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“Thanks,” he said. Aside from the mayo on it, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
And he had to get that out of his mind. He’d been eating great for almost two months and feeling good too. Sleeping better and having more energy and fewer stomachaches. Not that he thought he had a lot before, but now it seemed as if he never had any.
“Can you take a break or are you in the middle of something?” she asked.
“I’ve got a meeting at one thirty so I’m good until then.”
He looked at his watch and saw it was noon.
“How is the job going?” Robin asked as she pulled their lunch out of the bag.
“Where is Harper?” he asked. He couldn’t believe he just realized she was alone.
“With Brian’s mother. I had a few errands this morning and it’s easier without having Harper around. Your job?” she asked.
They sat down to eat, him hopping up and getting them both a bottle of water.
“It’s great. No complaints. Well, just one, but I’m getting used to it.”
“What’s that?” Robin asked, digging into her sandwich. His sister was a tiny thing and never shied away from eating, but she never ate like he did either.
“I’m not doing as much hands-on work as I used to. I knew that going in. Don’t get me wrong. This is more managing and helping to bring the product together. Dealing with the coders, programmers and developers and keeping everyone on schedule.”
“But you do get to program or whatever it is you do?” she asked. “I know that had always been your dream, but it seems to me you got that.”
He sighed. “I did. And it burned me out.”
Robin lifted an eyebrow at him. “We knew it, Rick. We saw it when we actually saw you. But you’ve never listened to us before and we didn’t expect you were going to this time either.”
“It’s not that I didn’t listen. I just thought I knew what was best.”
She laughed at him. “And how did that work out for you?”
“Well now,” he said, grinning, “since I’ve got more millions in the bank than you...I’d say not that bad.”
She reached out and slapped his hand. “That’s crass but pretty funny. I guess we both made a lot of sacrifices for the money. I didn’t want it. I still don’t. It doesn’t seem real it’s there.”
Robin’s ex-husband had been a serial cheater before he’d met her. Alex had been older and his parents had wanted him to settle down. Rick’s naive sister fell for it and thought she had the perfect marriage. She wanted kids and she’d been pushing for it and the marriage was crumbling.
It wasn’t until she came home one day early from volunteering at the shelter that she’d caught her husband in bed...with a man.
The pieces all came together and Rick wished he’d been around more to talk to her before she’d found out what she had.
Brian had been her divorce attorney. All Robin wanted was a quick divorce and to walk away. Alex’s parents wanted to buy her silence so that it didn’t get out, as they were old school.
When it was all said and done, Robin took the money at his urging, telling her she deserved it as combat pay for what she emotionally went through. Most would consider it a divorce settlement and it was no one’s business.
“I know what you mean about the money,” he said. “I always did well, but living in California the money didn’t stretch like it does here. Like you, that money came with sacrifices.”
For Dean more than him, but he wasn’t going to say that. It’d make his family ask more questions that he didn’t want to answer. Like why he didn’t talk too much to his best friend anymore.
“You’re home now,” Robin said. “You look great. Like the brother I remembered before he moved away. And you’ve even got a girlfriend. Tell me more about Gillian.”
He figured this was the plan for the visit. “What do you want to know?” he asked. “I told you about her. She’s from the area. Her family still lives here. You know who her sister-in-law is.”
“I do,” Robin said. “I’ve met Whitney before at the picnic. She’s really nice. Has Gillian ever been married before? She doesn’t seem that much younger than you to be still single. Sometimes there is a reason for it.”
“She’s thirty-one,” he said. “The only reason is she spent a long time with a guy and it didn’t work out.”
