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“You’ve been moping around all week,” Ranson said, grabbing the remote and diving onto the couch.
“I haven’t been moping,” Brant said, but he was feeling so terrible he couldn’t mount much of a defense.
Miles seemed to understand, because he gave Brant’s shoulder a squeeze. “Don’t worry, bro. She’s coming back.”
“Yeah, I know that,” Brant said, but once he got to his bedroom, he pulled out his phone and texted Charlie.
Go ahead and laugh, dude. I think you were right.
Twenty-Seven
Aweek later, Brant still hadn’t heard from Talulah. She’d simply gone silent. He knew Paul was scheduled to be back this past Thursday, but he couldn’t even get her to confirm that he’d returned. Brant could only assume she felt too bad to tell him the truth—that she’d decided to stay in Seattle for the sake of the diner, and she must not want to be with him, or he would’ve heard from her.
He deserved all the misery. He’d known from the beginning that Talulah wasn’t likely to stick around Coyote Canyon. Why he’d let himself fall for “the runaway bride” in spite of all the warning he’d had, and then hope against hope he’d be different from Charlie, he couldn’t say. Arrogance had gotten the best of him, he supposed.
“I’m a fool,” he told Kurt as they ate dinner together on Saturday night. Ranson and Miles had already left to go somewhere else for the evening—Brant had no idea where—leaving them alone with the meat loaf and mashed potatoes and gravy his mother had dropped off. “I can’t believe I did this to myself.”
“You’re giving up too soon,” Kurt told him.
“She’s not responding to me. I haven’t heard from her for a week. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that’s a hard no.”
Kurt shoveled another bite into his mouth. “If she’s saying no, she should tell you that.”
“Maybe it’s too hard for her. Maybe moving on without bothering to say goodbye is the easiest way to go.”
His brother took a big drink of milk. “Or she got back with Paul...”
“She was neverwithPaul!” Brant said, nearly yelling. But that didn’t mean Paul hadn’t finally prevailed. Had she decided to get into a relationship with him at last? Brant had admitted all along that Paul would be the easiest and most convenient choice.
“Forget about her,” Kurt said. “She’s not worth what you’re going through.”
“Don’t say anything negative about her,” Brant warned, but that only made his brother laugh.
“Come on, bro. Let’s get showered and go out. We’ll have some fun. And if you’renothaving fun, we’ll drink until you won’t have to think about her anymore, at least for tonight.”
“I don’t feel like going out,” he grumbled.
“Don’t let Charlie gloat. Show your face around town and act like what’s happened doesn’t bother you.”
Brant swallowed the potatoes in his mouth, even though he didn’t feel much like eating these days. “I don’t care enough about what Charlie thinks to put on a show.”
“Then I don’t know what else to say. Maybe we should get you laid.”
“No, thanks,” he said. “I’m not interested in that, either.”
Kurt gaped at him. “Holy shit. She’s really done a number on you.”
Brant shot him a dirty look. “I’d love nothing better than to find a deserving target. You should keep that in mind.”
Kurt scraped his plate clean. “Don’t get mad at me. You’ll move on and find someone you love as much as Talulah eventually. There are plenty of other fish in the sea.”
“Is that how you feel about Kate?” Brant asked.
His little brother lost some of his cockiness. “No, but...”
“Just don’t offer me any advice,” Brant told him. “You’re not helping.”
“Fine,” Kurt snapped. “Stay here and feel sorry for yourself if that’s what you want to do.”
