It’s not a problem.”
Before I could object again, he ducked into the rain and hurried toward the cab.
Reluctantly, I stepped into the house, following the sound of Isaac’s voice to the kitchen. He was on the phone, so I waited in the doorway while he finished his call. He pushed his phone into his pocket then folded his arms across his chest. “If you came all this way for Alex, you can’t have him back.”
Well, that wasn’t what I’d expected. “Um, what?”
“I saw the way you two looked at each other when we were in New York. Clearly there’s still something going on between you, but you can’t have him. He’s happy here. He doesn’t need to move back to New York.”
“Isaac. I’m not here for Alex.”
“He’s the best thing that ever happened to me, Dani.” Isaac pressed on like he didn’t even hear me. “You can’t have him. Also he’s dating someone. And he likes her. A lot.”
“Likes who?” Alex stepped into the kitchen behind me, sliding my suitcases up against the wall.
I looked from Alex to Isaac, then back to Alex again. I didn’t even know where to start. Alex was dating someone? The thought settled in my stomach like a pile of river rock. Cold and hard and heavy. “Um,” I waved my hand in Alex’s general direction. “Isaac thinks we’re . . .” I paused. “He thinks I’m here to see you.”
Alex wiped raindrops off his forehead and the tip of his nose. “Oh. Are you?”
Had he seriously just asked me that? I scoffed. “Of course not.”
“So you don’t have any plans to lure him back to New York with your weird girl magic?” Isaac said.
Alex chuckled. Possibly just at Isaac. But it also felt like maybe he was laughing at the idea of me luring him anywhere.
“Even if I did,” I said, “I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t work.”
Alex shot me a sideways glance, but he didn’t disagree.
“Oh.” Isaac reached for a bag of chips sitting on the counter and ripped it open. For how ancient the outside of the house looked—all historically appropriate and such—the inside was full of modern, clean lines. The kitchen was light and open, the appliances new, the countertops a shiny white marbled granite. It took me a minute to figure out what felt off about the room, but then it clicked. It was clean. Really clean. For a house full of bachelors, that didn’t seem right. “So why are you here then?” Isaac asked.
My eyes darted to Alex. “It’s kind of a long story.”
Apparently, it was all the hint Alex needed. “I’ll, uh, sorry. I’ll be in the next room.” I watched as he disappeared through the kitchen doorway.
As soon as he was gone, I glared at my brother. “Seriously? What was all that? Weird girl magic?” I crossed the kitchen and reached for the bag of chips. I was going on a bagel, after all. The second he’d opened the bag, the smell of the salt and oil had made my mouth water and my stomach rumble. Isaac pulled it out of my reach before I could get any.
“What else was I supposed to think?” he said. “You haven’t been home since before Mom and Dad left.”
“That’s not . . .” Okay, so it was true. But traveling was expensive—today had proved that, if nothing else—and our parents had been out of the country themselves for nearly a year. It’s not as if I’d been intentionally missing cozy Christmas dinners and Thanksgiving meals where everyone sat around and lamented my absence. There hadn’t been much to come home to. “Fine. But still. What was with all that stuff about Alex? Can you please share the chips? I’m starving.”
He rolled his eyes, then dropped them on the counter, nudging them my direction. He shrugged. “I thought with all your history and crap, you were . . . I don’t know. He’s been preoccupied lately. And he’s asked about you a billion times. I thought maybe you were getting back together.”
He’d asked about me? Why had he asked about me? “I haven’t talked to him since you were both in New York,” I said, my tone flat. “And I thought you said he was dating someone.”
Isaac raised his eyebrows but bless him, he seemed to know better than to ask why I sounded so disappointed. He waved away my question. “He went out with Jasmine Cooper. You remember her? But only once. It was nothing. You still need money for the