology from Clay? This was also unexpected. She shoved down the sentiment and tenderness and focused on her anger. “I meant what I said. Whatever you are attempting won’t work.”

“And what do you think I am attempting?”

“You think by returning my grandmother’s house that I will forgive you.”

“Are you saying you won’t?”

“Returning the deed does not negate the fact that you stole it in the first place.”

“True, but I cannot undo the past. I am trying to make amends. For you.”

“Why?”

“Because I care about you. Because . . . I miss you.”

His eyes were steadfast and clear, twin pools of deep chestnut that held no artifice, and the words tumbled down into her soul like pebbles, tiny ripples of joy echoing throughout her entire body. This was more than she’d dared to hope. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined he would give up his revenge for her, that he would come to their house declaring his feelings.

Yet, it wasn’t enough.

“Why didn’t you tell me what happened twenty years ago between you and my father?”

“I didn’t want you to know. If I had confessed what he’d done, you would have tried to intercede. Talk me out of my plans.”

“So you lied instead. I had to eavesdrop in your office to learn the truth.”

He stood and began pacing, his leather shoes thumping heavily on the carpet with each step. “I never lied. I was not forthcoming, but I never lied.”

“We are back to this, I see.” She sighed and pushed up out of her chair. “This is a waste of time. The little bits and pieces of you that I get aren’t enough. I want someone who trusts me with the truth, who doesn’t hide his motives. I want someone who didn’t try to steal my grandmother’s house.”

“You won’t ever forgive me, will you?”

Despair filled her chest, her heart rendered into jagged pieces that could not be mended. The damage he’d inflicted was forever. There was no changing what had happened.

There was only the ash and rubble of what might have been.

She took a deep breath and struggled to maintain her composure. She would not show him the depth of her hurt. “You think to apologize and have it all go away, but you’re stuck in the past. You cared more about a twenty-year-old grievance than you did about me. About us. I need someone who will put me first. I cannot forgive what’s happened, Clay. I cannot.”