CHAPTER 8:Secrets and Surprise

The sun lay low on its long slide toward the horizon, throwing golden light around the resort. Sophia stayed where she was, her heart still pounding from what Claire had just revealed. Ethan had been injured before — badly. That knowledge made her emotional sorting more complicated.

Claire had told her, "You're the only one who can help him."

Could that really be true? Was she prepared to shoulder such an emotional burden?

Sophia looked at Claire, still standing close, looking at her uncertainly. "Claire," Sophia said quietly, "thank you for trusting me with this. But... why now? Why tell me this today?"

Claire paused, her youthful bravado weak. "Because I've seen how you two look at each other," she confessed. "And I know my brother. Ethan doesn't easily let people in. But with you… it's been different. He's different."

Sophia's chest tightened. Could she possibly be the one to penetrate Ethan's defenses?

Before she could answer, Ethan's voice wafted in. The man was walking toward them, purposeful strides, now the phone was in their pocket. His concern was exacerbated seeing both on their serious matters.

"Hey," he said, a note of caution in his voice. "Is everything okay?"

Sophia and Claire shared a quick glance. "Yeah," Sophia said, mustering a smile. "We were just chatting."

Ethan raised an eyebrow, not buying it but wasn't about to push it. Well, hopefully you're not ganging up on me," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

But now Claire grinned, her old mischief returning. "Not this time, big brother. I'll leave you two alone."

She shot a wink at Sophia, then turned and strolled off, leaving them standing there in the warm glow of evening light.

Ethan's eyes were like daggers as he studied Sophia for a second. "You sure you're okay?" he asked, his voice gentler now.

Sophia nodded, but the gravity of what Claire had said stuck to her brain. "I'm fine," she said. "Just... a lot on my mind."

Ethan cocked his head and smiled just slightly. "Want to talk about it?"

Sophia hesitated. A part of her wanted to spill it all—everything about Claire's confession, to ask him about the ache he bore. But she knew that didn't feel like who she was. If Ethan had walls around his heart, she wasn't going to kick them down in one go.

"Not right now," she said at last.

Ethan's smile dimmed a bit, but he nodded. "Alright. But you know I'm here if you want to talk."

Sophia winced at his earnestness, guilty. She chose to steer the conversation in another direction. "What was your call about? It seemed important."

Ethan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Just a little information on the expansion project. Nothing too exciting."

Sophia raised an eyebrow. "You're not sounding too excited about it."

"It's. Completely complicated," Ethan said. "Nathan's at it again, trying to sabotage all we've been working for. I sometimes question whether I want to deal with all this stress."

Sophia reached out to him, putting a hand on his arm. "You've earned this so much, Ethan. Don't let anyone take that from you."

Ethan gazed down at her hand and returned his eyes to her face. And for a moment, his usual bravado was replaced by something raw and unguarded. "Thanks, Sophia," he said softly.

Later that evening, Sophia rambled around the resort alone, her thoughts jumbling up in her mind. She found herself at the beach, the sound of the waves calming her thoughts.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't realize Ethan was coming up next to her until he was standing right next to her.

"Mind if I join you?" he asked, his voice gentle.

Sophia smiled and motioned for him to sit next to her on the sand. "Of course not."

For a moment, they sat quietly watching the surf lap in the moonlight.

"You know," Ethan said abruptly, "I wasn't always this … guarded.

Sophia looked at him, shocked by his opened up.

"There was somebody," he said, looking out at the water. "Someone I thought I would be with for the rest of my life. But things didn't work out. She left, and it... it broke something in me."

The pain in his voice broke Sophia's heart. "I'm so sorry, Ethan," she said gently.

He shook his head. "It's not your fault. And I've moved on... or at least I thought I had. But sometimes, I question whether I will ever actually trust anyone again."

Sophia paused before answering. "Trust takes time," she said. "And healing isn't linear. But you deserve happiness again, Ethan. You deserve to be able to let someone in.

Ethan glanced at her, their eyes rigorous in attempting to cross each other. "What about you, Sophia? What's your story?"

Sophia knew she was caught off guard by the question, swallow hard. "I've had my own heartbreak," she confessed. "It's part of why I immersed myself in my work. It's so much easier to focus on other people's stories than to deal with mine."

Ethan nodded, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Maybe that's what makes us connect."

Sophia's heart skipped a beat. She wanted to say more, tell him that she felt a bond with him unlike any she had ever known. But the words stuck in her throat.

Instead, she replied, "Maybe."

Under the stars, at that moment, everything unspoken sat there between them so thick, choices weighed with so much potential.

For

the first time in a long time that Sophia felt like she was exactly where she should be.