Page 165 of Champagne Nights

A small laugh escaped my mouth as I grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and wiped my eyes. “Don’t say that.”

“I’m sure he does in a friendly way. Okay, I really think in another way, but I’m certainly not going to tell you that.” He winked.

I lightly smacked him on the chest. “Thank you, little brother.”

“Dry your eyes, shower, do whatever because I hear Mom in the kitchen already.”

“Is anyone coming over that I should know about?”

“Nope. It’s just me. I wanted to talk to you last night, but when I got in, you were already asleep.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Elena and I called it quits for good. She’s fucking some other guy, and she said she has feelings for him. Whatever. I think we’re better off as friends anyway. We met last night for a drink and sorted out our shit.”

“I’m sorry, Keaton. I know you really cared for her.”

“I do still care for her, and I always will. It just wasn’t meant to be. No worries, sis. I’m Keaton Stanford, remember?” He grinned. “I’ll be just fine. Many other women are waiting to ride my big?—”

“Okay, that’s enough. I’m going to jump in the shower. Tell Mom I’ll be down soon.”

“Fuck that. I’m going back to bed.” He grinned.

He jumped up from the bed and went back to his room. I sighed and stepped into the shower.

Ben

I took Leah into the garage and showed her the dining room set I built. She smiled as she ran her fingers lightly over one of the chairs and then started to sign.

“This is beautiful. Did you sell it?”

“A woman in San Francisco bought it.”

“That’s great. What’s next?”

“You know my sofa table? I’m going to build one for Paisley. She really liked it.” I signed.

Leah smiled. “That’s nice of you. I think you like her.”

“I do. She’s an amazing woman.” A warm smile crossed my lips.

My phone rang, and it was Paisley.

“Hey, you,” I answered.

“Happy Thanksgiving.”

“Happy Thanksgiving. I was going to text you in a little bit. In fact, I was just talking about you to Leah.”

“Good things, I hope.”

“Of course. There’s not a bad thing I could say about you, even if I wanted to.”

“My mom said to be here around two o’clock because that’s when the appetizers will be served.”

“I’m looking forward to it, Paisley. How are you today?” I asked with concern.

“I’m okay. We can talk about that later. I’ll see you around two.”

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