Finding Ronan’s Heart by Melanie Moreland

Chapter Seventeen

Beth

By the following Saturday, I was dragging my ass. I was drained. I couldn’t sleep, and my appetite was nonexistent. I was tired of trying to pretend everything was okay at home. Evan was withdrawn and had stopped his exercises. More than once, I had heard Lucy ask Paige if Ronan was coming back yet. Paige herself looked sad. I felt sad. Depressed. Everything seemed to remind me of him. Even the diner. I couldn’t escape it. Despite my anger and the pain he caused me, every time the bell would ring over the door later in the evening, I would look up, half hoping it would be Ronan striding in. I hadn’t heard from him at all, and there had been no reaction to the Lego sets being sent back. Paige had taken them, not saying a word after she dropped them off except a shake of her head when I asked if she had seen Ronan.

Surprisingly, the cake orders hadn’t stopped. I considered refusing to make them, then decided that would be foolish. Evan needed things, and the income helped me supply them. Mike told me his wife insisted on the rides home any night I stayed so late to make cakes, and I accepted his explanation, too weary to question the sudden interest in my safety.

I was picking up an order when I heard the bell over the door. I was grateful I only had an hour left in my shift. As I walked out of the kitchen, I saw a couple of women seated in the booth where Ronan always sat, and I quelled the silly notion of telling them to move. Lots of people sat in that booth. I carried the loaded plates to the table waiting for them, filled their coffees, then, with a deep breath, walked to the booth.

“Welcome to Nifty Fifty. May I get you something to drink?”

One woman glanced up, observing me carefully. She was small with bright-blue eyes and a warm smile. “Coffee, please. For both of us. Cream as well.”

She looked familiar, but I couldn’t place her. I got the coffees and carried them to the table. The other woman at the table looked up, and I froze.

The cup I was holding paused midair as I stared at the other woman, who was regarding me steadily. Her hair was a rich brown with purple highlights. I judged her to be average height and slim. She had unusual eyes and delicate features, but her smile was the same as Ronan’s. It had to be his sister.

She reached up, taking the coffee cup from my hand. “I’ll take that,” she murmured.

“What do you want?” I asked.

“I’ll have a burger,” she said.

“I don’t think she meant our order, Ava,” the other woman murmured.

“That is all I want,” I responded. “Your food order.”

She pursed her lips. “I’ll have the house salad. Ava will have the burger. We’ll share the fries.”

Ava huffed. “I don’t think so, Gracie. You’ll eat them all. We’ll each have an order.”

Gracie shrugged. “Fine.” She met my gaze. “And ten minutes of your time, please.”

“That isn’t happening. I have no desire to hear whatever Ronan sent you to tell me.”

They shook their heads. “Ronan has no idea we’re here.”

“He’d be furious if he did,” Ava added.

Gracie looked at me beseechingly. “Please, Beth. Ten minutes of your time. Then if you want, we’ll leave and never bother you again.”

“Give me one reason why.”

Ava leaned close. “If you ever had feelings for my brother, please.”

Something in her voice stopped me. My chest felt strangely tight. “Is Ronan all right?”

“Please,” she repeated.

“I’m off in an hour.”

She nodded. “We’ll eat and wait.”

“Fine.”

I hurried away, wondering what they were going to tell me.

And why I wanted to hear it.

* * *

I carried over a cup of coffee and sat beside Gracie. She was talking on her phone but hung up as I sat down.

“Everything okay at home?” Ava asked with a smirk.

“Jaxson told me to take my time.” Gracie smiled at me. “He’s at home with our baby girl. I wanted to make sure they were doing all right.”

Ava snorted. “I’m sure he was eager to kick you out of the house so he’d have Kylie to himself.”

Gracie laughed but didn’t deny it. “She is a bit of a daddy’s girl,” she murmured. She turned to me and held out her hand. “I think we should start with proper introductions. I’m Gracie Richards—Ronan’s cousin.”

Ava extended her hand across the table. “I’m Ava Callaghan. Ronan’s sister.”

I shook them both. “I’m Beth Jones.”

For a moment, there was silence, so I cleared my throat. “Your ten minutes is going to go fast if you don’t say anything.”

