“I like the dark granite,” the wife droned on.
“The one with the sparkles? Of course you want sparkles.” The husband’s voice carried more than a touch of sarcasm. But still, he smiled at his wife as he linked hands with her on the desktop. There was warmth in his eyes as he shook his head at her. “I know you like shiny things,” he joked, and she lightly slapped him on the arm. “But Iwas thinking we could go more traditional. Something like this,” he said, pulling the sample of Carrera marble from the pile before us.
They went back and forth a few times, offering one sample over the other, vetoing this one and that one. The banter was cute in some ways, but annoying in that I had another appointment to get to. If these two didn’t make a decision soon enough, I was going tofall behind schedule.
And that wasn’t something I took lightly.
Owning and running my own construction company was my top priority.
Who are you kidding? It’s your only priority.
After biting my tongue long enough, I spoke up, hoping to get them to come to a decision about these countertops before their construction project fell behind.
Again.
Seriously, these two were probably the most indecisivecouple ever.
“If you’re looking for something that mixes together the classic and modern, I would go with this.” They both looked on as I pulled out the sample of white soapstone. “It will catch the light and sparkle just enough without being too over the top. It’ll go perfectly with the cabinets you’ve chosen, too.”
“Oh that’s perfect,” the wife cheered. “I love it.”
“Great. We’ll take it.Get me the papers now before she changes her mind,” he joked, but I was already on the move, pulling the order forms out from my desk.
By the time they’d left the showroom, my next appointment was walking in. I had just enough time to sort through the papers and file them away before rising from my desk to greet them. They’d stopped to look at a tray of samples on their way over to me and asI walked to them, the man walking through the doors made me stop in my tracks.
It couldn’t be.
In the split second that I’d laid eyes on him, my anxiety spiked, the blood rushing through my veins like water flowing through a broken dam. I was about to trip over my own two feet, but luckily the counter in front of me stopped me from making a complete fool of myself.
Wearing freshly pressed blackdress pants and a light purple dress shirt, he exuded confidence. His legs were long and lean, his muscles stretching tightly behind the fabric of his sleeves. Even though I was halfway across the showroom, I could see the high cheek bones, the hard, strong angle of his jaw, which of course was covered in a dusting of scruff.
My weakness.
In some kind of erotic slow motion, I watched as theman moved his sunglasses from his eyes up into his hair. Everything about this man looked like him. And I was ready to run away, just like I had all those years ago, but by the time I caught my breath, I realized it wasn’t him.
The man walking toward the area where we had all the backsplash samples was simply someone who looked a hell of a lot like the only man I’d ever loved.
Like the onlyman whose heart I’d ever broken.
In desperate need of some relief from the twelve-hour day I’d just worked, I dropped my bag by the front door and immediately walked over to the bar set up at the back of my kitchen. The smoky burn of the whiskey was just what I needed to soothe away the stress ofmy day.
With my drink in hand, I walked out to the patio and flopped down into the outdoor couch sitting under the pergola. Being a custom homebuilder sure had its perks. Not a second before the feeling of happiness settled into my veins, my phone rang. “Of course she would call today,” I said to myself, as my mom’s name and number flashed across my screen.
“Hi, Mom,” I chirped into the line.I knew why she was calling. It was the same reason she’d called me all week.
“Hi, sweetie. How was your day?” Her question was nothing more than a formality. She had business to get down to. We both knew it.
“It was good. Nothing out of the ordinary,” I answered, waiting for her next question.
“That’s good. Now, listen. I called because—”
“I know why you called,” I said, already annoyed bythe tone of her voice. But I knew better than to let that creep into my words. It had taken me years to be able to speak to any of them without resentment coloring everything I said. They’d been in therapy over the years, as had I. Rumor even had it that Patrick was a touch less of an asshole than he used to be. Mending the broken bridge with my family was no easy task, but it was something I knewhad to be done if I’d ever hoped to put the past behind me.
“Good. Then we can stop tiptoeing around, talking about work.” Her tone had changed. It wasn’t the same lighthearted wistfulness I’d come to expect from her. “Now, I looked up tickets. There’s a flight—”
“Do I really have to go?” I cut her off once again. Yeah, I was sulking. And yeah, I was whining to my mom, but still. I really didn’twant to go. My earlier run-in with his look-alike did nothing but make me want to avoid this wedding like the plague.
“Oh, Ry. You have to be kidding, right?” She laughed into the line, the sound of her hand muffling the receiver, and I was certain she was letting Dad in on our conversation. “He’s your brother. And no matter what—” She let out a frustrated sigh. “No matter what’s gone on betweenthe two of you, you need to be there. Besides, you haven’t been home in years. I’m afraid I’ll forget what you look like.” I’d made my peace with most of our past but not enough that I was willing to go home and step foot back into that small town that caused me so much pain. Though she was laughing, I knew she was done with our daily conversations—the daily back and forth of whether or not I’dbe going to Patrick’s wedding. And her picking at the idea that I didn’t like them was more of a reality than either of us wanted to admit.
