Wow.
Reilly wasn’t sure she’d ever seen him like this. What exactly happened last night? She wanted to ask, but something told her to hold off. Donovan seemed somewhat fragile, and to be fair, that was the first time in her life that she’d ever seen him that way.
“I’ll be back before you close,” Brady said, his voice low. “I’ll drive you home.”
Reilly nodded, then watched as Brady steered her brother out of the store and down the sidewalk.
Hmm. If she could be a fly on the wall.
Thirteen
Ten minutes after Brady and Donovan left, Reilly was sitting on the counter, playing a game on her cell phone, when the bells over the door jingled. She looked up to see Tate wearing what was definitely the ugliest Christmas sweater in the history of Christmas sweaters. Yeah, they had insisted they were wearing them this year, but she thought for sure they’d have a reason to do so. A random trip into town didn’t seem to warrant it.
So why was he wearing it? Maybe it was the only thing he had clean, or maybe—
“Hey,” he greeted, a cheerful gleam in his blue eyes.
Fake cheer, she noticed. That gleam in his eyes wasn’t exactly real. Or rather, it wasn’t truthful. He was pretending he was happy. Why? Did it have something to do with Donovan? Did that ugly Christmas sweater have something to do with Donovan?
Oh, there were just so many unanswered questions.
“Hi,” she said equally cheerfully as she assessed him a little more. “What’s up?”
Tate shrugged and brushed a lock of hair out of his face. “Just came by to see if you needed help.”
Yeah, he was hiding something all right, but he didn’t look distraught the way Donovan had a short time ago. She wasn’t sure that was a good thing, though.
“You wanted to work on your day off? Really?”
“Of course.”
“Yeah?” She didn’t believe him.
Tate nodded at the same time he said, “No.”
Reilly laughed, and Tate’s smile grew wider and wider.
“You weren’t home last night,” he said.
“I was there long enough to hear things that made me want to gouge my eardrums out.”
His eyes widened. “Really?”
“Oh, yeah.” She hopped down from the counter. “Even my headphones didn’t drown out your—”
“Don’t,” he shouted with a laugh. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” She met his gaze. “I left when Brady showed up.”
“Showed up?”
Reilly took a moment to explain what had happened at the gingerbread house.
“What is it with those two runnin’ with their tails between their legs?” Tate asked.
Since it was obviously rhetorical, Reilly didn’t respond.
“And then he stopped by the house,” she added.
