Squaring her shoulders, she lengthened her stride.She’d be back in three weeks.Maybe Darryn would be waiting for her at the airport, maybe he wouldn’t.But she was not going to hold her breath.
Somewhere over the Atlantic, she opened her tablet.Caitlin, Zoe, and Dana had made boards on Pinterest after they got married.Why she wanted to torture herself to look at these now, she had no idea.But a few minutes later, she had created her own board and was looking through all things wedding-related without understanding why.
Chapter Seventeen
“And who ateyour porridge this morning?”Don asked and slapped him on the back.
Darryn scowled, trying to concentrate on the computer.“I’m working.”
He shared an open plan office with his brothers.They each had smaller offices they used when they needed more privacy, but they all preferred this open space.Usually, it worked very well, because it made discussing their work easy.But maybe he should have worked in his own office for another day or two.
He had been avoiding joining them here over the last two weeks since Hannah’s departure.Damnit, his brothers were all ecstatically happy, and he was miserable, even more miserable than he’d been before he told Hannah he loved her.
Since Hannah’s departure, they’d talked over the phone, they’d Skyped, they’d texted, they’d emailed one another, but it wasn’t the same as being with her, being able to touch her, to smell her, to love her.He slept alone, he got up in an empty bed and empty house, he had his meals alone, and he hated every minute he was not with her.
And to add to his frustration, he found he kind of clammed up when he was talking to her over the phone or via Skype.He had never been good with words.Showing her how he felt about her wasn’t a problem.The problem was she wasn’t near him, so he couldn’t demonstrate what he felt.And the longer she stayed away, the worse it became.He didn’t want to talk to her about his day, his work.He wanted…her.
He was being irrational, but damnit, ever since he first laid eyes on Hannah Sutherland, his brain had stopped working rationally.
He somehow thought if he was among his brothers, he might not miss her so much.It wasn’t working, and to add to his frustration, he had to sit there and listen to his brothers’ smart remarks.
“How are you feeling?”Dale asked.“Head and shoulder working again?”
“I’m fine.”Darryn growled and continued looking at his computer.
“He doesn’t sound fine to me,” David said.“What do you guys think?”
“It’s not as if he’s been Mr.Sunshine over the last two years, but lately he’s downright grumpy,” Dale complained.
Irritated, Darryn looked up.“I’m right here, you know?You want to say something to me, say it.”
“I don’t know why you’re so grouchy.I thought you got the girl,” David said innocently.
“Yes, damnit, I got the girl, but she…she’s in New York.She’s working,” he snapped and again tried to concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing.
“Women work,” Dale said.“Zoe still works as an interior designer.She flies to London in two weeks.”
“And you don’t mind?”Darryn asked.
“We discuss our schedules and, whenever possible, I go with her.”A grin nearly split his face in two.“Just so happens I can go with her this time.”
“Caitlin still sees patients,” Don said.“Of course it helps that she now has her rooms adjacent to the house.With Donato getting bigger, it’s more difficult, but we try to work our schedules out so one of us is always with him.It’s not always possible of course, but we have the loving grandmas on standby.”
“And Dana still teaches.I actually thought she would stop working once we were married, but she loves what she does.”
“But they don’t work halfway across the world all the time,” Darryn said.“She’ll be back in a week’s time, but then she’s off again somewhere and then she’ll be away for months!”
“Oh, man you’ve got it bad.”David grinned.“Have you told her you loved her?”Dale asked.
“Of course, I damn well told her!”Darryn exclaimed.“What a bloody stupid question!”A blessed silence fell over the office.
Darryn tried to concentrate on his work.
“You could go with her when she has to be away,” Dale said.
“Yeah, what you do, you can do anywhere and, frankly, if you’re going to be this grumpy every time she leaves, you may just as well go with her,” David said.
“And…” Don began, but Darryn had had enough.Swearing, he got up and grabbed his computer.
