Read Online Lowcountry Boneyard by Susan M. Boyer - Free Book Online Page A

closer.”
    “Understandable.”
    “Today made me want to pull you closer.”
    His voice was gentle. He set down his glass, reached out and cradled my face in his hands. “Slugger, I’m right here.”
    “For now.”
    He sighed and touched his forehead to mine.
    The baggage from our shared and separate past set up shop between us.
    “Nate, we’ve been living this long-distance, see-you-when-work-allows kind of life for more than two years . How long do you think we can maintain a relationship this way?”
    He pulled away, sat back in his chair. “Are you unhappy?”
    “Most days I’m too busy to give it much thought. But I think maybe I should. Are you happy?”
    “I’m not un happy. I’ve accepted that this is the way things are. I love you. Is this my first choice of how we should live? No. No, it is not.”
    “It isn’t mine, either. People who love each other—they should live together. Or at least live close by and visit often.”
    “I couldn’t agree with you more.” His eyes were warm and bright.
    The stark white of his crisp shirt against his golden skin made me ache to touch him. Why did he have to be so damned handsome? And why did it hurt so much that I had to ask him this yet again? “But you won’t live here?”
    “Liz, that’s just not reasonable. We have established business relationships with attorneys in Greenville that give us a steady stream of work.” His voice was gentle, but firm.
    “We have that here now, too.” Damnation . It sounded like I was begging him and that galled me to no end.
    He grimaced, shook his head. “To walk away from all we’ve built there—that’s a hard thing.”
    “So is living here without you.”
    “I could say the same thing about living there without you.”
    “You know why I can’t leave.”
    “No, I don’t.” Stubborn crept into his voice. “I know you don’t want to leave. I also know you lived in Greenville for a long time and were very happy there.”
    “I was.” I sighed. “We’ve been over and over this. How many times are we going to have this same conversation? I love Greenville. But it isn’t home. This is where I belong.”
    His eyes hardened. He picked up his glass and took a long drink of bourbon. “Well, Slugger, I guess we’re right back where we always land—at an impasse, because Greenville is where I belong.”
    “I can’t wrap my brain around why living there is more important to you than being with me.”
    “Right back at you.”
    His voice was ripe with sarcasm.
    “My roots are here. My family is here—and family’s important to me. And I have a responsibility to this town.” I couldn’t explain to him that Colleen insisted I had to stay. I couldn’t explain Colleen period. She’d been adamant about that. There were rules governing her Point of Contact—me.
    “And I have responsibilities in Greenville.”
    “Greenville will still be Greenville without you. If I leave, my council seat goes up for election, and it’s anyone’s guess what the outcome would be.” According to Colleen and her “alternate scenarios,” my leaving would mean big changes for the island and everyone living here. Developers would gain a toehold, and life here would change radically, and not for the better.
    Nate stood and walked to the deck rail, put some distance between us. “You know what I don’t understand? I can’t figure how when Scott needed you in Greenville, you were free to be there.”
    Scott was my ex-husband. He was also Nate’s brother. The situation was not nearly as sordid as it sounded. Scott and I had been divorced for years before Nate and I were more than best friends and business partners. “That is so not fair. I’d just graduated from Clemson. We were interning, you and I, getting in our qualifying hours to get licensed. I stayed in Greenville for a lot of reasons.”
    “Exactly. And the primary reason was Michael Devlin. When you needed to be where Michael Devlin was not , Greenville suited