Ava sighed and flipped her hair over her shoulder. “Ronan is my younger brother. He’s part of a set of triplets.”

I waited, lifting my eyebrow.

“He’s complex and smart. He’s been struggling lately and…” She huffed. “Okay, he’s been a jackass about how he handled this, all right?”

“Handled what exactly?”

“You. Him. Having a relationship. Shit,” she muttered. “I’m usually a far better speaker.” She looked at Gracie, who smiled and turned to face me.

“Ronan,” she began, “he’s the oldest of the three boys. He’s always been the leader. The peacemaker. He looked out for the other two all the time. The three of them are jokesters, but Ronan has a deeper sense of…” She paused, looking for a word.

“Responsibility,” I finished for her.

“Yes,” she agreed. “He always made sure the other two were happier.”

“Even if it meant he wasn’t,” I stated.

They looked at me. “How did you know that?” Ava asked.

I shrugged. “His mannerisms. He was shocked when I asked him how he wanted his eggs. He was thrilled to pick his favorite ice cream—little things most people wouldn’t think of or notice, I noticed about him.”

Gracie nodded. “Yes. That’s Ronan.”

“It doesn’t explain anything,” I pointed out.

She sighed. “Give me a minute.” She paused. “The three boys have always been incredibly close. I think, at times, Ronan felt lost in the shuffle. He was always part of a group. One of the triplets. He rarely was just Ronan. But when he met you, that was what he got to be. Just Ronan.”

“So, he hid his identity?” I laughed dryly. “Convenient. More like he didn’t tell anyone about me because of who I am.”

Gracie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m nobody. A student struggling to pay her bills. To look after her brother. I have no place in the world Ronan inhabits. He knew that, so he let me think he was just a normal guy. He didn’t want his family to know about me.”

“You’re wrong,” Ava said. “I know it looks that way, but it isn’t. You let him be just a regular guy.” She held up her hand. “I’m not saying what he did wasn’t wrong, or pretty stupid, but the fact is, I think he was more Ronan when he was with you than ever.”

Gracie chimed in. “He shouldn’t have hidden his family, but Ronan wasn’t ashamed of you. Why would he be? You’re strong and independent. He likes that.”

Ava spoke. “Our aunt Emmy put herself through school as a waitress and baking scones for a coffee shop. My mom and her sister worked their way through school with odd jobs and tight budgets. The three of them were friends. They pooled clothing, food, and resources to get by. Uncle Bentley—one of the wealthiest men in the city—met Emmy and fell for her. Because she was real. My dad and mom fell in love for the same reason. Dee and Maddox were from two different worlds, but they found what they needed with each other. Money doesn’t dictate where your heart lies.”

“I’m grateful for the family history lesson, but what does that have to do with Ronan lying to me?” I asked. “If he was so proud of me, why wouldn’t he tell me who his family was?”

Ava smiled. “Simple. It wasn’t you he was hiding. It was us. He didn’t want to share you. For the first time in his life, he put what he wanted above everyone else.”

I wanted to believe her, but I couldn’t.

“Why are you here?”

Ava leaned close. “Paul and Jeremy—the other two-thirds of the triplets—met a set of twins and started dating them. Ronan was left out of the loop for the first time in his life. He struggled with it. Everything he’d known all his life had changed. It wasn’t the three of them anymore. He was on his own, and they were together.”

“I’m sure that was hard for him.”

A frown crossed her face. “Something happened to him last year. Liam knows more about it than I do. It involved a woman who wanted him only for his money and his best friend who betrayed him, so I think we can all guess what it was. Neither of them is in his life anymore. It affected him deeply. We were all worried about him.”

I felt the stirrings of sympathy. “I see.”

“But as much as those things affected him, they didn’t hit him as hard as you walking away from him did. He’s devastated. I’ve never seen him like this.”

I swallowed. “Like what?”

“Serious. Sad. Cut off,” Ava whispered. “He isn’t Ronan. He goes through the motions, but he isn’t there. His heart is missing.”

“Are you sure that is because of me?”

