Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Rafe took a breather inside the front door, wondering what the hell he’d signed up for.
He’d spent the last couple of months trying to clear his grandfather’s house out.
Now, in one day, he’d just helped Gio move all his shit in.
And the piles that had been dwindling were replaced with new boxes.
Not that he cared all that much. It would be nice to have someone to share this big-ass house with.
He was just feeling grumpy due to a lack of sleep. Every night since he’d kissed Keeley had been restless, alternating between dirty fantasies of him in bed with her and Gio, and anxiety over what the hell he was supposed to do now.
He wanted Keeley. Somewhere over the past seven days, it had become painfully obvious to him. Unfortunately, that insight had come too late.
He’d fucked up last week at Eclectic. Gio had started to lay it on the line, had opened the door with an invitation, and like a jackass, Rafe had slammed it shut, warning Gio off and allowing Keeley to believe he didn’t want her.
The worst part was, he hadn’t just screwed up his own chances, but Gio’s too, because now JT had entered the picture and…
everything had gone off the rails after that.
Liza, Kayden, Aldo, and Luca had joined them at the table after JT walked away. They’d ordered more margaritas and partied the rest of the night, having a great time. Or at least, everyone except him—and Gio, who’d gone uncharacteristically quiet—had enjoyed themselves.
“Want this in the kitchen?” Kayden walked in with a box labeled dishes.
If Rafe was a better person, seeing Kayden today should have helped him put all thoughts of pursuing—seducing—Keeley to rest. However, they didn’t.
He looked at his friend and shook his head. “No. You can put it there. The kitchen is already busting at the seams. We need to unpack and incorporate some boxes before dragging anything else in. Keeley, Liza, and Gianna are in there right now, tackling some of that.”
Kayden put the box down on top of another, then wiped the sweat from his brow with the hem of his T-shirt. “How’s it feel being your own boss these days?”
“I’m slowly getting used to it. Of course, it’s gotten a thousand times better since Keeley came to work with me. That girl is a whirlwind.”
Kayden grinned, pride written on every line in his face. “I appreciate you hiring her. We were perilously close to her having to move back in with me.”
Rafe was torn between laughing and wincing.
Because, while Kayden and Keeley loved each other tremendously, the two of them living in the same house would not have ended well.
Keeley’s free spirit and love for partying drove her straight-as-an-arrow, in-bed-by-ten-every-night cop brother out of his mind.
“I think we can all agree that would have been terrible.”
“So things are starting to settle down? I know you’ve been working way too hard. Keeley’s told me so.” Kayden had been one of his closest friends since high school, and Rafe appreciated the concern in his voice.
“Slowly but surely,” he muttered.
“Your stepdad still being a pain in the ass about the will?” Kayden asked.
Rafe gave his friend a curious look because the two of them hadn’t talked in weeks.
Kayden grinned. “Gio told us about the scene at the lawyer’s office at one of our weekly lunches.”
“Ah,” Rafe said. “Grandpa’s lawyer assures me the will is airtight, but that hasn’t stopped Rodney from trying to find a loophole. I suspect when he doesn’t find one, he’ll move on for good.”
“For good? You mean leave your mom?”
Rafe sighed. “I think he married her because he believed she was Grandpa’s heir. The guy’s a prick. And as much as I can’t stand him, I know it’s going to kill my mother if he walks out.”
“Poor woman. She can’t catch a break in the love department, can she?”
“No. Not really. It doesn’t help that she inherited Grandpa’s impulsiveness. With him, it was businesses—find one you want and buy it. Meanwhile, Mom falls madly in love with every man she goes out with, without really getting to know them. And, predictably, in the end, it never lasts.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. For her, but also for you.
Because let’s face it, you’ve been on that roller coaster with her your entire life, going through her highs of new love to the lows of her broken hearts.
It couldn’t have been easy for you growing up.
To see someone you love constantly knocked down, especially by a person they cared for.
Something like that had to have taken its toll on you. ”
Kayden was an astute guy, and empathetic. But he’d hit this nail a little too on the head. “Keeley told you my feelings about love and marriage.”
Kayden gave him another guilty grin. “To be honest, you’ve never made much of a secret about your lack of interest in marriage, but yes, Keeley might have mentioned something about it on the phone this week.
