16. Chapter Sixteen #2
“Is there any chance she’ll make it to her due date?”
“It doesn’t sound likely. And that’s why I didn’t mention anything about the festival.”
“So, she doesn’t know about the missing laptop?”
“No. And it’s going to stay that way. Besides, you and I are making good progress.”
He didn’t know if he would qualify it as good progress. They still had a way to go, but he wasn’t going to say anything to diminish her glowing smile. “Yes, we are.”
He found himself staring deep into her eyes. His voice lowered when he said, “I still feel like I should be doing more.”
Was it his imagination, or did she lean in closer to him? And when she spoke was her voice deeper?
“What would you like to do?” Her brown eyes twinkled as she stared back at him.
Were they still talking about the festival? His pulse raced. With the way she was looking at him, he didn’t think so. Or maybe he hoped not.
None of that kept his gaze from dipping to her lips. They were lush and rosy, just ripe for a kiss. And if they were just a little closer...
He stepped toward her. Her smile broadened. When he reached out to her, his hand came to rest on her rounded hip. And then he drew her ever so slowly to him. She willingly leaned into him.
“Lily, you don’t know how long I’ve waited—”
“Tony?” The familiar male voice came from behind him.
Lily sprang out of his arms so fast she tripped and momentarily lost her balance. He reached out to her, but she was too far away. The frown on her face told him she didn't want him touching her again.
After she regained her balance, Tony turned to her visitor: Neil. Tony forced a smile to his lips that he did not feel in the least. His best friend had the absolute worst timing ever.
Tony swallowed hard. “Hey, Neil, what are you doing here?”
Neil’s brows rose, as though surprised by what he’d walked in on. “I had something to drop off for Lily. I didn’t expect to find you here.”
If Neil was expecting an explanation, he wasn’t getting one.
Tony was not in the mood to socialize. Maybe it was because he was still fuming over Neil ruining a special moment with Lily.
Or maybe because there was this tone in Neil’s voice, almost like he didn’t approve of them together.
But it couldn’t be that. After all, neither of them were kids any longer. They could make their own decisions.
“Well, I’ll be going.” He turned back to Lily, who was standing a few feet away, just out of reach of him. “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.” She didn’t smile.
“Lily,” her brother said, “I’ll be right back. I’m just going to walk with Tony to his cart.”
“Whatever” was her only comment as she turned and walked away.
Tony made his way off the porch. As he crossed the yard, Neil fell in step with him. His gut knotted up. Why exactly was Neil walking with him?
His friend was acting strangely. Maybe he just wanted to apologize for interrupting his private moment with Lily. After all, he couldn’t have arrived at a worse time.
They were mere steps from his cart when Tony stopped and turned to his oldest friend. “What did you need?”
Beneath the street lamp, Neil frowned at him. “Do you really need to ask?”
Okay. So, he isn’t going to apologize. Tony tried to remember if they’d had plans that he’d totally forgotten about, but he couldn’t come up with anything to explain Neil’s strange behavior.
Tony sighed. No matter how much he’d enjoyed his evening, it had still been a long day. He was legitimately tired and not up for playing games. “I don’t know what you’re getting at.”
“I know what I walked in on with my sister.” Irritation clung to his every word. “How long has that been going on?”
Tony’s first thought was to deny that anything was going on, but he wasn’t a liar. And why should he have to deny it? This wasn’t high school any longer.
“Not long. Not that it’s any of your business.”
Neil pressed his hands to his waist. “You need to stay away from my sister.”
Tony couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Dude, you’re acting like we’re teenagers. That threat might have worked then, but it isn’t going to work any longer. We’re both grown adults and able to make our own decisions.”
“And normally you’d be right, but there has been nothing normal about this year. And you should know that.”
Tony wasn’t quite sure what Neil was getting at, or maybe it was just the haze of numbers and names from planning the festival that had his thoughts all muddled. “Neil, stop being vague. Just tell me what’s on your mind.”
“You know my father died earlier this year, but did you also know that Lily was with him—that she had been talking to him when it happened—that she gave him CPR, hoping to save him?”
No one had given him those details. His heart ached for Lily. He couldn’t imagine how hard that must have been for her.
“And if that wasn’t enough for my sister, last month her longtime boyfriend that she thought was going to propose decided to dump her instead. So, you see how she might be vulnerable and on the rebound. I don’t want either of you to get hurt. So, whatever that was that I walked in on, just end it.”
Neil turned on his heel and walked away.
Tony stood there for a moment, digesting everything Neil had told him. He didn’t want to believe his friend. But if Lily was still hurting—if she wasn’t ready to move on—then he didn’t want to do anything to rush her. Was he really just the rebound man?
And yet, he felt like what he’d shared with Lily had been genuine. Was he fooling himself? Was this what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a rebound? He wouldn’t know because he’d never been in this position before.
He climbed into his cart and started it. As he drove away, part of him wanted to be furious with Neil for causing problems where there hadn’t been any. But the other part of him kept saying, what if he was right?