Page 94 of The Christmas Fix
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Noah swore and sucked his smarting thumb into his mouth.
“Come on, Yates. I expect that from Jasper, not you. I don’t need to be babysitting two unhandymen,” Gannon joked between short bursts of the nail gun that he didn’t trust either of them to run.
Noah couldn’t figure out how he’d ended up here. The woman who’d brought him to a shattering orgasm had skipped out on him without an explanation, and now he was working ten feet off the ground trying not to break his thumb with a hammer as he “helped” his apparently ex-lover’s twin brother and Jasper add the finishing touches to a treehouse.
He’d given up trying to understand and just went with it.
Sara had questioned him about his morose attitude when she’d gotten home from her weekend at her mother’s. He’d been at a loss there, too. So, he’d lied. She’d given him the same look Mellody used to give him when he wasn’t articulating his feelings. Then she’d sighed heavily and said, “Okay. If you want to talk to me about it, I’m here for you.”
When had his daughter turned into an adult?
He hung the framed picture of Sara and April from first grade, arms around each other at a school picnic and grinning in little girl delight, on the wooden post.Why couldn’t things just stay the same? Why did everything have to change and get so complicated? Why wouldn’t Cat talk to him?
“Hey, if you’re done moping over there, you can help Jasper paint the trim,” Gannon said, pointing at the spare paint brush.
Noah crossed to the paint can and stared blankly at the brush.
“I know that look,” Jasper said, wisely. “It’s a woman. I get that deer-in-headlights look when Kathy’s mad.”
“Definitely not talking about women,” Gannon insisted. “We’re just working on a treehouse, not talking about my sister.”
“Well, since you brought her up…”
Gannon, on his knees on the floor, hung his head. “Please don’t make me do this, Yates. I’m begging you, man.”
Noah glanced at the nail gun in Gannon’s hand. “Uh, maybe you want to put that down?” he suggested.
Gannon rolled his eyes heavenward and closed them as if he were praying for patience. “Paige texted and said you and Cat are fighting.” He sounded as if he’d rather be discussing women’s menstrual cycles.
Noah would too.
“Is it fighting if she’s freezing me out?” he asked.
Gannon swore under his breath. “Listen man, I’m her brother, andIbarely understand her.”
“So, what do I do? Just let it go? Let her just walk half-naked out of my house and never talk to her again.”
“For fuck’s sake, man! That’s my sister!” Gannon looked a little green.
“Sorry. I’m just…” He was tied up in a million fucking knots. Cat took him by the hand and dragged him to heaven in bed and then acted like he’d punched a pony in the face.
“Women,” Jasper said, with a shake of his head. “I wish I could tell you it gets easier, but Kathy and I’ve been married fourteen years, and I still have no idea what goes on in her head.”
Noah dipped the brush in the paint and slapped it against the window trim.
“Justtrytalking to her, okay? Leave the rest of us out of it and go talk to her,” Gannon pleaded.
“I’ve tried! She won’t return calls. She’s ignoring my texts.”
Gannon muttered something about the things he did for his wife under his breath. “Look, Noah. You seem like a nice guy. If you want to pursue something with Cat, pursue it. Make her give you a firm no if that’s not what she wants. And then don’t talk to me about it ever again.”
“It seems like the only time she wants to talk is after—”
“Shut the fuck up, Yates! Are you trying to get me to throw you through the window?”
“Dude,” Jasper whispered on Noah’s left. “Don’t poke the bear, man.”
