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“Yeah, I recognize the difference.” Jayson chuckled. “If you haven’t noticed, Gia and I have a turbulent but amicable relationship since the divorce. But it took a while to get there.”
Bran turned to ask him what his point was, but Jayson was studying the sky.
“Before we could get to the zen state which we find ourselves in now, she and I had to admit how we felt about each other before the divorce. We were in love when we were married. And we had every intention of making it work. After the divorce, we were angry. Would have been easier to say we never loved each other. In other words, it would have been easier to lie.”
“Is there a point to this diatribe?”
Jayson turned his head. “If you want Addison back in any capacity, you have to be honest with her.”
“Gia told you. I should have known.”
“Spouses don’t count.”
“You’re not a spouse.”
“I was. I’m grandfathered in. No getting rid of me.” He grinned. “Addison proposed and you turned her down.”
Thanks, Gia. A whole hell of a lot.
“I was honest with her.” Bran could not believe he was explaining this again. “She was on her knees in front of me, pouring her heart out.” She told him she loved him. She painted a picture of family and future. She’d been honest and transparent. “I hated telling her no, but I had to tell her the truth. And she hates me for it.”
Jayson kept his gaze on the vineyards below, the dark rows and their shadows stretching in the waning light. “Is that why she hates you? Or is it because you lied to her about how you were feeling? Did you take a single second to absorb what she was saying to you?”
It was like his ex-brother-in-law was begging for a fistfight. “Did I take a moment to absorb she was asking me to marry her?”
“Yeah. Did you soak in the professions she dropped at your feet while she was on her knees? Sounds like she was vulnerable, and you were an asshole.”
Jaw welded shut, Bran spoke through his teeth. “I’m sure that’s the way she saw it. Hence her quitting.”
“How do you feel about her? Did you feel anything for her at all? Or were you passing the time?”
“I’m not sure why everyone makes that sound like such a bad thing. What is there but time? And we’re here on Earth for a relatively short period of it,” he said, liking this line of argument. It felt sensible. And making sense felt good. “Maybe I won’t wake up tomorrow morning. Maybe this wine’s gone bad and I’ll die in my sleep.” They raised their glasses and took long swigs, tempting fate. “Doesn’t it say something that I chose to spend each day with her?”
“Oh, so she should be grateful.”
“I was.” The honesty of those words shook him. “I was really damn grateful to have her in my life. I learned all these things about her I didn’t know. We had a lot more in common than I thought. She sees the Knoxes as some kind of dream family. I don’t know, I think she was trying to surround herself with us.”
“Are you that unlovable? I doubt she would have proposed unless she was over the moon for you.” Jayson narrowed his eyes. “I don’t see it. But I know what she means about your family. Why do you think I never left?”
“Maybe she was caught up.” Bran shook his head, his mind back on the conversations they’d had. When the night was quiet and their voices were the only sounds in the room. They’d been naked in more ways than one. “I gave her the wrong idea.”
“Or the right one. I don’t think you’ve thought it through yet.”
“I don’t want to marry anyone, Coop.”
“But she isn’t anyone. She’s Addison Abrams. The woman who turned you from an egotistical, hustling boar into a guy I used to hang out with a lot more often.”
Bran frowned.
“You were a dick this year.” Jayson leveled him with a look.
“Thanks a lot.”
“And then you weren’t. The right woman can bring out your best. How did she take the no?”
“She was devastated,” Bran said before he thought about it. He remembered the acute pain in her eyes when he attempted to let her down easy. Devastated was a great description. “And pissed off.”
“Broke her heart. I did that once.” Jayson looked over his shoulder at Gia. “What were you thinking when she asked?”
“What do you think I was thinking?” Bran raked a hand through his hair. “I was agonizing over bringing her here. Worried that bringing her to a family event would be putting too much pressure on us. I had no idea she was thinking of—Cooper, what would I do with a wife?”
Using Bran’s shoulder as leverage, Jayson stood, his smile evident in the grainy, fading light.
“Love her.” Jayson slapped Bran’s shoulder. “And hope for the best.”
