“Because it’s still there, right?” Holden asks, quietly. “That sadness. She tries to act happy, but it’s always there.”
I fix my gaze on the whiskey glass in my hands, not sure how much more to say. Screw it, the alcohol is making me loose-lipped. I glance up at my brothers. “I don’t want to be the man who adds more pain and stress to her life,” I admit.
“Then don’t,” Hayden says. “Make her life better, not worse.”
“We should back up, though. You gotta leave her alone if she’s made it clear she isn’t interested. We all saw you talking to her at that table during the awards ceremony. Did she tell you to fuck off?” Holden asks.
“Jesus, Holden,” Henry says. His exasperation amuses me.
“It’s a fair question after the way I acted that night, but no, she did not tell me to fuck off. Still, though, there’s this tug of war going on inside me. On one hand, I can’t deny something’s there with her, and I want to see if it might be more. But on the other hand, it brought harm to our family last time I got involved with?—”
“Nope, gonna stop you right there before you say her name,” Hayden says.
The doorbell rings, and I glance down at my watch. I guess it’s been thirty minutes. Henry rises and heads to the door.
“She was a bad person. A selfish manipulator. Yeah, she stole from us, and in retrospect, we probably should have reported it, but she deserves nothing more from you. Not even her name crossing your lips. This isn’t the same.” Damn, Hayden’s tossing out some wisdom bombs tonight.
“Delaney’s not like her. I know that.” I scratch my head and lean back.
Holden’s eyes bulge, and he grins. “You should go big. Like send her flowers at work or maybe a singing telegram. Do you know where she lives? We could decorate?—”
I toss my hands up in front of me.
“Whoa, calm down.I’m not doing any of that. I think I’m just going to back up a little bit, be a better friend to her, and give us a chance to start over. We’ll see what happens.”
The mouthwatering scent of our dinner now surrounds us, and my stomach growls in response.
“Time to eat,” Henry says.
Hayden and I rise, Holden hesitates, but then does as well.
“Don’t you think my plan might work better, though?” Holden is persistent, if nothing else. “I think we should strategize more.”
Hayden glances over at me and winks. “Hey, did you guys hear that Ella was selling to someone who wants to turn the bakery into a bookstore?”
Holden gasps from behind us. “What? Where did you hear that?”
I whisper thanks to Hayden for facilitating the subject change and prevent myself from laughing out loud at how easily he distracted his twin.
Once we have plates, napkins, and something to drink other than whiskey, we sit down and dive into the Chinese food. We spend the rest of our time together screwing with Holden, filling his head with all the different types of businesses we heard are buying the bakery.
When we leave the cabin for the night, we’re all brighter for having spent the time together. As Henry and I lock up, I notice the outside light bulb has burned out.
“We’ve really got to get someone we trust to live here. That or hire someone to check on it and clean.”
“Yeah, I agree. Maybe I’ll ask Ruthie if she knows anyone looking. She’s in everyone’s business, so if there’s anyone available, she’ll know.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Hell, if there’s anyone looking in the tri-county area, she’ll know.”
“True that. We’ll need to get on it sooner rather than later,” he adds. He stops at his car. “You know I can’t deal with spiders, Harrison. If cobwebs are present, that means there might still be spiders.” He shivers.
I clap him on the shoulder. “Does Tillie know what a wuss you are?” I tease.
Henry grins and wastes no time thinking about a response. “Yep. But she’s fine with it because I’m fantastic at?—”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah,” I say as I immediately throw my hands over my ears. I donotneed to hear this. “Nope, I’m out.”
I walk down the driveway, not removing my hands from their position until I’m at least a minute down the path toward my house, and safe from hearing anything about Henry and Tillie’s sex life.
