He touched her cheek and then let it slide down her face before falling away. Then he turned and walked back down the path to her grandmother’s house.

She closed her eyes as pain swelled in her chest and splintered in a thousand different directions. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. But all she could do was stand there numbly while the man she’d given everything to walked away.

CHAPTER 23

“It’s been a week,” Rafael said in frustration. “A week and she still won’t acknowledge me, much less talk to me. As much as I loathe the man I used to be, at least he would have no qualms about forcing the issue.”

Rafael stood on Laura’s back deck having a beer with Silas and brooded over the fact that Bryony still refused to see him. He was about to go crazy.

Silas chuckled. “You’ve got stamina, son. I have to give that to you. Most men would have tucked tail and left by now. I’m still amazed that you managed to talk Laura down from killing you and actually got her to side with you. I can’t figure out if you’re the dumbest man alive or just the luckiest.”

Bryony had holed up in her cottage and while Laura went over daily to check in on her, Bryony hadn’t ventured out except to walk on the beach. The one time Rafael had confronted her on the sand, she’d retreated inside. He hadn’t bothered her since because he wanted her to have that time outside without worrying that she’d encounter him.

“I’m not leaving,” Rafael said. “I don’t care how long it takes. I love her. I believe she still loves me, but she’s hurting. I can’t even blame her for that. I was a complete and utter bastard. I don’t deserve her but she’s the one who kept telling me I didn’t have to be the same man. Well, damn it, I’m choosing to be different. I want her to see that.”

Silas put his hand on Rafael’s shoulder. “Around here we have a saying. Go big or go home. I’m thinking you need to go big. Really big.”

Rafael frowned and turned to the other man. “What did you have in mind?”

“It’s not what I have in mind. It’s what you ought to be thinking about. You’ve already promised me and Laura that you have no intention of developing that land, but does she know that? Does the rest of the island know that? Seems to me you’re missing an opportunity to make a grand gesture and prove once and for all you’re a changed man.”

“Okay, I’m with you,” Rafael said slowly.