Noelle lifted her nose in the air. “There was nothing wrong with the scenery. It was Kyle. He insisted on working the whole time we were gone.”
“I have a company to run,” he explained. “I had to take a few calls. Nothing big.”
“Maybe it wasn’t big to you.” Noelle regarded Brandon with an accusatory air, but he had no idea how she could blame him for anything. “You weren’t the one who was always waiting,” she snapped at Kyle.
Kyle seemed embarrassed, which was, no doubt, Noelle’s intent. “I gave you plenty of attention,” he grumbled, and surprised Brandon by appearing relieved to see him. “How’s the leg?”
Brandon hadn’t heard that question in a while. Only Olivia knew he was still having problems with it. But the pain it caused him had been getting harder and harder to hide. “Fine. It’s been fine since I got the cast off.”
Fortunately Kyle didn’t question that. “Great. When do you go to Nicaragua?”
Paige drew Noelle into the kitchen while Brandon answered. “Next Friday.”
Kyle shot a look at his father, who was turning off the TV. “I wish I could go with you,” he said in a low voice, intended only for Brandon.
Brandon scowled at him. “Damn it, Kyle.”
He didn’t say anything. He just pinched the bridge of his nose as if the past week had been one of the hardest he’d ever endured.
“I wish you weren’t so damn noble,” Brandon muttered.
“It wasn’t my nobility that got me into this mess.”
Brandon chuckled as Bob came back toward them.
“What?” he said, looking between them.
Kyle answered. “Nothing,” he said, but he didn’t seem bothered that his father could overhear when he asked, “How’s Olivia?”
An image of her, naked beneath him, popped into Brandon’s mind, making the craving he felt for her that much worse. “I wouldn’t know.”
Kyle studied him for a moment. “If you care about her, don’t let her go.” He sounded jealous but resigned to the idea. “She’s crazy about you. I could tell.”
Brandon was so shocked that Kyle would encourage him, he couldn’t decide how to respond. Fortunately his mother saved him the trouble by entering the room, carrying a hot casserole. Noelle was right behind her with some rolls.
“Come on over and sit down,” she said. “Dinner’s served.”
*
Olivia had almost called Brandon a million times. She wanted to respond to his messages, to see him again. But she knew that if he was leaving in a week there was no point. He’d go on his way and forget about her. She didn’t need to grow even more attached to him.
But it had been a long, lonely week since the wedding. It didn’t help that Kyle texted her on Sunday: Brandon seemed lost at dinner Friday.
There was no context to let her decipher his meaning or his intent. She planned to ignore it but ultimately wrote back: What does that have to do with me?
Everything, came the reply.
Aren’t you supposed to be on your honeymoon? she typed.
Work brought me back early.
A few seconds later, he added a Thank God that almost made her laugh. She knew, in a way no one else probably did, what he was talking about. Noelle was not an easy person to take for long periods of time.
I refuse to feel sorry for you, she texted back.
He followed up with a wink and that brought a smile to her lips. “Poor Kyle.” She was just glad she hadn’t heard from her sister. She was also glad that it was wedding season and she’d signed three new clients. The added work, along with trying to hang some pictures and decorate her apartment, was keeping her busy, giving her a good excuse not to drive back to Whiskey Creek—even though, when she stopped working for five seconds, that was exactly where her heart wanted to take her.
Chapter 13
Kyle, of all people, called to say goodbye. “Do you have everything? Do you need a ride to the airport?” he asked.
Brandon glanced at the luggage he'�d packed. He’d hired a car to take him to Sacramento. He was meeting his agent, Scott Jones, for lunch before heading to the airport. To pay a driver to come all the way out to Whiskey Creek was expensive, but he couldn’t let any of his friends or family see that he wasn’t taking a backpack.
“I’m covered,” he replied. “Thanks, though.”
“Your plane leaves at five?”
He grimaced as he shifted. His leg was giving him so much trouble today. It was getting worse all the time. “Five-thirty.”
After this small talk, there was a slight pause. “Okay. Have a nice trip.”
Brandon stopped Kyle before he could hang up. “You thought you’d offer me a ride because…”
“When she was here for the wedding, Olivia told me something I’ve decided might be true.”
He hadn’t realized Olivia and Kyle had had much chance to talk, or were even on speaking terms. That toast at the wedding had been so generous it had blown Brandon away. He couldn’t imagine many other women being able to forgive so quickly that they could wish a sister well despite the hurt she’d caused. “What did Olivia say?”
“That I should try talking to you now and then. That I might be missing out on having a great brother.”
A fresh pang of longing shot through Brandon. He hadn’t talked to Olivia since their encounter in the gardens during the wedding, but his desire to hear her voice hadn’t diminished. If anything it had grown stronger. “She did?”
“I told you how much she admires you.”
“I remember. I’m still not sure why you bothered to do that.”
“I missed out. Doesn’t mean you have to,” he said and hung up.
Brandon stared at his phone. He wanted to call Olivia one more time, to at least be able to say goodbye. But a honk let him know the car had arrived. He had to get his luggage outside or he’d be late for lunch, which could potentially make him late for the airport.
*
Today Brandon was leaving for Europe and his surgery. Olivia had received a text from him a few days ago telling her he’d like to stop in to say goodbye. She wanted to say goodbye to him, too, but she knew it would be too difficult to see him again, knowing what lay ahead. She was worried about his leg, about his career, about his being in Europe on his own for weeks, maybe months, while he recuperated. She hated that he hadn’t told anyone else what he was doing. That meant even his parents wouldn’t be there to support him. As far as they were concerned, he was off on another grand adventure. If anything, they felt mildly annoyed that he didn’t seem to be growing up.