13 - Henry's Confession

When Henry got back, they made their plans for dinner. At the time, the family came in to say their goodbyes and checked out. With the grocery list in hand, Jace and Darla left to climb into Henry’s little chevy roadster, claiming they would joyride for a while before heading off to the store. He was a great sport about it though, telling them to take their time.

With it being just the two of them now, the Inn was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. “So…” they both said at the same time, then laughed. “You go first.” Henry smiled.

Rose blushed, pulling her long burgundy curls over her shoulder. “Well, you just never answered my question. Why have those games and everything when it’s not really necessary?”

“Well,” Henry seemed to contemplate this question more than she was expecting, “truth is, I’m retired from my first job. The garage is a fun business that I don’t have to stress over, so it’s just really to keep me busy. But, sometimes I moonlight for my old agency. Sometimes, the things they ask me to do require those consoles or access to certain systems depending on recon. So, I have them for that, but I don’t use them unless I’m working. And I try to avoid moonlighting for them at this point in my life. So usually I refuse.”

“Oh, is this stuff you did for the CIA?” Rose asked.

Henry smirked, shrugging, “If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

“I guess that’s the impolite version of, that’s confidential?”

He looked at her sheepishly, “I was really just trying to be funny.”

Rose took a few steps toward him, “I know. I was just giving you a hard time. Can I get you another beer or anything? Or, if you’d like, I can get you a room key. You look really tired.”

Pouting, he took her hand in his, “I finally get you alone, and you’re trying to send me to bed.” Rose started to argue, but he pressed a finger against his lips. “How about a walk instead? There’s something I wanted to confess to you last night, but things got a little crazy, and I never got the chance.”

“A confession? What are we, children?” She squeezed his hand, pulling him toward the back door.

“Ha, it’s not that kind of confession… well, it might turn into that but, it’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time but was worried it would be really weird if I did. But you mentioned something yesterday that made me think, you would probably like to know.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Not here. Come on.” He pulled her back, nodding toward the front of the house. “Let’s go this way.” Oddly enough, he was pulling her toward the detached garage. Curious. Where was he taking her? Rounding the other side of the garage was her old childhood hang-out. It was mostly Kai’s now, but he didn’t need to run away from her like she used to run from her father. So, the place needed some TLC.

There was a small fort she used to play in. It was off the ground, built into the boughs of a large willow tree. The door had fallen off long ago and was replaced by an old blanket which was now moth-eaten and sun dyed. “Oh my, this brings back some good memories.” Mostly memories of playing here with the children that came to the Inn. Henry dropped her hand, walked over to the shack. Climbing up onto one of the limbs the little fort sat on until he was half of the way up. Rose had to laugh. “What are you doing?”

“Preparing for my confession.” He smiled, leaning over so that his elbows rested on his knees. “I’m assuming you’re laughing because thing brings back happy memories.”

“I mean, yeah, I used to…” She stopped, her head whipping back to Henry.

“Yeah. I know.” He said quietly, jumping down from the branch. “And…” he took her hand, pulling her toward the shack. Her shoulders bumped against it gently, “this, is where you had your first kiss.” Rose’s heart was beating wildly. Was this real? Was this really happening? Henry leaned in, “I shared that moment with you, and it was one of the sweetest in my life. I remember it all too. Coming here. Enjoying the time I got to spend with you. I remember getting mad at my dad for forcing me into his hunts, because that was never why I was excited to come here. But dad didn’t want me to be a bad influence on you either. He knew about your dad. I felt so bad after. May I try it again now? I don’t think anyone is waiting inside the garage watching us anymore.”

“You-You’re him?” She whispered, completely shocked. When he said he had a confession, this was not the form she thought it would take.

“Yeah. Nice to meet you. I’m Henry Mason. My brother Hank is younger, I came back to the area to be near him after what happened to Harry, his family, and my parents. They were murdered because of a mission I was on. The bad guys figured out who I was and started going after my family. I was out of the country and didn’t find out about it until I came home. Hank had to deal with it alone and his wife hates me for that. So, I’m not welcome there anymore. I know you didn’t give me their names, but my parents were Harry, my oldest brother was a Jr, and my mother was Hanna. Hank married a friend of yours from back then. Her name is Harper. I actually remember seeing you at the wedding. I don’t think you realized who the groom was. I tried to talk to you a bit back then too, but you were with this blonde-haired guy that was an absolute jackass and wouldn’t let me.” Henry’s lips pressed together, and Rose was far too in her own shock to reply.

