River
Of course. Are you okay?
Adam
I will be.
32
RIVER
The clink of dishes and the murmur of happy patrons should have been music to my ears, especially after last night’s successful fundraiser. Yet, there I stood, behind the bar, barely registering the bustle around me.
“River, man, what’s with the long face?” Drew’s voice cut through the sounds of the dining floor, his brow creasing in concern. He leaned against the counter, the sleeves of his white shirt rolled up to his elbows. “Last night was epic. People wouldn’t stop talking about the food. You should be riding a victory lap right now, but you look like you were served shrimp scampi when you were expecting lobster tail.”
I managed a halfhearted shrug. “I guess I’m just tired, you know. It was a big night for everyone. I half expected you to call off tonight. You and West must be run off your feet managing all those donations.”
He grinned wide. “We’re going to be pretty busy. Last night blew my mind.”
“Saw you got a nice bid too”
He laughed. “Yeah. Who knew cocktail lessons would be so popular?”
It probably wasn’t so much the cocktail lessons that got him the generous winning bid but the way the bidder seemed spellbound by Drew’s charm on stage when he answered the questions from the emcee.
Any other time, I’d have teased him about it, but I wasn’t even in the mood for that.
“Why don’t you take a break? Looks like you need it, and from where I’m standing, the team has got it all under control.”
He was right. I slipped past the servers and the kitchen crew into my office. Inside, I slumped into my chair, letting the silence envelop me. My mind replayed last night’s events.
Adam’s smile and barely-there nod that had been just for me when he was on stage. The way his smile fell when he saw Victoria. Her venomous comments. His absence.
All of our lives, he’d always come to me in times of need. I’d always been the safe space where he could work things through, and recently, what he’d been working through had been a lot to take in for anyone.
But last night, he sought his twin brother, not me.
“Argh. This is useless.” I turned my computer off and grabbed my keys. On the way out, I asked Fir if he could keep an eye on the restaurant. He was, of course, more than happy to step up. Fir was a great guy and an excellent assistant manager. Lusitana couldn’t be in better hands in my absence.
As I drove home, I knew I had to face the truth no matter how uncertain the outcome.
Lying to myself and to Adam would be denying us the best chance to be happy.
The door creaked as I nudged it open, the familiar, comfortable scent of my apartment wrapping around me.
Adam wasn’t home yet.
I shuffled through the living room, past the couch where we’d spent countless hours talking, listening to music, buried in a book, or laughing.
Crossing the room, I approached the cabinet where I kept all the important paperwork. I slid the drawer open and riffled through the contents until I found the envelope.
I lifted it out. Beneath the flap, neatly folded paper carried words I’d written but never shared. It was the decision I’d made before Adam’s wedding and had been determined to execute until Adam’s world flipped upside down, and as a result, so did mine.
The noise of the keys in the door announced Adam’s return. I tucked the letter in my back pocket and glanced up, my breath catching as he emerged from the hall. He wasn’t wearing the suit he had on yesterday, so I assumed the pair of jeans and shirt I didn’t recognize were probably Lex’s.
“Hey,” Adam said, his voice low, the usual warmth replaced with a weary rasp.
“Hey,” I echoed. The sight of him so visibly spent pulled at something deep within me. It was clear he hadn’t found rest last night any more than I had.
