Chapter Seven #2
"Tough luck. You don't get to choose when I'm mad at you. And you don't get to completely screw me over and then expect me to forget about it a few days later."
"Then I guess you won't agree to move home?"
"No," I shouted. "No, I'm not moving home. This is my house, and I'm living in it."
"It's not safe," Aiden said.
"What would be safe enough? Jacob's building? Winters House?" I asked, fighting the urge to either walk away or pitch my hot chocolate at Aiden.
I stayed put. Walking away was too childish, and I wasn't going to waste Annabelle's hot chocolate on a tantrum.
"Either of those," Aiden retorted. "Do you even have a security system here? Have you changed the locks?"
Evading his question about the locks, I said, "I left Evers a message this morning about putting in a system."
"That's a start."
"Do you have any specific reason to think I'm not safe here?" I asked, suddenly worried that Aiden knew something I didn't.
He shook his head and shrugged one shoulder.
"No. But you're my baby sister, and you've never lived on your own before. I don't like it."
"Well, deal with it." Not the most mature response, but it was the best I had to offer.
"Charlie," he said in that gentle tone I knew so well, "I am sorry.
This is my fault. If I'd handled you right in the first place, you never would've ended up working so much and being so stressed out.
Firing you was an extreme solution, but at this point, I didn't feel like I had another option. I'm asking you to forgive me."
I stared at the blue sky over Aiden's head, tears filling my eyes at his apology. Goddamn him for making me cry.
This was one of the things I'd always admired about Aiden. He was bullheaded and thought he had the right to tell everyone what to do, but he was never afraid to apologize when he knew he was wrong.
I knew he meant it. He was sorry. But that wasn't enough. Not this time.
Trying to make him understand, I said, "Aiden, do you even hear yourself?
You have a complex. Seriously. If you'd handled me right in the first place?
What does that even mean? You're not God.
You can't control everything around you.
I'm an adult woman who's made my own choices.
Some of them are good and some of them are bad.
None of them are your fault or your responsibility. "
"Charlie, you were a little kid when mom and dad died. Don't tell me I'm not responsible for you."
"But you were, Aiden. You were responsible for all of that parent stuff.
You took me to doctor appointments, you made sure I had my homework done, applied to college, and got home by curfew.
But you aren't responsible for every small decision I make.
Not for me, not for any of us. You take everything on your shoulders and you never pay attention to you. "
I cut off when my voice cracked and a tear rolled down my cheek. I hadn't realized how much this bothered me.
I'll admit—though not to Aiden—that he was probably right in firing me. Not the way he did it, but I was wasting my life at Winters Inc. I was shocked at how easy it was to walk away. I was worried about my projects, but I didn't want to go back. Not really.
So I'd been wasting my life. But so was he, in a different way. Aiden loved the company and he loved his job.
He didn't need a career change, but he needed to refocus his priorities.
"We're all grown up now, Aiden. When does your life get to be about you? You deserve better than working all the time and worrying about your family. When was the last time you went on a date?"
"I went out on a date Saturday night, Charlie, not that it's any of your business," Aiden said, giving me the big brother glare.
"I meant with a woman you're planning to take out on a second date and possibly bring home to Sunday dinner."
"We don't have Sunday dinner."
"Not the point. And maybe we should. I'm aware you have an active social life."
I framed the words social life with air quotes. I wasn't squeamish, but I couldn't say the words sex life to my brother.
"But you haven't gone out with anyone seriously since Elizabeth. And I think you only married her because you thought you were making a family. I know you didn't like her."
"This is none of your business, Charlie."
"Oh, so you get to rearrange my life to fit what you think is best for me, but I don't even get to comment when I think you're making a mistake? This is what I mean when I say you have a complex, Aiden."
"I don't have a complex," he interrupted. I wanted to laugh, but I was too worked up.
"You think you're the only one capable of being in charge. You think you have the right and the obligation to tell everybody what to do, but the second we try to help you, you shut us down. Well, I'm done listening."
"Charlie, I'm not that bad."
Aiden tried for a sheepish expression but it didn't work on his face. His bone structure was too austere, too sharply handsome to pull off sheepish.
"You are exactly that bad. But I'll make a deal with you. You let me interfere in your life, and I'll move back home."
