I frown. “What for? I already expressed enough gratitude about landing the plane.”
“I willneverstop thanking him for that.” Shawn waves toward the door of the guest bedroom. “But you can also give thanks that he made sure you have a working toilet in the guest room. The thing went haywire this morning. Wouldn’t flush. I may have panicked. But then George swooped in, did some toilet magic, and now the mysterious machine is working again. I expect you to give him a standing ovation next time you see each other.”
I roll my eyes. “First off, toilets are not mysterious. Nor do they require magic.”
“False. They make all sorts of stuff my body expels disappear. Where does it go? How does it leave? Magic is the only explanation.”
“Second,” I continue without addressing Shawn’s complete lack of blue-collar know-how. “You live in the fanciest building ever. I’m sure the front desk has a plumber on call who would’ve fixed it fine.”
Hell,Icould have repaired whatever was up. My plumbing knowledge has grown exponentially since moving into a house with ancient pipes. Plus, I fixed what sounds like almost the same exact issue a few days ago.
“George is a wizard with toilet spells,” Shawn declares. “He deserves respect.”
“Is this why he’s your best friend? Because without him you’d be living in your own excrement?”
Shawn’s cell phone vibrates on the counter between us.
“Maybe that’s him now.” I wave toward the device and try to ignore the way my pulse pounds a touch faster at the thought of hearing the pilot’s deep voice. “Your life partner checking up on you.”
My brother snorts. “It’s not. You know how I know it’s not? Because it’s a call. George hates talking on the phone. I swear he could be running from a murderer and still try to text 911 instead of talk to an operator.” Shawn reaches out to flip the cell screen side up, showing an unknown number. “I’ll shut it off after this, I swear.”
I shrug and wave for him to take it. Whatever Shawn does for BnB must not be too demanding because I’ve rarely heard him take a work call. Pretty much never, now that I think about it. I’m kind of interested to hear what they need him for.
“Hello, Shawn speaking.” I roll my eyes at his professional phone voice, and he grins, catching the move.
Then the happy expression drops, his brow wrinkling in a deep frown that looks misplaced on his face.
“Tiffany.”
At the sound of his ex’s name, I sit up straight, my fists clenching as if I need to defend him from the woman who broke his heart.
Why is she contacting him?
“I need you to stop doing this. I blocked your number for a reason.” He turns his back to me, pacing while he gives an agitated tug on his hair. “I know you’re sorry. But that doesn’t change anything.”
Discomfort settles like a toxic sludge in my gut.
“No. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to see you.” Exhaustion drags at his voice. How many times has he repeated those words since their split? “We’re not anything anymore. Just leave me alone.” He pulls the phone away from his ear and hangs up, then fiddles with the screen as he mutters about blocking numbers.
The air in his kitchen has grown heavy, and Shawn gets overly focused on opening the take-out containers.
“She still calls you?” I ask, because even though he’s gone quiet, my brother is a talker. And I think he might want to talk about this.
If he doesn’t, that could be worse. Like what she did to him broke a piece of his internal makeup.
“She keeps getting new numbers. Or using her friends’ phones.” He shrugs. “I’d change mine, but a lot of clients only have this number.”
“Does she want to get back together?” I keep my voice careful, not wanting to hurt him.
“She says she just wants to talk. To earn my forgiveness.” He fiddles with a Styrofoam lid. “But yeah, I think that’s what she wants.”
“And you don’t?”
Shawn shakes his head. “I’ll probably forgive her. Someday. But I won’t ever want to be around her again. Not after the way she used me. The way she lied to me.”
I watch him as he turns to grab plates, trying not to apply his words to myself. It’s not that I like Tiffany and want them to get back together. Far from it.
The day they broke up Shawn got sloppy drunk on strawberry daiquiris and explained why he ended the engagement. Apparently, Tiffany had been away on a girls’ trip in some tropical location. She’d sent Shawn a video with the normal “Hey, babe! Miss you! Look at this gorgeous view, wish you were here…” blah blah blah, all that stuff. But the video didn’t end when she must have thought it did. It turns out, she set down her phone while the recording went on, catching her next words.
