Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Harrison
Istare down at my hands, throat tight. How much do I share about where my head—and my heart–is? I deliberate for only maybe thirty seconds, then figure what the hell, it can’t hurt… hopefully.
“Yeah, I’m messed up right now. I don’t know what to do about it. But there’s nothing you can do either.”
No one speaks for a long moment. Then Hayden says quietly, “It’s her, right? Delaney. There’s some kind of history there?”
I glance up. “Yeah. There’s something there.”
“Ruthie says it was a one-night stand,” Henry says carefully. “She claims Delaney blurted it out at lunch. What was that about?”
“It was a business lunch,” I say. “We were going to the building department, and we grabbed food beforehand. Ruthie and Lester crashed it. You know Ruthie; she wouldn’t stop prying. So, Delaney just said it was a one-night stand. I should’ve known Ruthie wouldn’t keep that to herself.”
“So, it’s true?” Hayden asks. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, and I’m not slut-shaming you.” His half-grin says he’s trying to lighten things up.
I know my brothers will keep everything we speak about here confidential.
“It was… different. I don’t know how to describe it.”
They’re all watching me. I lean back and sigh. Delaney did tell me she’s not ashamed of how we met.
“Listen, I’m not telling you every detail.
But it was the anniversary of Dad’s death.
I was at that god-awful conference Henry made me go to—” I shoot him a look “—and I was at the bar, feeling sorry for myself. Then she walked in. Gorgeous, yeah, but it was more than that. There was a profound sadness in her eyes. Something in me recognized it and couldn’t ignore it. ”
I pause, remembering. Even then, before I knew anything about her, I hated that something had made her sad enough that I could see it.
“She told me it was the worst day of her life. I still don’t know why, and she never told me.
She was trying to get drunk on cheap whiskey and could barely swallow it, so I bought her a bottle of Macallan.
She didn’t even realize how expensive it was, and that itself was refreshing, charming.
We went up to my suite, talked, drank, and snacked.
For those few hours, it was like the pressure on my chest finally eased.
We laughed, and the sadness dimmed for a while.
And yeah, one thing led to another. She stayed the night. ”
“So, what’s the problem?” Holden asks gently.
“The problem is that she snuck out the next morning. Then she showed up at Henry’s wedding and ran from me again. Now, suddenly, she’s here. And I can’t get her out of my head. Even before she started working for us, I couldn’t—it’s worse now, though. A hundred times worse.”
“Why not just get to know her as friends?” Henry suggests. “Ask her to dinner.”
All three of them have their full attention on me.
“Because it’s still there, right?” Holden asks, quietly. “That sadness. She tries to act happy, but it’s always there.”
I fix my gaze on the whiskey glass in my hands, not sure how much more to say. Screw it, the alcohol is making me loose-lipped. I glance up at my brothers. “I don’t want to be the man who adds more pain and stress to her life,” I admit.
“Then don’t,” Hayden says. “Make her life better, not worse.”
“We should back up, though. You gotta leave her alone if she’s made it clear she isn’t interested. We all saw you talking to her at that table during the awards ceremony. Did she tell you to fuck off?” Holden asks.
“Jesus, Holden,” Henry says. His exasperation amuses me.
“It’s a fair question after the way I acted that night, but no, she did not tell me to fuck off.
Still, though, there’s this tug of war going on inside me.
On one hand, I can’t deny something’s there with her, and I want to see if it might be more.
But on the other hand, it brought harm to our family last time I got involved with—”
“Nope, gonna stop you right there before you say her name,” Hayden says.
The doorbell rings, and I glance down at my watch. I guess it’s been thirty minutes. Henry rises and heads to the door.
“She was a bad person. A selfish manipulator. Yeah, she stole from us, and in retrospect, we probably should have reported it, but she deserves nothing more from you. Not even her name crossing your lips. This isn’t the same.” Damn, Hayden’s tossing out some wisdom bombs tonight.
“Delaney’s not like her. I know that.” I scratch my head and lean back.
Holden’s eyes bulge, and he grins. “You should go big. Like send her flowers at work or maybe a singing telegram. Do you know where she lives? We could decorate—”
I toss my hands up in front of me.
“Whoa, calm down. I’m not doing any of that. I think I’m just going to back up a little bit, be a better friend to her, and give us a chance to start over. We’ll see what happens.”
The mouthwatering scent of our dinner now surrounds us, and my stomach growls in response.
“Time to eat,” Henry says.
Hayden and I rise, Holden hesitates, but then does as well.
“Don’t you think my plan might work better, though?” Holden is persistent, if nothing else. “I think we should strategize more.”
Hayden glances over at me and winks. “Hey, did you guys hear that Ella was selling to someone who wants to turn the bakery into a bookstore?”
Holden gasps from behind us. “What? Where did you hear that?”
I whisper thanks to Hayden for facilitating the subject change and prevent myself from laughing out loud at how easily he distracted his twin.
Once we have plates, napkins, and something to drink other than whiskey, we sit down and dive into the Chinese food. We spend the rest of our time together screwing with Holden, filling his head with all the different types of businesses we heard are buying the bakery.
When we leave the cabin for the night, we’re all brighter for having spent the time together. As Henry and I lock up, I notice the outside light bulb has burned out.
“We’ve really got to get someone we trust to live here. That or hire someone to check on it and clean.”
“Yeah, I agree. Maybe I’ll ask Ruthie if she knows anyone looking. She’s in everyone’s business, so if there’s anyone available, she’ll know.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Hell, if there’s anyone looking in the tri-county area, she’ll know.”
“True that. We’ll need to get on it sooner rather than later,” he adds. He stops at his car. “You know I can’t deal with spiders, Harrison. If cobwebs are present, that means there might still be spiders.” He shivers.
I clap him on the shoulder. “Does Tillie know what a wuss you are?” I tease.
Henry grins and wastes no time thinking about a response. “Yep. But she’s fine with it because I’m fantastic at—”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah,” I say as I immediately throw my hands over my ears. I do not need to hear this. “Nope, I’m out.”
I walk down the driveway, not removing my hands from their position until I’m at least a minute down the path toward my house, and safe from hearing anything about Henry and Tillie’s sex life.
When I get home, I don’t go inside right away. It’s a gorgeous summer night, with stars shining, and the air warm, but not humid. I sit on the glider on the front porch and listen to the sounds of the evening. As I peer out into the endless sky, I send love to my dad, wherever he is.
“You’d be proud, Dad. You raised some amazing men, even Holden,” I tease.
“Seriously, though, I miss you so damn much. But tonight, I feel like I saw glimpses of you. Henry’s kindness and desire to make sure everyone gets along are something he most definitely gets from you.
Hayden has your common sense and your call-you-on-your-bullshit, no-nonsense attitude down perfectly.
Hell, and Holden, he’s probably the most like you, Dad.
I’d never admit this to him, but he’s the one who practically forces us not to take ourselves too seriously.
To find joy in the simple things.” I stare at the sky for a minute or two before I say, “I just really hope they see some of you in me, too.”
I smile up at the heavens and rise from the glider. Just before I reach the door to head inside, my text alert dings. I pull my phone from my pocket and glance down at the text.
Holden
Dad would be proud of you, Harrison. You’ve stepped up and taken care of our family—protected us, even—just as well as he would have. Love you, brother.
I glance back up into the stars. “Thanks, Dad.”