Chapter 5
MARCUS
Marcus’s knees bounced up and down as he waited in his brother’s office. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d sat in front of Mateo and made any demands. Normally, he’d ask Mateo for something in passing. Normally, they weren’t that big of a deal.
This?
He wasn’t sure how Mateo would react.
Out of all his siblings, Mateo was likely the only one who knew how much Wynter’s disappearance affected him. But then, he’d been the one in charge, and Marcus’s work had suffered the most that year.
Marcus swallowed the lump in his throat. If he mentioned Wynter’s name, Mateo might tell him to steer clear. But if he mentioned Nora? They all knew how much that woman meant to him.
The door opened and Marcus jumped to his feet.
Mateo paused in the doorway, surprise flickering in his expression. “Marcus? What are you doing in here? Don’t you have some chores to do?” A smirk touched his lips as he entered the room fully and settled down at the desk. “I can tell Daniel he’s not working you hard enough—”
“I need some time off.”
That caught Mateo’s attention. He settled into his chair and stared up at Marcus with concern. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s great—fine.” He cleared his throat and took his seat. “Did you hear about Nora Delaney?”
“No. What’s going on?”
Marcus blew out a breath. “She hurt her wrist. And her granddaughter is back in town to help her out—”
“As in your friend Wynter?” Mateo arched a brow. “Wynter Delaney is actually back? It’s been what? Five years?”
“Six, actually,” Marcus muttered. Though he did see her briefly at the funeral.
“I see. And you’re wanting to…” Mateo drawled.
“Nora needs some things repaired around the house—”
Mateo chuckled.
Marcus glared. “What? I can do stuff.”
His brother studied him for a moment, then steepled his fingers in front of his lips. “And your plan is to… what?”
“I don’t know,” Marcus said. “She said since Jack died, there are a few things she’d like fixed. Can’t be that hard.”
Another chuckle. “Do you remember the last time Daniel asked you to fix the fence on your own without his help? You nearly cut your finger clean off with that wire.”
“That was three years ago,” Marcus argued. “And I doubt that Nora needs a fence fixed in the house. She’ll probably have me fixing some plumbing or something.”
Mateo shook his head. “I don’t know that this is a good idea.”
“Well, it’s not up to you, is it?” Marcus could feel his patience waning.
“I’m not really here to ask for your permission.
I wanted to give you a heads-up. I’ll let Daniel know that he’s going to have to spread out the chores I can’t get to.
” For some strange reason, Marcus wasn’t in the headspace to have an open discussion.
He’d made his decision. And he’d already committed to helping Nora in person.
No one was going to stop him from doing what he’d said he would.
“Easy, little brother. I’m good with it. I just want to make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. Being a handyman is a lot different than the stuff we have you do around here.”
“And there are plenty of videos online to help fill in the gaps of knowledge I might have,” Marcus answered.
Mateo cocked his head to the side and smiled at him. “And what about Wynter?”
“What about her?”
“You two were pretty close.”
“Yeah,” Marcus sniped, “and?”
“And,” Mateo drawled, “is it going to be okay working in such close proximity to the friend who left you high and dry?”
“She didn’t leave me high and dry,” Marcus said.
“Oh? What do you call it?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Marcus winced. Those were the words she’d used on him when he’d asked why she left. “I’m not doing this for her. I’m doing this for Nora. Any other questions you might have?”
His brother laughed softly under his breath. “Nope. Just… be careful.”
“I’m not going to cut my finger off helping out around the house.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” Mateo gave him a meaningful look.
Marcus nodded and left the office more unnerved than he thought he’d be coming out of that conversation.
The following morning as Marcus made his way toward Nora’s house, he got a call. Without looking to see who it was, he answered. “Yeah.”
“Marcus, are you planning on coming to the Christmas party the Callahans are hosting? I hear there’s going to be some fresh blood in the mix.
” Lincoln Meyers had been a football player on the same team as Marcus back in high school.
They’d been friendly enough, but Marcus hadn’t been interested in forging close friendships beyond what he had with Wynter.
Until she’d left.
Marcus sighed. “I don’t know, Linc. I think I’m tapped out.”
“You always say that. Why don’t you ever come hang out around Christmas?”
Because Christmas had been the one holiday that Marcus had actually loved. And it had all been because of Wynter.
“Wait,” Lincoln interrupted. “Don’t answer that. I know why. But seriously, man. You need to start living your life.”
“I do live my life. I live it the way I want to when I want to.”
