Page 48 of Almost Home
Wyatt snickered, and Warrick’s cheeks went pink before he launched into the story of how the woman he’d wanted to propose to had ended up proposing to him. Our food came and went as he gave me every detail of their history starting with the summer before. I’d known enough to know that Warrick had been hurt and had sworn off marriage, at least to some degree, but I’d had no idea he’d truly believed he wouldn’t ever be with someone like that.
That knowledge sank into my gut like a stone.
Warrick must’ve noted my expression change. “What’s that look for? I’ve changed my ways—you heard me say I’m proposing next month, right? I’ve got it all planned out.”
“I did. And I’m happy for you.”
He nudged my shoulder with his. “What is it?”
Wyatt looked on without speaking, but something told me he could read it all on my face.
Whether the tequila had loosened my lips, or the time spent with my brothers the last few weeks allowed me to do it, I couldn’t tell. Either way, I responded with truth. “I’ve missed so much. I failed you too many times by not being here, and I’m sorry.”
Warrick swallowed hard. “No more of that, okay? You’ve said you’re sorry. We missed you—we missed you like crazy. And I’m not saying I didn’t get upset when you were gone, but that doesn’t matter now. You’re here, and so far, you seem like you’re trying to get to know us again. That’s all I need from you.”
Wyatt nodded. “Exactly. You’re here. You’re showing up. That’s all we want.”
Throat tight, I accepted the generous offering with a burning sense of relief, pain, and gratitude. “All right.”
I suspected if we’d been anywhere but a restaurant, they might’ve tried to hug it out, but I wouldn’t have been able to handle that. Physical affection on top of the generosity they’d shown me, the willingness to absolve me for what I viewed as one of my biggest sins, would’ve toppled me.
“Now let’s get back to the real elephant in the room, shall we?” Warrick said, clinking his glass with mine, which I noticed had been refilled during our heart-to-heart.
“What’s that?” Wyatt asked, voicing my own question.
The gleam in Warrick’s eye should’ve told me it would be something obnoxious, so I shouldn’t have taken a drink right as he spoke again.
“We need to talk about how our beloved mother is on the hunt for the next Mr. Saint, and how I heard my general contractor talking about his plans to ask her out.”
The burning liquid shot down my throat as I gulped, his tone so horrified, the chuckle burst out of me once I swallowed.
Wyatt shook his head, but kept his head down. His shoulders shook, though, so he’d failed to keep calm in the face of Warrick’s fake outrage.
“Then Sadie said Sarah mentioned Mom got into a lengthy chat with the new bookstore owner and that the guy was totally charming and into her.” He squirmed on his stool.
I just laughed until he swung his focus to me. “You realize people are talking about you, too? About how Sarah was out with Mom, which means you guys are dating?”
“They kind of are, if they’re going out tomorrow.”
“I guess it’s a formal welcome home from the Silverton rumor mill.”
And though I didn’t love the idea of being fodder for people around town, something about it really did feel like an official homecoming. I wasn’t staying on the fringe, hidden and withdrawn. Sure, I hadn’t put pictures on my walls, but I wasn’t staying in that apartment. I was building a house, laying a literal foundation here in Silverton. I’d already opened the doors to a business.
I’d been working on coming home for years—preparing the way so the very things that were happening now could take place. My brothers’ forgiveness had come more quickly than I could’ve hoped. That Sarah was here, too… it went so far beyond what I’d imagined. I couldn’t have guessed that I might be able to pursue setting down those roots I’d been missing, repair things with my family, and reconnect with Sarah. Granted, I didn’t expect anything from our date, but I needed the closure in a way I hadn’t had it before. As repellent as her being here had seemed at first, now that I’d been forced to accept I couldn’t simply segment my life into tidy sections that didn’t overlap and deal with them individually, closure with Sarah had become a possibility.
But in my gut, the one that’d never led me astray, I suspected it was more than closure—different. Despite the warning signs and the knowledge that I should pour my energy into my family and business and keep it simple. Sure, that would’ve been ideal, but I’d learned time and again I could only deal with the problem in front of me, not the one I’d prepared for.
It was time to embrace that the plans had changed and the problem in front of me wasn’t the one I’d anticipated. It was, maybe, another part of this beginning.
CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE
Sarah
If Wilder sent me any more scalding looks tonight, I’d end up combusting and burning to ash right here in this shiny little booth.
“Okay, so can we talk about something? Madeline Reynolds is coming to stay in Silverton for like a month,” Quinn said, drawing my thoughts, at least most of them, from the broad shoulders of the three men sitting at the bar.
I didn’t say a thing, but Quinn looked at me. I gave her anI can’t say anythinglook as Calla, Sadie, and Dahlia all chimed in with varying degrees of interest.
