to escape from between my lashes, dampening my hands.
“What if you’re not sure you know how to let someone do that?” I ask. My voice cracks a little, so I keep my face hidden, just to feel like I’m still in control of something.
He gives the back of my neck a reassuring little squeeze. “Then you let them show you how.”
One quick, shuddering sob escapes me. Dad pats my back a few times, then drops his hand away. I hear the sound of him slapping his palms down on the tailgate, and I lift my head up wearily.
“Come on, let’s go find Cody. It’s a beautiful day, and I hear the walleye count is up on Carter Lake. I think we all deserve to take the afternoon off.” He tips his sunglasses down and claps his hands together. “No worries though. I’ll have you back before the council meeting starts.”
24
Alec
Ten days after having my heart broken in Colorado, I return to the scene of the crime, like the glutton for punishment I am.
A smarter man would’ve stayed put in his home state, where his annoying sister will bake him more brownies and his parents will pretend like they don’t see that he’s struggling but invite him over to the house for dinner and serve giant bowls of pasta and buttery loaves of garlic bread. Carbs are a fucking love language between the Rossi-Masons. Or, in Marissa’s case, carbs and sarcasm.
“Okay, explain this to me again. Where are you?” she asks, even though I’ve already told her twice.
I stop outside the doors to the meeting room in the municipal building, keeping the phone pressed to my ear but lowering my voice. “The city council meeting.”
“So you’re not at Sage’s house. You’re at a city council meeting for a property we already have a contract on, to hear about a noise complaint for a racetrack which we plan to bulldoze over and replace with a Panera or something.”
“Yes. That’s where I am. I’m tying up loose ends. Now can we stop talking about it?”
Marissa snorts. “Give me a minute, I’m not done pointing out the obvious. Which includes how you should be at Sage’s right now, reconciling with her. Not in some stupid meeting that doesn’t matter.”
I blow out a long breath. “Except that there’s nothing to reconcile.”
“That’s not fucking true and you know it. What if she meets someone in the next few months, huh? I mean, she’s out there in the world, looking like a country-girl supermodel, and you know some country boy who likes race cars and wears Wranglers is bound to show up at some point, and she might fall for him and his big truck. Are you telling me if that happens, you won’t regret sitting back and doing nothing this whole time?”
I grimace. “Wow. Thank you for that. I’ve created plenty of scenarios to freak out about when it comes to this woman, but I hadn’t actually thought about her with another guy. You’re a great sister, you know that?”
“I know I am.” She exhales impatiently. “Just go talk to her. Tell her you can’t live without her, et cetera, et cetera. Then we can all stop worrying about you dying alone with a heart that’s turned to petrified wood from going dormant for so long.”
“The meeting is starting,” I lie. “I’ll call you later. In a year or so. Try not to fall in love with Declan any more than you already have, okay?”
She’s cussing me out as I end the call, which makes me feel a little better. I silence my phone and shove it in my pocket. Inside the meeting room, it’s the same scene it was a month ago. Haley and her team of sycophants take up the two front rows while a few bored-looking reporters are scattered about in other seats.
I shouldn’t be here. Just like when all this started, I’m the last person who should be out here for a meeting that—just like Marissa said—doesn’t really matter. Yes, it is important that we are kept abreast of any pending issues with the property, but there’s nothing that’s going to happen here tonight that can’t be dealt with from our offices. The truth is, I’m here because of everything Sage and I shared over the past few weeks even if she’s made it clear that we don’t have a future together. I’d invested too much of myself into this to walk away without knowing there would be someone in the room