Page 31 of Almost Home
“I do not.”
“Oh heavenly mountain town help me, you are stubborn. Are your brothers this stubborn, too? Is that why you’re like this?”
I thought of Warrick and Wyatt, and though I didn’t know either of them very well now, I’d known them better than almost anyone for the first seventeen years of my life. “Yes.”
He seemed satisfied with that. “Well, that’s good. Can’t wait to meet ’em. Have you mended fences and such?”
“Ongoing.”
He nodded. “Good.”
I exhaled, relieved to leave it at that.
“So tomorrow, we’ll hit the office for a bit, grab lunch, and then you and Sarah can give me the tour and we’ll see a few houses. I’ll leave it up to you whether you want to have her join us for the houses or if you want to send her home. But based on the way you keep staring at her—”
“I’m not staring at her.”
“Sure. Okay. My bad.” He held up his stupid hands.
“Stop with this. We do have history, but we have no future.”
His dark brown eyes hit mine in a flash. “You sure about that?”
I nodded.
“How much history we talking here?”
How to sum up what felt like a lifetime of baggage piling up on me lately? I’d tucked it away in an attic somewhere, only for a trapdoor to swing open the minute I made it back here for good. “A lot.”
A knock on the door saved me from explaining any more. My neck itched with that alertness I couldn’t wish away, and I checked the delivery app to confirm the driver was parked outside. I missed the place I used back at Bragg that would just drop the pizza and go.
When I opened the door, I found Warrick holding the pizza. “Delivery!”
“You delivering pizzas now?”
“No, but I walked up right when the kid was about to ring your bell, and I saved him from facing your surly mug and said it was mine anyway. He knows me so he probably figured I wouldn’t be lying and get him in trouble.”
I stepped back, making space for him to enter.
“Hope I’m not interrupting—oh. I am…”
“Hey, I’m Bruce. You’re Warrick, right?” Bruce must’ve hopped up the minute he heard Warrick speak, because he was right there, hand extended to my giant of a little brother.
“One and only.”
“I’m Wilder’s best friend. He won’t ever call me that, nor, I’d guess, will you have heard my name, but I’m actually moving out here in a bit.”
Warrick’s eyes went wide and flickered to me. “Actually, he did mention you the other day. Heading this way for good that soon?”
I nodded as Bruce explained. “Yeah, Saint Securities, despite the name, is half mine. I’m retiring and I’ll make my Silverton debut in early June.”
Warrick beamed, clearly charmed by Bruce like so many before him. “Awesome. It’s great to meet you. Maybe you can tell me some stories about Wilder since I’m sure I’ll never hear them from him.”
“Oh, I definitely can.”
“Did you need something?” I asked, not sure why my reaction was to shut all this down, and yet unable to stop myself or the tightness in my tone. These worlds were inevitably going to collide, but after the afternoon watching Bruce talk with Sarah, I’d had enough of collisions.
I didn’t need to look at Bruce to know my response was messed up.