You gotta understand, Keeley told our mom everything when she was growing up.
And I mean everything. I overheard Mom tell Dad once that she could stand to know a little less about Keeley’s life.
She was joking. Partly. After Mom died…well, Keeley’s need to talk to someone about stuff didn’t just go away.
Over the years, she’s figured out who to turn to based on the topic.
Her girlfriends get the love life and sex stuff, thank God, but I get the rest.”
Rafe nodded. “I don’t mind that she told you. I know it bothered her to hear.”
“It did. Probably because she couldn’t possibly understand it.”
“Yeah. And I have to admit, I’ve never really looked at my mom’s failing relationships in quite the way you just described.”
He hadn’t. When he looked back at his childhood, in his mind, his mom’s broken hearts had been her fault. Because she’d given her love too quickly, put her trust in the wrong men, set herself up for that pain. Mom always leapt without stealing a single glance beforehand.
It wasn’t that he didn’t put any of the blame on the men too.
He hated them for what they’d put her through because he loved his mother.
And when she hurt, he hurt. But ultimately, he’d always told himself she could save herself the tears if she would just harden her heart and shut her feelings down. Like he did.
Sooooo…great.
Now, he not only had a shit-ton of Grandpa’s boxes to empty, but also a lifetime of fucked-up emotions and Mommy issues to unpack as well.
The hits just kept coming.
Kayden put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Listen, I know life happens, man. But me and the guys were talking, and we think you should start making time for the Wednesday meetings again.”
The meetings Kayden mentioned had nothing to do with work and everything to do with simply spending an hour or two each week with friends to chill and unwind over lunch.
“You need a break from work and some serious male bonding time. Nothing but bitching about the Eagles’ shitty fucking defense this season, dirty locker room talk, making fun of Joey’s new ManPower ad—because Jesus, how much gel did he have in his hair?
—and which is the best craft beer on the market.
You know, the shit that really matters.”
Rafe laughed. “That sounds like exactly what I need. I’m sorry I’ve been absent the past few months.”
Gio’s brother, Tony, had started the weekly get-together at Paulie’s Diner so many years ago, Rafe had lost count.
Before his grandfather’s illness and subsequent passing, Rafe had never missed a single “meeting,” always looking forward to breaking free from his piece-of-crap, fluorescent-lighting-soaked, puce-green, postage-stamp-sized office at his old job.
Of course, now, he’d broken free from the place forever.
“I’ve been so buried. Grandpa’s estate is—fuck me—a lot.
I swear to God, he must have been the most impulsive businessman in history.
In addition to the restaurant, there’s the nightclub, a flower shop, a used bookstore, three apartment buildings, and this goddamned haunted mansion. How does any of that go together?”
Kayden winced. “I’m not sure it does.”
“You’re not sure?” Rafe asked incredulously, as Kayden laughed.
“Okay. It doesn’t. But Keeley seems to think you’re getting a good handle on things. She’s excited about your plans to grow the businesses, and the way you’re starting the inn with Gio.”
Rafe chuckled. “She told you they were my plans?”
Kayden grinned. “Hers?”
“Hers. And they’re brilliant.”
They both looked up at the sound of Keeley’s voice.
“Let me show you the office. You won’t believe how different it looks without all the boxes.
It’s the first room Gio plans to renovate,” Keeley said as she came out of the kitchen, Liza trailing behind.
Keeley was carrying Cricket, who was bouncing excitedly in her arms. The dog had been a whirlwind of nervous energy all day, thanks to all the people and activity in the house.
It was a far cry from the very quiet life the dog had led with Grandpa.
Both women smiled at them but kept walking past.
Rafe followed their progress down the hall and was about to return to his conversation with Kayden when he heard Liza ask, “So have you talked to JT again?”
Rafe frowned, suddenly pissed when they entered the office because he couldn’t hear Keeley’s response.
Keeley, who’d regaled him nonstop about her dating life prior to this week, hadn’t mentioned the waiter, Chad, or any new online dates, or JT, since the night the man had walked over to their table.
He and Gio had discussed whether or not they should crash her date with Chad by treating themselves to a night at the fair, but that decision had become moot when Keeley canceled the date due to a headache.
He knew it was legit because she’d made the phone call in front of him, and then left work an hour early to go home and lie down.