He was here. Henry had bought the place next door after retiring because of an overwhelming loss. “Did… did you buy the place next door on purpose?”

“Yes.” He admitted. She hated that he never blushed, but she could tell he was uncomfortable. The tips of his ears were turning red. “I know you haven’t dated a lot, but I, unfortunately, have. I saw this place up for sale after all the bad things in my life happened, and I knew that I could at least be at peace here. This beach holds a lot of happy memories for me. That was what I really needed. I wasn’t thinking about you, or that time, but the moment you showed up at my door with dinner because you were worried about your neighbor, I knew I wanted to try to get to know you better. I just didn’t know how. Not after the upheaval my life took before that.” Silence stretched between them, and Henry was looking highly uncomfortable.

“Is that why you gave me neighbor rates at the shop?” The words were all but a whisper, but they were so close right now that it didn’t matter.

Henry smiled, “I want to give you the world. I don’t know why, but I bided my time. I wanted to see what kind of person you grew into. And that happened to be the woman who stood in my garage and offered her discount to another, offering to pay full price-which I knew she couldn’t afford so that someone else would have an easier time. But, that other woman would have been fine. You would have had to scrape and struggle for it. I didn’t ever want you doing that.”

“Is that why you chose the library over the spa?” She was starting to relax in his arms, and he was slowly growing closer and closer. So close now, that she could feel the heat coming off his body, and she could smell the beer on his breath.

Henry smiled, “That’s a very small reason. Pretty selfish of me, if I’m fair. I preferred a library too. I thought, if I could find someone who wanted that too, it would be perfect.”

“I looked like a crazy nerd in there with you. I know I did.”

“And I loved it.” Henry’s hand met her face and forced her to look up at him. “And there you have it. My confession. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I wanted to. I just… didn’t want to seem like a creep and that really scared me.”

“Did Jace date me so that he could try to push us together?” Rose didn’t really care. The whole story was like a dream. He had been remembering their time together so fondly, that it was a place of peace in his mind, and he came back for that.

“No.” Henry looked away, clearly uncomfortable. “He really liked you. When he told me your guys were dating, I kinda had a man-trum. I’m not proud of it. But after I told Jace everything that I was feeling, he decided to be a better wingman than a boyfriend and to try to push us together. He said that feelings like that didn’t usually last a lifetime, and he wanted me to have a chance. I admit to ruining your relationship with him, and I want you to know; I felt awful. I asked him not to, but he never really stopped.”

“No. He didn’t.” Rose laughed. “This is not what I was expecting when you said you had a confession.” Not wanting him to run, she dug her fingers into his arm, holding him there. Henry didn’t even try to pull away. Instead, he looked rather pleased.

“I know. I’m sorry. I don’t want to complicate things. I hope I haven’t.” Henry’s head hung for a few seconds, but his golden eyes were hopeful when they came back up to meet hers.

Rose shook her head, “You haven’t. But I do think we need to retry that first kiss."

“I kissed you last night, so it doesn’t count anymore.” Despite his words, he was clearly excited by her proposal. His grin was slowly growing.

“Seriously? It totally counts. After all that—” She didn’t get to finish as Henry leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. At first, it was just like their first kiss. Sudden. Sweet. Innocent. His lips were pressed against hers. He was feeling awkward and unsure. Then it changed. Not like when her father showed up and threw him off her and started beating her. Oh no. This time, it was as magical as it should have been then. They slowly gained momentum. He delved deeper into her, and she accepted everything he had to offer. She had never kissed anyone with such abandon.

When they broke apart, they were wrapped in each other’s arms. “Um, Henry?”

“Yeah?”

“We don’t have a lot of time before I need to make dinner. And we don’t know when people will come back. Would you like to come to my room for a bit so we can finish this and do dinner together after?”