Gracie smiled sadly. “When he broke up with Loni, he refused to talk about her. He wanted to put her in the past. But this time, it’s entirely different. It’s as if he doesn’t want to forget you. He wants to relive every moment he had with you. Well, the ones he can share.” She waggled her eyebrows, the gesture reminding me so much of Ronan, I had to smile. “I know you think we don’t know about you, Beth, but since you walked away, you are all he talks about. How amazing you are. How much you mean to him. How you saw him for him. For Ronan. How much he misses you. Misses Evan. He beats himself up all the time about not being honest with you. He knows he handled it badly.”

“He talks about me?” I asked, shocked. “To you?”

Ava laughed. “To Gracie, to me. To our brothers—especially Liam. To our parents. He admits he was stupid. He shocked us all when he said why he didn’t tell you. Why he hid his identity from you. He admitted he liked just being Ronan. Beth’s Ronan and not Ronan Callaghan.” She met my gaze. “He is suffering more losing you than he did when Loni betrayed him or he was trying to find his place when Paul and Jeremy met their girls and he was on his own.”

I blinked, trying to take it all in. I meant that much to him?

Was it possible?

Gracie patted my hand. “You mean more to him than you know. He is truly lost without you.”

I realized I must have spoken out loud.

“We’ve only been seeing each other a few weeks.”

Ava shrugged. “Fast in my family isn’t unusual. Bentley said he knew he was going to marry Emmy not long after he met her. My mom said she knew my dad was the one the first day she met him.” She grinned. “It took him a little longer to come to the same conclusion.” Then she tilted her chin at Gracie. “She married her boss after seeing him secretly for months. They eloped, and we all found out on Christmas Day.” She winked. “Talk about drama.”

I tried not to laugh, but a smile made my lips quirk.

“I see.”

“Talk to him, Beth. Please. Let him explain. If you can’t forgive him—well, dammit, you have to. He’s in love with you,” Gracie insisted. “And I can’t stand to see him so unhappy.”

I gaped at Gracie. “In love?”

“I know him. He is. He told me once that being loved for yourself would be the most wonderful thing he could imagine. You did that for him. He wants you. He wants to be part of your life.”

“He hasn’t reached out.”

“He’s respecting your wishes. Trying to give you space. But he’s still around.”

I pursed my lips. “The car driving me home is from him, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“And the tips I keep finding in my jar?”

“He sends someone over every day to buy lunch and bring cake to the office. He wants to take care of you, and it’s the only way he can right now.” Ava paused. “He wants to look after you so much.”

“I don’t need to be looked after.”

Gracie laughed. “We all need to be looked after, one way or another. Let’s face it. Ronan fucked up. He can’t drive you home, so the car was the only way he could make sure you were safe. He can’t eat here, so he feeds others and makes sure you are rewarded. He is desperate to talk to you but terrified you’ll refuse and send him away. He’s trying to give you space. He’s hoping you’ll let him talk to you. But I am worried about him. He’s in pain, and I can’t help him. His hope is fading. That’s why we came.”

“To get me to talk to him.”

“Yes.”

I sighed. “I have to think about it.”

They looked disappointed, but neither of them argued. Ava wrote a number on the back of a business card. “This is my cell. If you call me, I’ll get you to Ronan. He’s out in Port Albany at his house.”

I frowned. “Port Albany? Where he took us for a picnic?”

“Yes. Our family owns that land. He has a house there.” She hesitated before speaking again. “He was going to move there permanently until he met you. He changed his mind because he wanted to be close to you. But he’s been staying there because he can’t stand to be in Toronto and not be with you.”

I took the card she offered me. I looked at the logo on the front.

“ABC Corp. You all work there. Together.”

“Some of us.” Gracie patted my hand. “If you move forward with Ronan, there are lots of us. We’re a huge, blended family. You might wish Ronan kept us a secret forever.”

I smiled sadly and stood. Evan always wanted a big family. He thought it would be cool.

I slipped the card into my pocket. “Whatever happens, I’m glad Ronan has you,” I said with a smile. “He is very lucky to have two women standing up for him.”

Ava met my gaze. “He would rather have you.”

I picked up my cup and headed back to the kitchen. I had no words to offer her.