It was a safe bet to make. There was no way in hell Aiden was going to let me, his baby sister, start telling him what to do.
As expected, he said, "Charlie, be realistic."
"I am being realistic. I'm an adult now.
Even you can't argue that. Until you're willing to treat me like an adult, then I'm not coming home and I don't really want to talk to you.
I need some time. And if I'm being completely honest, even if you do start treating me like an adult, I doubt I'm coming home. "
Aiden let out a gust of air, deflating a little. My heart squeezed in my chest. I didn't want to hurt my brother's feelings, but he'd been an asshole and I wasn't ready to let him off the hook.
Just because I didn't miss my job didn't mean it was okay that he fired me. I couldn't resist asking, "How's work? How's my department?"
"They're fine. They’re muddling along without you. And every single one of them is pissed at me, which probably makes you happy."
I wasn't going to deny it. "Yes, yes it does. Tell them I say hi."
"I will," Aiden said in a tight voice. "So you're really not going to give me a tour?"
"Fine," I said. "But we have to go around back. It'll be a few more days before we can use the front porch again."
I led Aiden to the backdoor, ignoring the way he gingerly climbed the steps as if afraid they'd collapse beneath his weight. The tour didn't take very long.
There wasn't much to see downstairs with the kitchen stripped bare and all of the rooms but my office empty.
Aiden's jaw tightened when he saw my futon and open duffel bag on the floor. I ignored it. I wasn't moving home. He'd have to get used to it.
Showing him the upstairs was more interesting. I'd worked with an architect to redesign the existing layout. We'd combined some of the smaller bedrooms to create a master suite, complete with a spacious bedroom, his and hers dressing rooms, a sitting area, and an enormous bathroom.
It was too much for me on my own, but a renovation like that was excellent for resale. I had no plans to sell my house. I was too in love with it.
Still, I'm a Winters. I have business on the brain. Especially since I'd sunk a ton of my hard-earned money into the place.
The contractor had already overseen rerouting the plumbing and electrical. The studs for the walls were in. Drywall was scheduled for the next week.
Walking through the space with Aiden gave me a tingle of excitement. I'd imagined what this house could be when I'd bought it, but seeing the fresh wood framing the new rooms, I knew the home I'd dreamed of was within reach. So close.
Just some drywall, trim, paint, new floors . . . okay, not that close. It was still the most exciting thing I'd done in ages. At that thought, I stopped, frozen, as I watched Aiden study the layout of the master bath.
It was the most exciting thing I'd ever done, more than any challenge I'd ever taken on at work or in school. My work for Winters Inc. never sparked my imagination. It never made my heart beat faster in anticipation. It never made me fall in love.
Was this how Aiden felt when he was working a deal for the company? This exhilaration? The sheer thrill of seeing a dream come to life?
I'd worked hard for Aiden. For the family. Aiden said he loved the company, and if he felt this way about it, maybe he really did.
Something to think about.
I wasn't ready to forgive him, but possibly, maybe, I was starting to understand.
Aiden didn't stay long after the tour. He had to get back to the office. I had no doubt he'd be researching my contractor as soon as he hit his desk.
After he called Sinclair Security and lit a fire under their asses. No question, as soon as Aiden got a Sinclair on the phone, my security system would shoot to the top of their list.
I watched Aiden drive away with an odd mix of pride and homesickness. I was still angry with him. Angry, frustrated, and not ready to let it go.
I loved my brother.
I wanted to run after him and beg him to take me home.
I wanted him to tell me he was proud of me.
I wanted him to leave work at a reasonable hour and maybe even find a girlfriend so he could have a life.
My feelings for Aiden would've been simpler if he'd just been my brother, if he hadn't raised me after our parents died. There was nothing I could do about that. The past was our history. It couldn't be changed.
We had to find a way to deal with our tangled relationship. I hoped we'd emerge on the other side as adults with mutual respect.
If we didn't, if he kept trying to organize my life, I really would throw hot chocolate at him.
Or worse.
The encounter with Aiden had distracted me so much, I almost didn't hear the knock at my back door. With no car in the driveway, there was only one person it could be.
Lucas.
The shiver of anticipation went all the way to my toes.