his dad had asked him a direct question in three weeks.
“Great.”
He added cream to his coffee and stirred it slowly. “When do you think you’ll be done?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Leanne went into town to pick up my prescriptions and see Lizzie about something so she said she’ll bring pizza and wings back from Gina’s.”
“Okay.” Kaiden mopped up the countertop and then went toward his father. “Here’s my rent.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a wad of bills.
“I don’t want your stupid money,” Jeff snapped.
“Too bad.” Kaiden tossed it onto the table. “I don’t work here anymore so I can’t pay you back that way.”
“Yeah, well, as to that.” His father shut the lid of his tablet. “Maybe I was too hasty.”
Kaiden shook his head. “I’m not playing this game, Dad. I’m taking a shower. When I come back I’ll set the table for dinner.”
He walked out, aware that he really wasn’t in the mood to tangle with his father again, and walked straight into Adam.
“Hey, can I talk to you?”
Kaiden repressed a sigh. “I’m just about to take a shower.”
“It’ll only take a minute.”
“Fine.” Kaiden went down the hallway to his bedroom, opened the door, and walked over to the window. “Shoot.”
Adam leaned back against the closed door. “I talked to Lizzie.”
“Okay.”
“She basically said everything that you did.”
Kaiden didn’t know how he was supposed to respond to that so he just nodded.
“She’s scared that if she gives everything up for me, and things go south again, then she’ll be left picking up the pieces.” Adam cleared his throat. “I tried to tell her that will never happen, but I do understand where’s she’s coming from. I haven’t exactly been reliable. I mean, you don’t go into a marriage expecting your wife to die at twenty-one of inoperable brain cancer, but that happened, and just to make things worse, I lost Lizzie as well.”
Kaiden winced.
“So, we’ve decided to try something different. She’ll keep her apartment for six months and we’ll try it both ways. Her living up here and commuting back into town for the first month, and then me doing the reverse for a month.”
“Hold up—you’re going to move down to Morgantown?” Kaiden asked.
“Isn’t that what you told me I should do?” Adam raised his eyebrows. “Lizzie was originally suggesting that she was the only person who should be making the monthly move, and I said it should be both of us.”
Kaiden stared at his big brother. “That’s . . . pretty awesome of you both.”
“Roman’s okay with it too,” Adam added. “We sat him down together and explained everything, and he totally got it.”
“Have you told Dad yet?”
Adam looked down at his boots. “I thought we’d wait until after the big party and his final checkup at the hospital.”
“Makes sense.” Kaiden nodded. “You know he’s going to hate it?”
“Good.” Adam’s elusive smile appeared. “Maybe it will take some of the heat off you.”
“I made my own bed,” Kaiden reminded him. “I don’t need you to save me.”
“Yeah, I forgot you made that very clear.” His brother’s smile disappeared and he straightened up. “You don’t need or like any of us right now, period.”
He grabbed the door handle. “I just wanted to let you know that even though I didn’t like what you said at the time, it kind of stuck in my side like a saddle burr. When Lizzie approached me with her plan, it all suddenly made sense, so thanks.”
“You should thank Lizzie, she’s the smart one around here,” Kaiden said.
Adam opened the door. “She got some help from Julia, of all people. She said that having someone talk everything through with her from a new perspective really helped.”
“Julia’s good at that.”
“So it seems. Is she coming back for the party next Saturday?”
“I’ve no idea.” Kaiden undid his shirt. “Mom’s bringing pizza back, so I need to get a shower and go help set up the kitchen.”
“Okay, thanks again.” Adam finally left.
“Why does everyone keep asking me about Julia?” Kaiden muttered as he stripped off his T-shirt and turned on the shower. “Like I’d know?”
All he had to do was send her a text, and ask. . . .
Kaiden stripped off the rest of his clothes and stepped under the hot spray. And, if he did that, he’d be right back where he didn’t want to be. Wanting something he couldn’t have, and even more miserable than he was already.
Chapter Eighteen
“Good morning, this is Julia Garcia, how may I help you?”
Julia uncapped her pen and found