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Liam slowed his steps, his brown boots scuffing the white sidewalk. I realized maybe he was waiting to find out if I would be joining them.
“Uh, sure, thank you,” I muttered then ducked my neck so my mouth would be covered by my coat.
“Are you going to Uncle Colson’s right now too?” Maddy asked, turning her head slightly to the left to catch my eye.
Liam glanced over once then focused on the street ahead.
“Nope, I actually have to call in about my work and then I’m going next door to Nora’s house. That’s where I’m staying.”
“What do you work at?” Mila asked. I smirked at the wrong use of words, but it was cute so I didn’t correct her.
“I work from wherever my laptop is.”
Seraph twisted her head my way, her face scrunching in confusion. “Why don’t you stay at Uncle Cole’s house?”
The question slammed into me harder than the wind. It was such an innocent question, but a reminder just the same. How was I supposed to explain that my brother was slowly warming up to me but wouldn’t be offering me his spare room any time soon? Maybe if I usedHarry Potterreferences? I was like Harry, living under the stairs, but I didn’t have any powers or owls and I wasn’t the cousin…I was the little half sister everyone hated.
“Uh…” I started, but Liam covered for me.
“Nora is out of town right now and asked if Haley would house sit for her.”
All three girls murmured in understanding.
I turned my face to catch Liam’s gaze and mouthed the words,Thank you.
He didn’t respond, just kept walking.
Okay…
We advanced down Main Street a little further, but Liam still hadn’t said anything. It bugged me on a weird level. He was Colson’s best friend, so it only made sense that we had some kind of familiarity, but I didn’t want to feel like I had to push for it this hard. If he didn’t like me, or want anything to do with me, it was honestly fine, but I knew his girls would be around Colson a lot, and I had every intention of being around my brother just as often. We were going to have to get used to one another. I wanted to say as much to him, but now his face was drawn tight as he stared at his cell phone, so I kept my mouth shut.
Finally, we were in front of my SUV.
“Well, thanks for making sure I got to my car nice and safe,” I said, mostly to Mila.
She waved and sweetly said, “You’re welcome.”
Liam added, “Macon isn’t really dangerous though, just so you know.”
“But she’s a girl all alone, you always tell us to never be alone in town,” Maddy countered, furrowing her dark brows.
I laughed, loving how quickly the girls were able to turn this on him. Kids were funny.
Opening my door—and hopefully helping end the questions—I politely said. “Bye, guys, I’ll see you around.”
Then I shut myself inside and waved through the window, letting out a sigh as I watched the back of Liam’s wool sweater disappear around the corner.
I felt so out of place here in this town, and Liam’s standoffish attitude only hammered that home. The reminder that it had taken Colson three days to finally speak to me after I arrived in Macon, made me blush with embarrassment. I should have left by day two, but I had nowhere to go.
I burned a bridge with my parents by following Cole to Oregon. My dad had tried to undercut Cole in the purchase of a company. I ratted him out then bought the company myself. Now I was here because I felt guilty about how royally not only our dad but my mother too had screwed him over. Don’t even get me started on what my mother did to Cole’s poor garden. They were written out of my life for good, and I wasn’t going back.
While the seats and steering wheel warmed, and I worked to shake off my thoughts, my phone connected to the car’s Bluetooth, and began playing my voice messages.
A nasally voice filled the car as the message played.
“Hello, Ms. Hanes, this is Daniel from Hush Shoes. I work with Clyde in the San Francisco Office…anyway, sorry to bother you, but Clyde is out sick, and his assistant seemed unsure of who is next in the chain of command aside from you. Clyde was working on getting a management team set up, but I believe he’s still in the interview process. Anyway, can you give me a call at your earliest convenience?”
Shit.
