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“Hi, there!” She smiled. “I’m Stacey. Derek’s—”
“Fiancée,” Derek jumped in. Stacey giggled and nudged Derek in the side. “You’re supposed to let me say it!”
“Sorry, I can’t get enough of saying it out loud,” he said, kissing her forehead.
“Fiancée?” I asked, trying my best not to sound surprised. “I didn’t know there was even a girlfriend.”
“Yes, well, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” Stacey grinned. “We’ve only been talking for about two months, and last night bam! Proposal!”
Color me stunned.
“You know what they say, when you know, you know,” Derek said, kissing the girl’s forehead again. They both seemed smitten as hell. Happiness looked good on Derek. Sometimes it seemed that he struggled to find his way in life apart from working. There were times when his mind would get so dark, but he refused to let anyone in. He said therapy wasn’t for him, but he was glad it worked for me. Still, I wished he would talk to someone. It couldn’t hurt.
“Congratulations!” I said, holding my hand out toward Stacey to shake.
“Oh no, sweetheart, I’m a hugger,” she said, pulling me in close. As she squeezed me to death, I looked to my brother who was grinning ear to ear at her as if she were his sun.
Good for them.
“Now, don’t worry. I won’t be in your hair all weekend. I just wanted to come and meet you to say hi. Derek has told me so much about you.”
“Hopefully good things,” I joked.
“There’s only good things to say,” Derek commented, even though I knew it was a lie.
We headed to his apartment, which showcased once again that money wasn’t a problem for him. It was a huge place with three bedrooms on the eightieth floor in downtown Chicago. Sometimes, I wondered where I would’ve been if I’d taken him up on his offer to come work at his company. Then again, I knew deep down in my soul I was a southern boy through and through. Big city lights didn’t call me home. I felt more at peace deep in the woods.
Stacey didn’t stick around for long. Even though I said she was more than welcome to crash our dinner, she disagreed, saying we needed time to catch up.
Derek picked out the best steak house in the whole city, and I was more than willing to let him pay for it. Plumbers didn’t make the kind of money that Derek did, and most of my paychecks went toward Dad’s medical bills.
“It’s really damn good to see you, Jax. We should start making visits more often. Once a year doesn’t feel like enough anymore. Especially with Stacey being such a family girl. She was horrified when I told her we only saw each other once a year,” Derek said, cutting into his ribeye.
“You’re more than welcome to come down to Havenbarrow,” I replied, to which he scrunched up his nose. His reaction was no surprise to me. I knew that Derek hadn’t any plans of returning to his hometown. Not even to visit me. Too many of his demons lived there. Truthfully, I didn’t blame him for not wanting to revisit them.
“You know that’s too hard for me, Jax.” His voice dropped a little. “But you’re always welcome here.”
“I know. I’ll make more of an effort to get out this way, too.”
Maybe I’d bring Kennedy to meet him and Stacey. The fact that bringing Kennedy up to visit was even a thought shocked me. The fact that it made me so happy shocked me even more.
“Or, you can just take a position at my business firm. You know I’ll always make room for you, and it wouldn’t be some bottom barrel position. You can work beside me, be a partner.”
I laughed. “I don’t have a business bone in my damn body, Derek. The idea of making me your partner is insane. I’d ruin your business in a heartbeat.”
“I could train you. Seriously, Jax. We could make a great team.”
I cocked an eyebrow. “Why do we have this conversation every year I come up here?”
He sighed and put his silverware down. “I want more for you than your life back in Kentucky.”
“My life is fine down there. I have my business.”
“That was Cole’s plumbing business—not yours,” he argued. “You only took it over after he had his first stroke, because for some reason you feel as if you owe that bastard something.”
I always felt like I did owe my father something because I killed his wife. Seemed reason enough to keep his business going. “I’m good at it.” I shrugged. I knew Derek would never understand it, but I actually did enjoy my job. I was good at it and didn’t see me quitting any time soon. “Why are you always pushing me to leave Havenbarrow?”
“Because it’s a shit town. You don’t need that place in your life.”
