“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing for months now?”
“We’ve been going out, but we haven’t beengoing out… We’ve always seen each other with other people, as friends. I’m going to try to take her on an actual date.”
“You’ve been hung up on her for this long and you haven’t even asked her on a date?”
“I told you I like to take things slow and do it right. I really like her.”
“Well, if you keep taking it as slow as you have, don’t be surprised when she ends up going out with someone else.”
He nodded, tense.
“I know, dammit. But when I’m with her, she just does something to me, and I can’t act. I’ve never had that happen with any other woman.”
“Imagine someone telling me years ago that my brother, the heartbreaker, was going to be here whining about how he’s too scared to ask a girl out,” I joked.
He shot me a killer glance that made me laugh.
“What do you know about it, Pumpkin? You’ve still got Dustin barking up your tree. Are you ever going to accept his marriage proposal and free him from his torments?”
With horror, I replied, “My God, no. I’m not planning on going out with anyone, let alone Dustin. I only tolerate him because of Dad.”
My brother’s face changed.
“Remember when we were talking on the phone recently? You had just come back from your mysterious trip, and I was on a plane headed to New York. You told me you had something important to tell me. What was it?”
I felt my pulse start racing. That seemed like a lifetime ago. At the same time, it could have been yesterday. I thought of Trey, my brother’s best friend. That was what I’d wanted to talk to him about. I’d wanted to tell him how much Trey meant to me. That I was in love with him. That for some strange reason only fate could know, we were together, and I needed to shout it to the entire world.
“No idea. I don’t even remember. Probably just something stupid.”
Hoyt’s face was serious. He didn’t believe a word of what I was saying. The mood was tense, and getting tenser with every breath. He reached across the table and covered my hand with his.
“It doesn’t matter the day, the hour, or how busy I am. When you’re ready to tell me everything, just call. I mean everything. There’s nothing you could do that would make me stop loving you, Harper. Nothing.”
His phone was lying on the table. It lit up with a message. He took a look and started typing a response, at ease again.
“That look on your face tells me it must be Megan…”
He chuckled.
“Nah, it’s Trey. He’s just letting me know he’s parking. He’s coming in to give me a hand with some specs on the presentation. Some of this stuff I have no idea about.”
It took me a minute to soak in what he’d just said. Trey. He was going to see Trey there. I started trembling. I wasn’t ready to see him. I never would be. I shot to my feet and put on my hat, scarf, and gloves.
“Sorry, Hoyt, I need to go. I forgot I have to make clean copies of a couple of contracts Dustin’s got to have for this afternoon.”
“This shouldn’t take long! Stick around and we can walk back together.”
“I can’t. I just don’t have the time. You’re paying, right?” He nodded and I kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks. You’re the best brother in the world.”
I hurried out so fast that I ran into a guy coming in. I murmuredsorryand crossed the street in the middle of traffic. I didn’t see an oncoming car and it screeched to a halt to keep from hitting me. I thought I’d have a heart attack by the time I was on the other side. When I stopped to catch my breath, I saw him, looking at his phone and walking up the sidewalk.
The feeling was like being punched in the stomach. But I couldn’t stop staring. He was thinner, with a short beard. I thought of all the times I’d kissed that face. He was as handsome as ever, maybe more so. Three months it had been since I’d last seen him, and I still missed him with such intensity that there were days when I didn’t think I could stand it.
I turned around before he could see me and scurried off without looking back. In that moment, it was either keep walking or fall over and die. I needed distance. I needed to feel I wasn’t falling to pieces inside.
I lost track of time as I wandered from one place to the next. The city looked gorgeous with Christmas decorations in the shop windows and lights festooning the streets. The holidays weren’t far away now.
The snow fell harder, and the cold seeped into my bones. I stopped a second to get my bearings, and that’s when I noticed it.
