He knew she needed to return to the restaurant to pick up the food before heading over to the party, but she hadn’t shared her timeline.
“I don’t have a lot of time. Lydia is expecting me at five.”
He didn’t bother asking who Lydia was because it didn’t matter. If she needed to be there at five, Liv didn’t have a lot of time to play with right now. “I’ll run in and get the keys for you, then.”
Less than five minutes later, Matt watched Liv drive away and realized he should’ve told her to keep the vehicle so she could use it for tomorrow’s event. When she came back later, he’d rectify that. He’d also see if she’d open up and explain what she meant by “bad news seems to be the theme of the week.”
Three
Matt stood in front of the fridge and considered his dinner options. Although he had plenty of food on hand, nothing appealed to him. While he could go pick something up, he didn’t know when Liv would return, and he didn’t want to keep her waiting for him. Unfortunately, while Matt had given her his phone number in case she needed it, he hadn’t asked for hers, so calling or texting her to get an ETA was out of the question.
Grabbing a blueberry yogurt smoothie, he twisted off the lid. Before he could get the bottle to his mouth, though, his cell phone rang. When he saw the name “Theo” on the screen, he took a sip of his drink before answering because his brother could wait a minute.
“Hey, Theo. How’s it going?”
Matt crossed the kitchen to the room’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The weather app on his phone predicted the area would get one hell of a storm tonight. Already, a soft drizzle hit the windows, but the dark clouds filling the sky suggested that the rain would intensify soon. There was nothing quite like the ocean during a storm.
“I can’t complain,” Theo answered.
His brother’s answer didn’t surprise him. No matter how grumpy or stressed Theo got, he rarely complained to anyone except his twin. Instead, he avoided people until he took care of whatever the problem was. Honestly, Matt didn’t know how Theo managed to go through life like that. As far as he was concerned, sometimes it simply helped to find someone willing to listen while you got things off your chest.
“What about you? Mom told me you’re hiding up in Maine.”
No doubt their mom had used those exact words. While she enjoyed being near the water, she didn’t like to be more than an hour’s drive from a major city. His brothers were much the same way. Matt enjoyed visiting a city like Los Angeles from time to time, but not regularly.
“I wouldn’t say hiding, but yeah, I’m in Maine. I got here last week.”
As if an angry god controlled the weather, the sky opened. Heavy rain pelted the windows, making it almost impossible to see, and Matt was glad he wasn’t driving. A car’s windshield wipers would be of little use in a storm like this.
“How long are you going to be there?” Theo asked.
“I’m not sure. But at least until July. Why?”
“Brianna and I are heading to Maine in July. If you’re going to be around, I thought we’d visit while we’re in the area.”
Theo rarely vacationed on the East Coast, and when he did, he spent his time in places like Miami or New York City. Matt couldn’t recall his brother ever going to Maine.
“Brianna? What happened to Iris?”
Matt didn’t keep tabs on his brothers’ love lives, and Theo didn’t share with him the names of everyone he dated. However, the last time he’d spent time with his brother, Theo and Iris had been attached at the hip. It’d been almost sickening to watch, actually.
“Iris received a promotion at work that she couldn’t turn down. She moved to Seattle seven months ago.” The annoyance in Theo’s voice suggested there was more to the story. “We tried the long-distance thing, but it didn’t work. We haven’t spoken in about five months.”
Had it really been more than six months since he saw his brother? It didn’t seem possible. And if it had been that long since he saw Theo, it had been even longer since he saw Aiden. He’d have to do something about that soon.
“Brianna and I’ve been together for about three months. We met at a fundraiser.”
Lightning flashed across the sky, and a loud crack soon followed, suggesting it had struck something. Matt’s bet was on a tree.
“Why are you two coming this way?” If Brianna was anything like the women Theo usually dated, Maine wouldn’t be on her list of places to visit.
“One of Brianna’s sorority sisters is getting married.”
His brother’s trip to the East Coast made a lot more sense now. “I’ll let you know if I’m still here. Do you know where the wedding is?” Maine wasn’t the largest state in the US, but depending on where the wedding was, it could be a bit of a drive to Orchard Harbor.
The doorbell rang just as Matt finished asking the question.
“Brianna told me, but I don’t remember. I’ll ask her when I see her later today.”
