Grayson’s eyes widened briefly. “Really?”
Maverick decided to rip the Band-Aid off, just get it all out at once. “The summer before our senior year, she was volunteering at the public library. At first, I met her there and we had lunch, but then we started leaving together for a few hours. We came to the farm and spent time in one of the cabins, Hideaway.”
Currently, there were eight rental cabins—there had been ten before Mila and Theo had each claimed one with their significantothers. They were spread out all around the farm, some higher on the mountain, some lower and closer to town.
When Maverick’s mom took care of the cabins, she gave them all cute names, like Hideaway, Honeycomb, and the Nook, which they posted on their website with descriptions, maximum occupancy, and such. Signs posted around the farm directed visitors to their cabins.
Maverick had selected Hideaway because it was the closest cabin to town, and he didn’t have to pass any of the farm’s houses or businesses to get to it.
Grayson nodded, understanding the selection. “You think Mom knows Hideaway was the cabin of choice for the Storm boys’ hookups when we were younger, given we could get there undetected?”
Maverick grinned, appreciating his brother’s attempt at lightening his mood with humor. “I’m going to say yes, simply because there’s precious little any of us have done that’s escaped that woman’s notice.”
“I would say your relationship with Ella slipped under her radar.” Grayson tilted his head. “Hell, it slipped under everyone’s.”
Maverick nodded, aware of that. Just like he was also aware that his silence on the subject was due to the letter. “For two months, we went there every weekday around lunchtime. She was a volunteer at the library, so Ms. Pauley didn’t care if she came and went, and I just made sure to do my chores in the mornings and late afternoons.”
Grayson leaned back. He knew Maverick well enough to know he was beating around the bush. “Keep going.”
Maverick rubbed his jaw. “Two months is a long time for two horny, inexperienced teenagers to explore their sexuality. At first, it was just what you would imagine. Day after day ofmissionary that didn’t last as long as I wanted, because it felt too fucking good and I had zero control.”
Grayson gave him a crooked grin. “We’ve all been there, bro. Although, I also recall recovery time at that age is off the charts, so I’m guessing you didn’t suffer overly much.”
Maverick laughed, though it was forced. “Oh yeah. We didn’t remain inexperienced for long. As the summer progressed, our explorations got a lot more adventurous. Ella was…” He stopped talking because the rest was very personal. And painful.
Grayson spoke when it became clear Maverick wasn’t going to finish his sentence. That was the best thing about his younger brother; he could sense when a topic became too difficult for him, and he always let Maverick talk things out—ornottalk things out—on his own. “Sounds like it was a great summer.”
“It was,” Maverick admitted. “Until it wasn’t.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure,” Maverick said, because that was the truth. “All I know is, one day toward the end of our summer break, I went to the library to pick her up and she wasn’t there. Ms. Pauley said she’d called and said she couldn’t come because she was sick. I was worried, so I drove by her house, thinking maybe I could sneak to her window to check on her. Her dad’s truck was in the drive, so I figured maybe the whole family had come down with something. She didn’t own a phone, so it wasn’t like I could call or text her.”
“Medieval,” Grayson muttered.
“The same thing happened the next day, and the next, and then it was the weekend. We never got to see each other on weekends because her dad made them go to church both days.”
“Saturday too?” Grayson said, wrinkling his nose.
While their parents attended church whenever they could, it wasn’t very often due to guests staying at the B&B. As for Maverick and his brothers, they’d become C&E worshippers,going with Mom and Dad on Christmas Eve and the occasional Easter service. Maverick considered himself more spiritual than religious, and his work on the farm didn’t fit into a nine-to-five weekday, so there were still chores to do on Sundays.
“By Monday, I was coming out of my skin,” Maverick said. “So much so, I’d decided I was going to risk the wrath of her dad and go to their house. Just as I was about to leave, Mom caught me, said the mailman had delivered a letter for me. When she handed it to me, I recognized Ella’s handwriting right away.”
Grayson frowned. “She mailed it?”
“Yeah.” Maverick sighed, running his hand through his hair, swallowing hard in an attempt to loosen the sudden tightness in his throat. “She said it was over between us, that she never wanted to see me again. She said…”
“Just say it, Mav.”
“She said I’d led her down a bad path.”
She’d actually said a hell of a lot more than that, but the rest was what had kept Maverick silent about their relationship for all these years. Things he still couldn’t say aloud, even now.
“That’s weird. What did she say the next time you saw her?”
Maverick’s gaze slipped over his brother’s shoulder, taking in the side of Ella’s beautiful face. “The next time I saw her was at Whiskey Abbey last week. After I read the letter, I went to my room, devastated.”
“I don’t understand. Didn’t you see her at school?”