Page 57 of Hold Me Instead
Silent.
Zachary gestured with the bag over his shoulder. “Close neighbor.”
“I knocked his frame off the wall,” she blurted.
Zachary looked rightfully confused. “Okay.” He cleared his throat. “I reached out to Maura for your address, I hope that’s alright. You forgot your leftovers. And this, though maybe I’m too late.” He gestured to her hands, one with the plate and the other smudged with fudge.
“No! No. I never turn down Dorothy’s. You owe me, remember?” Charlie snatched the bag from his hand and peered inside at a pile of snickerdoodles. “If this is how you handle arguments, you alone could keep them in business.”
“Now, hang on, I don’t think what we had necessarily qualifies as an argument.”
“Mm…”
“Misunderstanding, maybe.”
She squinted at him. “No denying there will be moreargumentsin the future.”
Zachary took a deep breath. “Look, I need to clear the air on something.”
His serious tone threw her. She stepped back reluctantly and gestured him inside. She could at least hear him out while she ate. “Okay, come in.” She settled on her couch and shoved aside a stack of mail on the wooden coffee table, making room for the fudge. She waved the bag of cookies at him to continue. “You can sit if you want.”
“Um…” He looked around her living room and frowned at the blanket crumpled at one end of the couch, then quickly returned focus to her. “Do you want some dinner?”
“This’ll do,” she said, already digging into a cookie.
“You hardly ate—”
“Zachary.”
He was nervous. Still, she couldn’t let his sweetness overwhelm her or him being in her home soften her anger. Her favorite fuzzy blanket was right there and perfect for two people.
Crap.
“Why would you bring me cookies and then tell me not to eat them?” she challenged.
He scratched his head, fighting a smile. She knew he wanted to let it free, to acknowledge what she was saying.
“Actually, you know what.” She wiggled her fingers for the to-go box and snagged two fries before setting the container by the fudge. “There. My Nana always encouraged a good salt and sweet combo.”
He chuckled nervously, then steeled himself with a deep breath. “I’ve been acting a bit off toward you since I’ve been back.”
Charlie paused her chewing, surprised.
“Okay, here’s the thing. After vet school, I left. It was my decision. When I told my dad I was going to work with my father-in-law, he didn’t waste any time saying he was going to transfer the practice to you. As though it had always been his plan.”
Charlie furrowed her brow, but he held up a hand.
“Let me explain myself, please,” he said softly. He slipped off his shoes and started to pace. “You and I were friends, and I really enjoyed hanging out with you. Because of that, I felt good leaving, like my dad was in good hands. Like I wasn’t leaving him high and dry. When I stopped by that last day, and he told me his plan though—giving it to you—I immediately questioned everything. Whether he thought I could run my own business. How much he actually believed in my ability as a vet. If he minded that I’d be gone.” He paused, stared at the floor. “I evenwondered if you’d just been acting friendly with everyone to weasel your way into the family business yourself.”
“Ouch,” Charlie whispered. While that stung, begrudgingly, his other admissions tugged at her heart. Brought back the memory of him storming out of the clinic all those years ago, without saying a word. “That’s why you left so upset.”
“Yeah.” Zachary looked up at her, expression serious. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I blamed you this whole time, and I didn’t realize it until I was back. Seeing you again. It hasn’t been good between me and Dad, obviously. But I’d cut myself off from you, and somehow, that’d been my way of sticking it to you, I guess. Instead, I was only punishing myself. Our friendship keeps forcing its way back. It’s a fight to hate you when really, you’reyou.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Okay, I’m done.”
“Wow.” Charlie leaned back against the couch. “That’s…wow.”
“Yeah.”
“I mean, it explains a lot.”
