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“Not you too. Enough.”
“Ooh, touchy.” Jude chuckled. “Must be serious.”
“Zip it or I’ll ask you about Harper when the girls get down here.” Harper was his best friend since childhood and eventually they would be more. Everyone knew it but the two of them.
“Fine.” He sipped his drink. “Consider it zipped. That’s a can of worms I don’t want opened in front of them.”
Levi laughed and took a swig of his beer.
I shot him a glare. “I don’t know why you think this is funny.”
Jude smirked then cleared his throat, but it sounded more like the name “Becca” than an actual cough.
“Fine, Cade, I have your back too. No Charlotte talk tonight as long as you don’t bring her up again.” Becca was the living embodiment of the word regret for Levi and had been for years. He had messed up his relationship with her almost every way a man could screw up with a woman aside from cheating. The only thing he had left going for him was his loyalty. I had my doubts about the two of them ever working it out. But, on the other hand, I never imagined Charlotte would ever come back to Sweetbriar, yet here I sat with hope forming in my heart and dinner plans with her tomorrow confirmed.
Trevor entered the room, carrying a beer. “I need to talk to you.” I gestured for him to follow me out to the patio.
“What’s up?”
“Have you found out anything more about Charlotte’s accident? I’m beginning to think she might be telling the truth about not being followed.”
“Nothing.” He shook his head and sipped his beer. “If she suspected someone aside from Bethany was following her, she’s keeping that secret close to the vest. There is no other way to know where to start looking since I couldn’t find anyone who saw anything out of the ordinary that day to give me something to go on.”
“I couldn’t either. And the parking lot photographer was a no-go as well. He checks out. I took a deeper look and found nothing hidden. He’s not even from New York.”
“Maybe drop it for now? And keep our eyes and ears open for anything that might come up.”
“Yeah, I—”
“Want to get to know her again? Be part of her life again? Get in her pants again? Maybe marry her again someday?” He laughed. “I know, Rose has mentioned it once or twice.” His smile was knowing, but unlike almost everyone else in my family, he wouldn’t pry or tease, and meddling was the last thing he would ever do.
“Thanks for not giving me shit about this.”
“They just want you to be happy.”
“I know. Still, I appreciate being able to talk to you without getting the third degree.”
“Always, man.”
Dinner went by as it did every Sunday, full of laughter and food and maybe a few minor arguments. The topic of me and Charlotte had been successfully avoided, probably because Mom had taken herself out of the equation. Plus, I had effectively threatened Levi and Jude such that they deflected all attempts to ask about her every time anyone tried to bring her up.
