Mr. Blackbourne's Mistake

Chapter 17 - Meddling

Sang

Sang was still fighting off tears as Naomi unlocked her bakery, the sun setting behind them. Saying out loud that she'd been abandoned by family who'd promised to stay by her side was humiliating enough. Saying it in front of strangers was even worse.

Wordlessly, Naomi sat her down at one of the little tables inside before setting a brownie in front of her and taking a seat. "You want to talk about it?" Naomi gently asked.

Sang stared at the treat. Naomi was being so supportive, and this really was a friendship Sang wanted to nurture. She couldn't tell most of the story, but she could give an abbreviated, high-level version. Sighing, she picked at the edge of the brownie as she said, "I grew up in kind of a tough situation. When I met North and his family, they were . . . amazing. I never imagined they were people in the world who would support anyone the way they supported me. Then North and I ended up together, and Mr. Blackbourne . . . felt like I only loved North because he helped save me from my situation, and that North only loved me because I was a damsel in distress."

That worked, didn't it? It wasn't the exact truth, but Mr. Blackbourne's fears supposedly revolved around their feelings not being real, if he'd been so set on them all trying different things. She didn't know his exact thoughts, but it seemed like either he didn't believe Sang really could have loved all nine of them, not in a real, fulfilling relationship, or that the guys couldn't really be satisfied sharing her with so many others. Or maybe both.

"So he wanted us to separate, sure that I was too dependent on him and them after they saved me." Just saying the words hurt. It was like she was back a year ago, packing up the bare minumum of her things as she left all over again. Because almost everything she'd had had been gotten for her by the guys. She hadn't wanted the reminder of them or their charity. She'd assumed and hoped they'd donate everything else to young women who needed the things she left behind. And as she talked, she wondered how much truth there was to her words. Maybe Mr. Blackbourne had felt she was too reliant on them, even with her becoming more independent as she grew older.

She'd still been with them all the time, and nearly all of her decisions had been based around what the guys wanted . . . which she'd thought was part of loving someone. Especially after she found a wonderful blog talking about how marriages worked best when both parties weren't selfish and worked for the happiness of their partner above their own happiness. That didn't mean forgetting your own wants and needs, it just meant that the other person's happiness was also your priority. But him wanting her to be entirely independent from them somewhat fit with the program he'd wanted her to do.

Realizing Naomi was still watching her, she gave a helpless shrug. "That's all. After he wanted us to separate, North and I left rather than listening to him. We haven't seen them since then, and it's been about a year."

Naomi pressed her lips together as she watched Sang take a few nibbles, her eyes concerned. "Did you . . . did you look at Mr. Blackbourne and his friends at all while you spoke with the police, Sang?"

Sang tensed. She didn't want to see them period. Of course she'd avoided looking at them as much as possible. "Not really. Why?"

"They looked . . . pretty devastated when you said they chose to not look after you, Sang. And their eyes were practically begging you to go back and talk to them when you walked away. Obviously, I don't know what happened, but . . ." Her voice softened. "Are you sure that there's not some misunderstanding somewhere in what happened?"

Sang shot to her feet. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Sang!" Naomi called as she hurried for the door.

Sang attempted to throw a smile over her shoulder as she said, "Thanks for the brownie. Really, I appreciate it." Then she was out the door. She didn't want to hear about how the guys had looked. Imagining that they cared that much hurt too much. And made the fact that they'd left her for an entire year too confusing.