stop this? I need to go to bed. I have a lot to do in the morning.” He went to push past Adam, but his brother didn’t budge an inch and he was built like a linebacker.
“What you said about Lizzie—” Adam paused.
“This is why you’re really mad at me, isn’t it?” Kaiden stared into his brother’s eyes. “Because I said something about Lizzie that was staring you in the face and you refused to acknowledge it.”
“I’d never stop her being independent, you know that.”
“Look, any fool can see that she’s worked hard to get herself to a place where she can support herself and her kid. She’s proud of that.”
“I’m proud of her too.”
“Then why can’t you see that if she gives it all up to come and live here for your benefit, that would make her feel vulnerable?”
“But, we love each other!”
“Sometimes love isn’t enough,” Kaiden said.
“You think we should continue to live separate lives? Me here, and her down there? How the hell is that supposed to work?” Adam demanded.
“Have you ever considered moving ‘down there’?”
The flash of shock on his brother’s face told Kaiden everything he needed to know.
“How could I run the ranch from Morgantown?” Adam asked.
“So you’re saying that what you do is more important than what Lizzie does? But you expect her to run the café, get Roman to school, and take on whatever you want her to do at the ranch without complaint?”
“Don’t be stupid.”
It took a lot to rile up his big brother, but Kaiden was doing an excellent job of it.
“You’re just talking out of your ass now.”
“How would that make you feel, Adam?” Kaiden refused to shut up. “If you were stuck in town, with a whole new routine, no family around you, and the knowledge that sometimes relationships don’t always work out, and you might have to move again? Wouldn’t you feel a tad vulnerable?”
Adam’s hands fisted, and for a second Kaiden wondered if he was about to get his just desserts. He almost wanted his brother to hit him, God knew why.
“When is Julia Garcia going back to San Francisco?”
It was Kaiden’s turn to blink like a fool. “What the hell does that have to do with anything I just said?”
“Because Dad’s right. I’ve seen how you look at her. We all have. You’re pissed because you can’t be with her, and you’re taking it out on us.” Adam took a step back so Kaiden could get past him and held up his hands. “Maybe you should take your own advice, Bro, and leave here, and go live with her.”
Kaiden let that low punch sink in and then offered his brother a ferocious smile. “You first, okay?”
He walked away knowing that he’d hurt his brother’s feelings. For the first time in his life, he was unwilling to laugh it off and apologize. Maybe because he was at odds with Julia he was seeing his own family more clearly than usual. As the old saying went, two wrongs didn’t make a right. If he was upset about Julia, Adam was still definitely in the wrong about Lizzie.
Chapter Seventeen
“I’ve set up a couple of meetings for you with some small developers this week.” Miley handed Julia a fresh cup of coffee and a couple of files. “The actual meetings are already in your calendar, but I know you like to have stuff to read in your hand as well.”
“Too much screen time gives me migraines,” Julia said. “This is for my personal information only, right?”
“Yep, I scheduled them during your lunch breaks so you won’t really be on company time.” Miley perched on the corner of Julia’s desk. “You look tired. Is Blaine driving you up the wall?”
“He’s been surprisingly quiet this week,” Julia mused. “Like he’s up to something.”
She’d been back at work for three weeks having successfully avoided Kaiden while overseeing the completion of the master bath and installing Beth as her father’s housekeeper. She’d promised her dad she’d be back once a month to check on everything, and she intended to keep her word.
The fact that she’d spent most nights missing Kaiden and meticulously running their night together through her head was irrelevant. She hadn’t done much more than have drinks and dinner with her two best girl pals where she’d tried not to share too much about her shattered love life. It was still too personal and too close to share with anyone yet.
“Blaine’s a snake. And I don’t like the way he’s always in