I still, the ice I’d been trying to gather around me shattering and falling to the wayside. “Wh-what?”
“The charity you donated the money I left for you. Which one was it?”
I dig my toes into the soles of my boots, trying to figure out why he’s asking.
Is he going to take it back?
“It was four years ago now,” I say quietly. “I think they’ve probably already spent it.”
“I know.”
The silence stretches, broken only by the faint metallicclickof a flagpole, thewhooshof traffic below, the occasional airplane soaring overhead.
“So what charity?” he finally asks.
I weigh whether to tell him for another long moment.
But what are the chances of him dropping this?
Not great.
And really, is it going to matter one way or another?
The man I knew wouldn’t take money from a charity.
You don’t know this man.
Maybe I never knew Brooks at all.
Sighing, I shake my head…and name it.
He doesn’t react for what feels like an eternity. Then his mouth kicks up. “Horses, huh?”
I look away, my throat suddenly tight, my eyes burning.
Then I shrug. “They’re innocent.”
His eyes drop from mine and he nods then pushes off the wall. “Come on,” he says, his voice unreadable and soft enough to barely reach my ears. “It’s cold.”
He walks inside.
By the time I pick my jaw up from the floor and follow him, he’s at the fridge, snagging a beer. He lifts one in my direction and I shake my head.
My stomach is stuffed—full to the brim with omelets and pizza and the couple of bourbons I had earlier.
Yet when he grabs the milk out and starts making a mug of hot chocolate, my dessert stomach wakes up, rumbling softly.
“It’s for you,” he says as though he’s somehow heard it even from all the way across the room. He puts the mug in the microwave, jabs at the buttons, then turns for a cabinet, tugging open the door.
The bag of marshmallows he pulls out makes my heart squeeze.
The microwave dings and he retrieves the mug, topping it with a truly absurd amount of marshmallows.
“Here,” he murmurs, pressing it into my hand.
“I…thanks,” I whisper.
He snags his beer and comes back over. “What happened?”
