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Yeah, I guess it was.
Kate and I stay in the kitchen for a little while longer, changing the conversation to a slightly lighter topic before she leaves to meet Emmett for her doctor’s appointment.
Checking my face with the camera of my phone to make sure I don’t look like a hot mess, I leave the kitchen. There are a couple of people waiting to be served, so I prepare their orders before grabbing a tray to clean up the tables.
I’m just finishing with the last one and look out the window to spot a family standing across the street. Something about them feels familiar, and it takes me a moment for the recognition to set in.
It was Rose and Kyle. And John.
I knew that he was also in town, but this was the first time I saw him in a while. His hair was a mess, thick stubble covering his jaw. Even from here, I could see that his face was red, and his mouth was moving quickly. They were clearly fighting about something. Rose opens her mouth, but he steps closer, and she flinches at the movement.
What the hell is going on there?
The doorbell chimes, drawing my attention. I look over my shoulder and find my brother’s surly face. He limps toward me, his brows furrowed, Shadow at his side.
“Here.”
He pulls a phone out of his pocket and hands it to me.
“Thank you so much! I don’t know how I took the wrong one.” The lie slips easily from my lips as I slide my hand into my back pocket to pull out his phone and hand it to him.
Chase grunts something undefined as he glances over his shoulders. His whole body is stiff, shoulders set in a tight line as if he’s bracing for trouble.
I follow his line of sight, noticing a few curious glances focused on us.
Or maybe he’s just annoyed with the attention that’s on him.
But people wouldn’t be staring if he showed his face in town every once in a while. Not that he would listen to what I was saying. If I had to keep making up excuses for him to leave the house, so be it. I was so sick of his grumpy, reclusive ways.
“Want me to make you a coffee?”
He shakes his head. “I’m good.”
“How about these new cupcakes I made?”
If possible, Chase’s face turns even grimmer than it was before.
“What? You’re here now. Might as well get something out of it. So, cupcakes?”
“I want you to stop losing your shit, so I don’t have to go out of my way to bring it to you.”
Well, I guess it was only a matter of time before he said something. These past few days, I’ve tried to come up with different reasons to get him into town. My car was making strange noises. It wasn’t. I was running out of milk, and the shop was busy, so I needed him to go and pick some up at the store. There was an extra carton out back in the storage.
I was so sick of his sulking. And while there wasn’t anything that I could do to change my shitty life, there was something that could be done about getting Chase reintegrated with the town.
I wave him off. “My mind’s beenelsewhere.”
“Like on Miguel?”
My eyes narrow at the mention of Miguel. This was the first time Chase brought him up since that day he found us kissing on our front porch. I guess I was too hopeful to think he wouldn’t have noticed us sneaking around.
Still, I keep a cool face. “What would that have to do with anything?”
Chase just watches me for a second, his fingers sinking into Shadow’s fur. “Just because I don’t bring that shit up, doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s happening under my roof, Becs.”
Yup, definitely too good to be true.
I open my mouth to answer, just as the doorbell chimes.
