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Aubrey gave her mother a beseeching look. “Choose one. As if it’s that simple?”
Her mother patted Aubrey’s arm. “It’s not simple. But your father and I will back you no matter which one you choose.”
“You look like dog shit.” Vic’s youngest sister, Morgan, entered his office and plopped onto the sofa. She crossed her legs, tugging at the skirt of a stylish dress, no doubt from her shop.
“Won’t you come in.” He shut his laptop and rubbed his eyes. It was noon, and he’d been at it for six hours already.
“I brought you something to cheer you up,” Morgan said, ignoring his sarcasm. She hopped off the sofa and ran into the hallway, returning with her fingers looped around the handle of a paper bag half the size of his desk.
“I already ate.”
“Open it, smart-ass.”
He unearthed the contents: a shirt, suit jacket, dark-wash jeans and a new belt. Holding up the silver buckle with the Grandin family ranch’s logo on it, he sent Morgan a questioning look. “It’s October. Too early for Christmas.”
“It’s not a Christmas gift. It’s for you to wear to the fall festival at the TCC.”
He piled the clothing back into the bag. “I’m not going.”
“You have to go. I bought you all this stuff!”
“First off, you have a million connections in the clothing industry who would gift you anything you asked for.”
She blushed, hinting that while she might have spent time selecting the pieces, she certainly hadn’t spent money.
“Second, I don’t need it, because I’m not going. Thirdly, Chelsea and Jayden have already been bothering me about going, and I told them no, too.”
“It’s tomorrow. You have to go. Actually, we all have to go. Daddy’s orders.”
“What’s he going to do, fire me?”
“Working all hours of the day and night isn’t going to speed up the process of finding out if there’s oil under our property. And it’s also not going to heal your heart.”
“If you don’t mind—” he reopened his laptop “—I have some invoices to finalize.”
Morgan slapped his laptop shut and regarded him with redheaded ire. “I remember what you were like back when you and Aubrey broke up.”
“I was a jackass. That’s what I was like.”
“That’s what everyone thought. But I saw the truth. You were heartbroken. You were sad and you cried and told no one. Then you were withdrawn. Then you were angry and short-tempered. When you and Jayden went out to pick up women, you were gross. You pretended like being a playboy was your favorite pastime, but that’s not you, Vic.”
He’d had no idea she’d been paying such close attention, or he might’ve behaved better. The idea that his youngest sister, who had always looked up to him, had found him “gross” and seen through his actions made him feel slightly sick.
“Whenever you were out all night, you never came home the next morning looking happy. I saw you at a TCC event with another girl more times than I can count, and your smile was fake. Admit it. You are not complete without Aubrey Collins.”
“I tried, okay?” he snapped, because the truth fucking hurt.
“Not okay. What’s your plan? To sit around and wait for another ten years?”
“She’s not interested in what I have to say, Morgan!” His voice lifted out of frustration. Every one of his previous attempts to reach Aubrey had been futile. She was icing him. It was over.
“So you’re going to be like this again.” His sister gestured to his slumped posture. “You’re going to be sad and withdrawn. Or angry and short-tempered. You’re going to date miscellaneous women and be unhappy.”
“I’m not dating anyone.”
“So you’re going to be single and unhappy.”
“You’re single, and you’re not unhappy.”
