“It’s yourmother, Austin Whynot.”
I closed my eyes. Sweat dripped down my back as I looked down at the courtyard. Water shot out of the top of the fountain in the middle, a fountain that had broken my middle finger on the install. A damn nightmare to do, but who else would have done it?
“I can’t believe you answer the phone that way,” she chided. “Where on earth are you? I thought you were bringing my groceries today. It’s Wednesday and I know we put an order in.”
Fuck. That’d been the plan, but then I stopped by Evie’s, and ruined everything all over again in a way that was somehow worse than the first time. I’d forgotten about driving her groceries out.
“I was going to make lunch, but was waiting on you, and you didn’t answer my texts.”
My head kept spinning as I listened to her. I closed my eyes when they started to burn. I felt like I was losing it. Everything was crumbling around me. Everything was breaking apart.
“I’m sorry,” I mumbled. “I . . . this week has just been packed, I’m running around.”
“You need to hire someone to help,” she scolded. “You can’t keep running yourself ragged. You?—”
I pulled my phone away from my ear. She kept talking, and I heard the rattle of her voice, the scolding, thewhy don’t you do things this way? Why didn’t you do this like this?
“Your father always?—”
“He’s dead,” I snapped. “He’s not here. So maybe don’t compare me to him right now.”
She sucked in a breath and I cursed under mine. I’d never spoken to her that way. Even when I fought with her about how she treated Avery. I rarely cursed at her, if ever.
“Mom, I’m sorry, I just—I gotta go. I’ll get the groceries to you.”
“Austin—”
I hung up and blinked back tears. She tried calling back, but I quickly put my phone on Do Not Disturb.
I wanted to run away. From everything. Or have a do-over. A do-over with Evie where I properly explainedyes, I really fucking want you and I have for years, but that my father’s death had sucked everything out of my life so me ignoring that had nothing to do with her.
“You doing okay up there?”
God, fuck me sideways.
Nick had his hands on his hips and was looking up at me. “If you need help, I can hop up there.”
“Fuck no,” I called down. “Don’t come up here. I don’t need your help.”
“You look like you could use it.”
“It’s just a couple more patches,” I growled. “Do not come up here.”
I shook my head and pulled out my mallet, focusing on one of the sections.
The last person I wanted to deal with right now was Nick. Hearing Evie even talk about him made me so fucking jealous, I felt like I was being baptized in fire. How the hell had he shownup in town and just made everyone like him? It was so incredibly effortless. I hated him for that.
I drove a couple nails through the tiles and paused when I heard the squeal of metal. I looked to my left and scowled as the ladder shifted with weight.
“Nick,” I called. “If that’s you, I swear to god?—”
His pretty face popped up at the top. The silver along the shell of his ears glinted under the sun. “You know I worked in construction for ages. Still technically do, even though I hire out for building now. I can help you.”
“I don’t want your help,” I snarled. “Get off my fucking roof.”
“Okay, but I heard you have a million things to do. So let me help you.”
“Idon’t want your fucking help!” I yelled. “Don’t you dare put a foot on this roof.”
