I bend over my notes until the words blur. My phone buzzing is a welcome respite.
God, please don’t be Lance.
It’s not.
It’s Angie.
It buzzes once more as I stand and walk back to the master bedroom. “Hey.”
“Tabs.” Her voice is warm and too bright. “Am I…catching you at a bad time?”
Yes, I want to say. Instead, “No. Just studying.” While your brother, who I’ve been fucking all weekend, cooks us breakfast.
“Studying? You’re supposed to be relaxing at the cabin.”
“I am. At the cabin, I mean.”
A pause. Is she waiting for me to mention Henry? Not going to do it. That will have to come from her.
“So…how do you like it?”
“The cabin?” I force a laugh. “I wouldn’t actually call it a cabin, Ang. More like a custom mountain home, but it’s great.”
“Have you been…sleeping?” she asks.
Sleeping with Henry? Or actually sleeping?
“Some,” I finally say. No lie there.
“And Henry?” She keeps her voice neutral, like she’s asking about the weather. “Did you two…talk?”
An image flashes in my head. Henry’s and my hands, mouths, and the hard press of our bodies that couldn’t wait. Heat climbs up my neck. I take a sip of tea. “I’m not sure what to say, Angie. I didn’t expect him to be here.”
“Tabs…”
“I mean, I thought you wanted me to come here to relax.”
“Henry needed to relax too.”
“Yeah, I get that. But you might have mentioned he would be here as well.”
“Tabs…” She pauses again. “I knew that if I told you that, you wouldn’t go. But I just wanted you to work through whatever has been weirding you out since the wedding. I didn’t send you there to…force anything.”
“Didn’t you?” It slips out before I can sand it down. “Because it felt pretty forced when I walked in and was greeted by Henry’s dog.”
“You could have turned right back around if you wanted to.”
“No, actually. I couldn’t. There was a terrible storm. I was stuck here. The electricity went out, and we had to light candles and a fire to get through the night.”
Silence. Then, “Well, I guess fate intervened, then.”
“So you’re a messenger of fate?”
She sighs. “Tabs, I sent you there because I know you. And I know my brother. You’re both stubborn as all get-out, and I know damned well there’s something between you. I sensed it at the wedding, and then when Henry asked for you in the hospital…”
“You could have asked if I wanted to see him,” I say. “I might’ve said yes.”
“Would you have?” She doesn’t say it like a challenge. She says it like she knows me. “You told me he said you had no future. And you got into the seminar. And Henry… Well, he’s Henry. He’s fighting his own battles, and he’s not going to make you choose between him and something you’ve wanted forever.”
