Tom tensed, realizing with a considerable amount of discomfort that she was right. His conscience was troubling him. And he had a feeling that a conversation wasn’t going to cure his problem.
‘I did what I thought was right at the time.’
‘Right for her or right for you?’ Bryony put her hands on her hips, her expression disapproving, and Jack frowned.
‘Bry, this really isn’t our business.’
Bryony ignored him, her eyes still on her brother. ‘You drove her away and now you’re expecting her to be pleased to see you again.’
‘I’m not expecting that.’ Tom cursed softly and ran a hand over the back of his neck. ‘And I didn’t drive her away. She left.’
‘Because of you! Because you didn’t want her and she couldn’t live in this small community alongside a man who’d rejected her. Do you know your problem?’ Bryony glared at him. ‘You just can’t bear the fact that there’s a woman in the world who doesn’t think you’re God’s answer to romance. You broke Sally’s heart but you want her to say, “That’s fine, Tom.” Well, it isn’t fine!’
Tom’s eyes narrowed. ‘You’re being emotional about this.’
Bryony gave a growl of feminine frustration. ‘And you’re being ice cold, as usual! Show a modicum of sensitivity here, Tom Hunter! You decided you didn’t want her. End of story.’
It wasn’t the end of the story.
Not by a long way.
It had been so much more complicated than that.
‘You should have told me she was back.’
‘Why would I do that? I assumed it would be of no interest to you.’
Tom gritted his teeth. ‘Sally and I were together for almost three years, for goodness’ sake. Of course I would have been interested in the fact that she was back.’
‘You drove her away, so I assumed her return was a matter of the same indifference to you.’
Tom closed his eyes briefly and muttered something under his breath. ‘Whose side are you on?’
‘Sally’s,’ Bryony replied sweetly. ‘And if you want my opinion, she should have blacked your eye seven years ago when she found you with that—that—tart!’
Jack winced. ‘Sweetheart, you—’
‘Don’t sweetheart me!’ Bryony glared at her husband. ‘Tom behaved horribly to Sally.’
‘I wasn’t with anyone,’ Tom gritted, ‘I went on one date with another woman, that’s all! One date and it was after Sally and I had split up. After we’d agreed to see other people.’
‘You’d agreed to see other people,’ Bryony reminded him coldly. ‘Sally was so devastated she just sat in her flat broken into tiny pieces.’
Tom winced at the description. ‘It was the wrong time for both of us and we were in an impossible situation, Bry, as you would realize if you took the emotion out of it and looked at it logically.’
‘And if you took the logic out of it and looked at it emotionally, you might stand some chance of sustaining a relationship with a woman!’ Bryony glared at him. ‘You threw away something really special. You’re as bad as Jack!’
‘Hey!’ Jack put a hand on his chest, totally affronted. ‘I married you!’
Bryony breathed out heavily. ‘Only because I told you some home truths,’ she said bluntly. ‘If I’d left it to you, you’d still be dating half of Cumbria. You were so afraid of emotional involvement I virtually had to tie you up and beat you before you’d agree that you loved me.’
Jack gave her a sexy wink. ‘I’m not sure you should be revealing the details of our bedroom antics to your brother, darling.’
Bryony pulled a face. ‘What I’m saying, as you well know, is that both of you have spent the best part of your adult lives avoiding commitment. Of course Sally doesn’t want a conversation with you, Tom. Why would she? You lost that right when you started dating other people.’
Tom sighed. ‘You make it sound like a crime, but we weren’t together any more, Bry.’
‘That’s right.’ Bryony’s tone was chilly. ‘You weren’t. You left the rest of us to clear up the mess.’
‘I tried to see her, to check that she was all right.’
‘Well, of course she wasn’t all right! And she didn’t want your pity!’
Tom gritted his teeth and drew in a steadying breath. ‘Do you realize how contradictory you’re being?’
Jack groaned out a warning. ‘For goodness’ sake, don’t tell her that.’
‘Well, on the one hand she’s telling me I left her to comfort Sally, and on the other she’s telling me that Sally wouldn’t have wanted me around anyway.’
Bryony scowled at him. ‘You behaved badly!’
Jack yawned and reached for his beer. ‘OK, honey, give the guy a break. He’s not the first person to have ended a relationship that wasn’t working. I think we should all move on.’
‘That is precisely what I’m trying to do,’ Tom said harshly, ‘only Sally won’t give me the chance to discuss it. Perhaps I ought to tell her that she’s allowed to black my eye if it will make her feel better.’
In fact, he half hoped she would. Perhaps it would ease his conscience.
Bryony plopped down on the chair next to Jack and gave a sigh. ‘I don’t think it matters what you promise,’ she said wearily. ‘You’re not going to find it easy to get near her. She doesn’t want to talk to you.’
And why was that?
Tom’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully, his sharp brain clicking into action. Surely if Sally was as indifferent to him as she was pretending, then one conversation was hardly going to cause a problem. She could just listen and then walk away.
Unless she was afraid that the walking away would be hard.
Jack lifted his beer. ‘Never was easy to get near to Sally Jenner. She always kept people at a distance.’
Except him. Tom frowned.
He was the one person who’d been allowed to get close to her.
‘And can you blame her for that?’ Bryony defended her friend quickly. ‘She spent her childhood moving from foster-home to foster-home, with no security and no one she could trust or love.’
Tom shifted uncomfortably.
Sally had trusted him. And she’d loved him. Until he’d betrayed that trust and thrown her love back in her face.
‘This is a small community,’ he said finally, draining his beer and standing up. ‘Sally and I need to clear the air if we’re going to be able to work together. Are you going to tell me where she’s living, Bry?’
Bryony kept her eyes on the table. ‘I’m sorry, Tom. I can’t.’
Tom cast an exasperated look at Jack who shrugged helplessly.
‘Women.’ He winked at his wife. ‘Especially blonde women.’
Tom gritted his teeth, his sense of humour less in evidence. ‘You know me well enough to know that I’ll track her down sooner or later.’
Bryony looked at him. ‘But it will have been without my help.’
‘You’re making things more difficult.’
‘Difficult