Shane looked like he was about to faint.
“Goodness gracious,” he muttered to himself. “I am just never going to talk again. If I never, ever talk again, I can’t put my foot in my mouth anymore.” Then, he squared his shoulders. “You know what? I’m going to stand by it. You two so obviously adore one another! So the next step is to just…” He rapidly pressed his hands together as if he planned to physically shove Eleanor and Garrett into a room together. “Talk about it.”
Eleanor sighed and dabbed at her eyes again. This was good advice. She knew it was good advice. But…
“I’m just worried that if I talk to him about it, I’ll find out that he doesn’t feel the same way, and it will ruin the way things have been between us,” she confessed.
“I don’t think it’s likely, but I’ll admit that it’s possible,” her brother said, nodding sympathetically. “But that doesn’t mean that putting it off is a good idea. I mean, you’reclearlynot having a good time. Don’t you think that knowing is better than this miserable not knowing?”
This was good adviceagain. How irksome to have a little brother grow up to be wise and kind. Eleanor could remember when he tried to eat a spoonful of lemonade mix as a dare and found the sour taste so unpalatable that he’d stuck his whole head under the sink while his friends roared with laughter. How hadthatgoofy kid grown up to be such a wonderful, thoughtful person?
“It’s really annoying when you’re right,” she said begrudgingly.
He laughed and wrapped an arm around her neck.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m the worst, I know. If it makes you feel any better, I haven’t had very much experience with long-term relationships. I could be telling you total nonsense right now.”
“Nah,” she said, leaning her head on his shoulder. It wasn’t the most comfortable angle, but it was worth the crick she might get in her neck soon enough. She really was very happy to have this time with her little brother. She hadn’t even realized how much she’d missed him until he’d become an everyday presence in her life. “It all sounds pretty good so far. What else have you got?”
Shane hummed thoughtfully. “Hmm. I hit ‘both people should have an idea of where their future is going’ and I got the ‘open communication’ bit in. So I think I’m tapped out.”
“Darn,” she said. “I was hoping you’d have something that would magically make me feel better.”
Her neck protested enough that she pulled back. She saw her brother giving her a fond look.
“I think talking to me isn’t going to cut it with that one, big sis. Talking to Garrett, however…” He trailed off suggestively.
“Double darn,” she said sourly, making him laugh.
Eleanor, it turned out, had a few more sniffles left in her, so she rooted into her pocket and came up with a rumpled but clean tissue. She wiped at her eyes, then her nose before sucking in a deep, steadying breath.
“You’re right,” she said. “I know you’re right. Thanks for talking me through my little meltdown there. You’re a good brother.”
He gave her a wink. “Anytime. It’s not like I don’t owe you for looking out for me a million times when I was growing up.”
“Hey, what are big sisters for?”
He arched a brow. “I could say the same to you. Now, why don’t you let me mind your shop for a little while so that you can go talk to that man of yours? Ipromisethat you’ll feel better afterward.”
Eleanor nodded. It was time to be brave.
“Do you know what? I think I will do exactly that.”
She only hoped that it didn’t end with her heart broken into a million pieces…
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Garrett stood on his ladder, fiddling with the latch that held the hanging sign outside Sandy Paws Pet Shop. He’d gotten a call that morning that the sign had fallen off its hinges and was hanging crookedly. Since Garrett had been the one to install the sign, perhaps seven or eight years ago now, he’d been the owner’s first call when something went awry.
He’d eagerly accepted the job, feeling pretty desperate for something to take his mind off this ongoing… whatever the situation was with Eleanor. Was it a fight? It didn’t reallyfeellike a fight. They hadn’t gottenangrywith one another. They hadn’t exchanged harsh words or anything like that.
His frustration at the situation doubled whenever he considered that he didn’t know at all what was going on. He would apologize if he knew what he was apologizing for. But he didn’t even know if he should be apologizing, because he didn’t know what in the heck that he had done that had upset his girlfriend so much.
If she even still is my girlfriend anymore, he thought with a pang.
But they couldn’t bebroken up, could they? Oh, Garrett knew that just vanishing on a partner was something thathappened. Something about ghosts? He didn’t know the current terminology, since he hadn’t dated for a decade before Eleanor, and he wasn’t exactly hip with the kids’ lingo. He could have asked his nieces, but he hadn’t dared. For one, he didn’t even want to entertain the thought. For another, he didn’t want to hear what questions his nieces, or worse, hissister, would have about such an inquiry.
Besides, Eleanor was way too classy to do such a thing. Not to mention that it wasmuchtoo small a town for things like that to work without extreme awkwardness. For goodness’ sake, Garrett and Eleanor had gotten together in the first place largely in part because they hadn’t been able to avoid one another even when he’d been trying to do so!
