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I laugh. “Booze, one woman, and hotels now, too,” I say, because hotels are my life, but the fun of this moment fades into reality. “If we can get past all this family stuff.”
“We will,” he promises, filling our plates. “Creamer is in the fridge. Come tell me about Germany.” He heads to the table that sits inside a bay window, overlooking the ocean on one side and a garden on the other side.
“It’s a beautiful house and view,” I say, once we’re settled in our seats.
“From the lips of a woman who travels the world and oversees gorgeous properties.”
“Hotel luxury is not like a castle and a house in Maine, but for the record, I think this house suits you far more than the castle.”
“And why is that?”
“Despite its astounding structure, the castle to you is like one of our luxury hotels to me. It isn’t about living. It’s about working.”
His eyes land heavily on me, and he says, “Living wasn’t exactly my priority the past six months. As I said, I’m different with you.”
“Jax,” I whisper, unable to find any other words.
“Eat, baby. I’m starving, and I know you have to be as well.”
“Yes.” I grab my fork. “Let’s eat.”
We both dig into our omelets, and I’ve barely had time to praise his cooking when my phone rings where I’ve left it on the island. “I haven’t even touched my work. I’m going to let it ring until we finish and then I really need my briefcase and to take care of a few things.”
“Do you want to stay here tonight or at the castle?”
“Can we stay here?”
“I’ll talk to Savage, but if he feels like it’s safe, we’ll stay here.”
“Safe? Jax, what exactly are we trying to stay safe from?”
“Everyone who isn’t us, baby,” he teases. “I want you naked without interruption.”
He’s doing exactly what I’m doing by avoiding talk of York—savoring this time together. And so I just let it go. “Tell me something I don’t know about you. Tell me more about boxing.”
“My crooked nose was broken three times.”
I crinkle my own nose at that. “Your nose is crooked?” I tilt my head and give him an inspection. “Hmmm. Maybe. But it’s pretty anyway.”
He laughs. “Is that right?”
“Yes.” I sip the coffee for the first time. “It’s good. I like it. Did Hunter come here for the coffee, too?”
His lips thin, and he takes a bite of his eggs, followed by a sip of coffee, before he finally says, “Hunter never came here. Ever.”
I set the cup in my hand down. “Why?”
“I don’t know, baby. Something happened between him and my father the last six months before he died.”
“Happened? What does that mean?”
“They were inseparable, and then suddenly, they were never together. At the last Whiskey festival, I couldn’t catch them in a room together.”
It hits me then that this is the first of these events he’ll live through without his father. That’s not going to be easy, and Brody’s anger makes more sense now. I’m right there with them, living life without my father. And without my mother too it seems. “Did you talk to them about it?”
“My father said all was well. He shut me out, which wasn’t like him. Everything was fine.”
“And Hunter?”
