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Everett
The relief of seeing my nephew stride through my front door sours as soon as he snatches up one of Josie’s bags from behind the sofa. He doesn’t say a word as he gathers up her things, tossing clothes and books into her duffel, his jaw rigid and his mouth in a flat line.
Are they getting back together? Is that what the bag means?
Christ. I have no right to care, but I can feel my insides crumbling.
I’ve been a wreck since last night. Couldn’t find Harry—and couldn’t face Josie’s hurt. I’ve been stumbling around the Barns like a zombie, trying to put my hands to good use.
“You want me to make up the sofa bed in your barn?” My voice is pure gravel, but at least I’m being useful. Showing that I won’t stand in their way.
Although…
Please, god, let her stay on the sofa bed. Not in the bedroom with him. Please, god, allow me this.
“Josie’s leaving.” Harry’s words hit me square in the chest, and I sway on my feet. No. No, she can’t go.
I could get by, just about, if she was his but still here. Close enough for me to hear her bright laughter and watch her eye squint shut when she teases one of us. Close enough to make her coffees and cook her food and take care of her.
“Leaving,” I repeat, the word not sinking in.
It doesn’t make sense. Where would she go?
“Yeah.” Harry shoves a heather gray zip up hoodie into her bag, his movements savage. “Apparently my uncle fucking her virginity away then literally leaving her in the dirt didn’t make her feel super welcome.”
I’m ice cold. It’s spreading through me, gnawing at my bones.
That’s not how it went down. Is it?
I mean, I left in a hurry, yeah. To chase after Harry. But I wasn’t running away from her. Didn’t want to make her feel unwanted.
This was a mistake.
My own words slice through my brain. I stagger back to lean against the kitchen counter.
It was a mistake. Josie dated my nephew for years, and this is his home, so how could I be with her, really? How could I have them both here at the same time, rubbing it in his face that I won her? What kind of man would I be?
“You’re an idiot,” Harry says flatly, marching past me to the bedroom, the full duffel clutched in one hand. “You’re going to lose her, and then I’ll be the only one keeping your grumpy ass company when you’re old and gray. No one else is gonna look at you like you hung the damn moon, Everett. You can’t grow another Josie Martin in your patch.”
I’m…
What?
He’s okay with it?
I trail him to the bedroom and grip the doorway, squeezing so hard the wood creaks.
“You’d be okay with it.” Doubt is thick in my voice. “With me being with her.”
But Harry rolls his eyes, yanking another bag from the closet and filling it with Josie’s clothes. T-shirts and sun dresses and strappy tops rain down in a fabric waterfall. “Eventually. Once I’ve had my full tantrum, thanks.”
…Shit.
I swallow hard, but my stomach’s churning. Did I fuck this up? Was there something really here, something possible, before I threw it away?
“She’s at her car,” Harry mutters, tugging a drawer open. “Go and get her, old man. I’ll stay inside so I don’t see any more shit that’ll make my eyes bleed.”
* * *