“You haven’t had a serious girlfriend in years.” Lincoln was hitting him where it counted.
“And a girlfriend isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.”
“Wynter wasn’t even your girlfriend, was she? I mean, you guys hung out all the time, but it wasn’t like she dumped you. I don’t get it.”
No, he didn’t. And he probably never would. Marcus sighed. “Wynter’s back in town.”
Lincoln grunted. “For real? When did that happen? Is she staying?”
Marcus squinted, though the sun hadn’t yet risen into his view. “I guess she’s staying for a few months. Her grandmother asked me to help out with a few things, and I… I just don’t know.”
The line went silent for a long moment. “So that’s why you don’t want to come to Callahan’s Christmas party.”
“No. I just don’t want to go, okay?”
“Fine, geez.” Another long pause before Lincoln spoke up again. “Dude, you know you can talk to me, right? I won’t judge you or anything.”
“Yeah,” Marcus said. “I know.” He tightened his hold on the steering wheel, then relaxed. “I guess I’m trying to figure out if it’d be worth it to make her tell me what happened. I never figured out why she left or if I did anything to hurt her. And there’s this part of me that…”
“You still care about her.”
Marcus didn’t have to verbally confirm with his friend. They might not have been super close back in high school. In fact, they weren’t exactly close now. But Lincoln was the guy Marcus could call when he needed to vent to someone who couldn’t be family.
“I think you should go for it.”
Marcus huffed out a laugh. “Go for what?”
“The girl. Try to get her back.”
Marcus shook his head. “I never had her.”
“But you wanted to,” Lincoln pointed out. “No one spends that much time with a girl if there isn’t something there. Don’t they always say that friendship first makes the best relationships?”
“She doesn’t think about me that way. Or at least she didn’t. And she definitely doesn’t now. She moved across the country to steer clear of me. Can’t get any clearer than that.”
“Maybe there’s something you’re not seeing. She’s back. Like you said, now’s the chance to finally get some answers.” Lincoln was actually making some sense.
“Thanks, man,” Marcus murmured.
“Anytime. And seriously, if you change your mind, the party is on Saturday next week. Maybe you can convince the ice queen to come.”
Marcus rolled his eyes. Wynter was anything but an ice queen. She was just… quiet. To everyone but him.
He arrived at the Delaney household with a toolbox he’d swiped from the barn.
This time he didn’t linger in his truck before he trudged up to the house.
Huh. A Christmas wreath hung on the front door, with silver bells and red ribbons.
He looked around for signs of any other decorations.
His eyes snagged on the icy walkway, and he placed his toolbox on the porch before heading back to his truck for an ice scraper and shovel.
One hour later, the sidewalk and walkway were clear and he was knocking on the front door.
Wynter opened the door immediately, her face flushed and strands of her dark, curly hair framing her face. She’d cut it to her shoulders, and when he’d seen her at the lighting ceremony, she’d straightened it. This look on her reminded him so much of when they were younger. Wild and untamed.
She sucked in a breath when she saw him as if she’d forgotten that he’d been planning on coming. Then she caught sight of the sidewalk. “Did you…”
“It’s just a sidewalk,” Marcus said as he pushed past her. “Where’s Nora?”
“She hasn’t gotten up yet.”
He turned, finding Wynter leaning against the closed door. They stared each other down for several long moments. What he wouldn’t give for her to come clean and tell him how she was feeling. All he wanted was the truth. What happened?
The question was on the tip of his tongue when he heard shuffling down the hallway. Nora appeared clad in a warm-looking pajama set, and that was when he noticed how much colder it was in this home than his own.
He frowned as he glanced toward the fireplace. “Is your heater working?”
“It’s on the fritz. I have someone—”
“I’ll set a fire and then take a look at it. What kind of heater is it?”
“Gas,” Wynter offered. “But you don’t have to—”
“I said, I’ll take a look.” He placed his tool bag on a nearby table.
“I helped my dad one summer repair an old furnace before I moved here. There are several common issues when a gas furnace has a hard time working. It’s probably the capacitor, but if I can’t figure it out, you can have your guy come over. ”
Wynter looked down at her stocking-clad toes, but she didn’t say anything else.
“Honey, will you get breakfast started? I’m sure Marcus could use some—”
“I’ve already eaten, but thanks, Nora.” Marcus headed over to the fireplace and noted that the wood supply was running low.
A pang of guilt sluiced through him. He should have been checking in on Nora more often.
She was out here alone. Promising himself to do better, he placed the fresh pieces of wood into the fireplace and set to work.