Chapter 22 #3
Alex whispered something in Jenny’s ear that had her giggling like a schoolgirl before she pushed him back. “Go away and leave me alone to party with my ladies.” To Paul and Hope, she said, “My old man is such a ball and chain.”
Alex patted her bottom. “You’ll pay for that later.”
“And that’s our cue to get the hell out of here,” Paul said, grabbing his brother’s arm to lead him from the house. “Have fun, ladies.”
“Oh, we will,” Jenny said, making Alex growl at her.
Paul steered Alex toward the passenger side of his truck.
As they drove out of the driveway, Alex looked back, possibly hoping for a last glimpse of Jenny, who was riding to her party with Hope.
“You’ll see her again in a couple of hours, Romeo,” Paul said. “You’ll survive until then.”
Alex responded with a stupid grin and a deep sigh. “Not sure I’ll make it.” He turned to take a closer look at Paul. “What gives with you the last couple of days, man? Other than the obvious, of course.”
“Nothing gives. Business as usual.”
“Try telling that to someone who doesn’t see you every day and doesn’t know you as well as I do. Something is wrong, and you may as well tell me what it is so I don’t have to beat it out of you.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“We both know I could, so let’s save ourselves the bother.”
“Whatever.”
“Come on, Paul. You know there’s nothing you can’t tell me.”
“It’s not the time. Tonight is about you. We’ll talk after the wedding.”
“We’ll talk now.”
Paul recognized that bullish tone and knew it was pointless to argue with him. Growing up with Alex, he would’ve at least tried. Today he couldn’t be bothered. “The thing with Hope isn’t going to happen.”
“Oh. Wow. I sort of thought it was already happening.”
“It was.”
“So what happened?”
“The meeting with the doctor happened.”
“Umm, you want to fill in the blanks for me?”
“She realized that if Mom leaves Gansett, her job here will be done and she’ll have to go elsewhere to find work. Her ex-husband wiped out their savings, so she has no cushion of any kind, apparently.”
“So she called it off with you because of that?”
“She said she couldn’t get further involved with me knowing she’d be leaving.”
Alex scratched at the stubble he left on his jaw these days because Jenny had told him she liked it—and he’d told Paul that when Paul asked why he never shaved anymore.
“That is a tough one. On the one hand, I can see where she’s coming from.
I don’t know the details, but I assume the ex put her through the wringer. ”
“It was bad business.”
“I figured it had to be if the guy’s locked up.”
Paul didn’t feel it was his place to tell Alex her story, at least not without her permission.
“Have you considered asking her to stay with you?”
“Not really.”
“Why not? I assume you want her to.”
“Hell, yes, I want her to.”
“Then tell her that.”
“Am I just supposed to ask her to stay, knowing she has no way to make a living here?”
“I hate to point out the obvious, but she doesn’t need to work if she’s with you. She could focus on Ethan and make more babies with you and maybe get a job at this place Lizzie is determined to open on the island.”
Paul’s mouth watered at the thought of such an easy solution. “I don’t think she’d go for that. She would say she’s perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and no way is she putting all her eggs in some man’s basket again. Not after what happened to her before. He totally screwed her over.”
“And you’d never do that. Make the grand gesture.”
“What grand gesture?”
“The grandest of grand gestures.”
“Are you seriously suggesting I propose to her? We just started actually seeing each other a week ago.”
“Oh please. You two have been eye-fucking each other since the day she arrived. And it’s not just me who thinks so. Jenny said the same thing.”
Though he was flabbergasted to hear they thought that, he said, “No way did Jenny say that. Those are your words.”
“Maybe so, but she agrees anyway. We were thrilled that you guys took some time away together while Mom was in the hospital.”
“I’m glad you approve,” Paul said sincerely. “But it’s too soon for the kind of grand gestures you’re suggesting.”
“Is it? You’re thirty-four, and I’ve never seen you like this over a woman before.
She’s wise enough to know that you’re a catch.
I assume the sex was hot, because you looked like a new man when you came home.
So what’s the hang-up? What’s another six months going to tell you that you don’t already know? ”
Paul didn’t have a good answer for that, so he stayed quiet.
“The sex was hot, wasn’t it?”
“Shut up. I’m not talking to you about that.”
“Which means it was. If it hadn’t been, you wouldn’t have been moping the last couple of days like a little boy who lost his puppy.”
“I have not been doing that.”
“If you say so.”
“Happy, married Alex is a huge pain in my ass.”
He grunted with laughter. “Single Alex was a pain in your ass, too.”
“That he was, but I like happy Alex better.”
“So do I, and I want the same for you. Go for what you want, Paul. Worst thing, she says no, but at least you’ll know you tried. Think about it.”
As Paul drove them to the party at McCarthy’s Marina, he wondered how he would think about anything else.