I left her to it, not wanting to distract her further.
Friday night at The Quarter Lounge, I sat at a table with Parker, Nix, Auston, Donovan, and Kaleb, one of Nix’s employees that occasionally joined us. I was nursing a beer, listening to Kaleb recount some hilarious mishap that happened on the jobsite with one of their new employees, and doing my best to not think about Nellie and what she was—or wasn’t—doing.
Earlier that afternoon, she’d avoided eye contact with me when I came in to take over the phones so she could leave. She’d thanked me, but there was something concerning about the way she drew into herself. I couldn’t help but wonder what sort of appointment she had, and why it’d brought about such tension in her.
If the guys noticed my unusual silence, they didn’t call attention to it, and for that I was grateful. But that peace only lasted until Nix, Kaleb, Donovan, and Auston went to lay claim to one of the pool tables when it became available.
Parker cornered me the moment we stood to join them. “You’ve barely said a thing all night. What’s going on, Noah?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” I said, trying to brush it aside.
“Don’t bullshit me, you’ve been weird ever since the party. What’s up? Are you that pissed I commented on your hair? Cause I’m sorry. Tabitha gave me shit for that. I didn’t realize it was such a sore spot for you.”
“I couldn’t give a fuck about that,” I scowled at him. He sent me a pointed look, and I knew my reaction wasn’t helping. I sighed. “I’m tired. It’s been a busy few weeks at the resort.” And it had been. Between the winter storms we’d had, and the fact that we were booked solid all throughout winter break, I’d been spending a lot of time at the resort.
We would be seeing a bit of a decline over the next few weeks as we transitioned into the off-season, and if the weather cooperated, maybe I could dial it back a bit and take a rest, but I really had been tied up there.
I’d been busy before—every peak-season, for that matter, and I hadn’t really let myself feel the exhaustion of that. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I knew that a lot of my current exhaustion came from avoiding a certain brown-eyed beauty that had been steadily occupying my thoughts since her return to Hartwood Creek, and my life.
“Okay, well. You know you can talk to me, right man?” Parker asked, putting a heavy hand on my shoulder.
I willed myself not to shake off his touch. “I know, and I appreciate it. But there’s nothing to say.” I assured him.
“If you say so,” Parker said, looking at me as if he didn’t quite buy it. “But, I mean, if this was about a certain new tenant of mine…”
“It’s not,” I all but growled, my eyes narrowing.
“Tabitha seems to think so,” Parker raised his hands in a don’t-shoot-the-messenger way. “I’m just saying, if it was about a certain new tenant, you could talk to me about that. You could also come ‘round a little more. I miss having beers in the garage.”
“It’s a little harder to do now that I’m not living above your garage,” I pointed out dryly. Parker looked a little defeated. “But yeah, I’ll try to come around more,” I added, feeling a little guilty.
I used to see my friends more than one night every couple of weeks, but when my parents decided to retire a couple years ago, my responsibilities at the resort increased and I pulled back a little. It wasn’t intentional, it was a lack of work and life balance. I still showed up to our guys’ nights at The Quarter Lounge, but I didn’t drop by randomly when I was in town. Usually because I didn’t make it to town often.
It'd been different when I lived above Parker’s garage. We’d had plenty of beers in his garage, and late night hangs in his backyard by the fire pit. With my cabin so close to the resort, there wasn’t much of an excuse for me to be in town unless I was grocery shopping or running errands.
“We miss you,” Parker said, trying to shrug it off. “Besides, if you did come around more, you’d see Nellie.”
I sighed. Parker knew me better than even my brothers knew me. “Yeah, well. That situation is complicated. She works for me, and she doesn’t seem interested in pursuing anything other than a working relationship, and maybe a reluctant friendship.”
“I don’t know about that,” Parker said, taking a sip of his beer. His eyes sparkled like he knew something.
“You guys playing, or what?” Nix called out from the pool table before I could ask Parker to elaborate. The game was set up and they were waiting for us to join.
My friend grinned, like he knew he was leaving me with a thousand unanswered questions, and clapped my shoulder and taking off, leaving me to reflect on his tone and expression.
Nellie
* * *
Our girls’ night in had begun around six with pizza from Pizza Picasso. Then when Nix left, Daphne, Sage and I painted our nails and put on facial masks. Daphne chattered about all the exciting things happening in her world. The little girl talked until her eyes got heavy, then Sage helped her wash off the face goop and tucked her into bed.
We had an impressive spread out for snacking, even though we’d consumed an entire cheese pizza already. Our usual wine had been replaced with sparkling water, which we drank out of wine glasses—because, well, why not?
“So, have you thought anymore about how you’re going to tell Noah?” Sage asked over the movie that we weren’t paying attention to. It was mostly on for background noise.
“Not really,” I replied. I’d been ruminating about it for weeks now, knowing that I needed to come clean about my situation, but dreading it at the same time.
My inkling told me Noah was it; he was the father, but I also had to acknowledge that could be wishful thinking.
