“She’d probably be good for Alice, but she wants to stay here. You and I both know there’s no talking her out of something once she makes up her mind.”
“Then quit haranguing me.”
“Whew, that’s a big word for you! Is that your word-of-the-day?” I grinned to soften the insult. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
“Bite me. Are we doing this or not?” Scot asked, gesturing to my room.
“What? You can’t talk and move silly little boxes around at the same time? It’s called multitasking.”
Scot crossed his arms over his blue T-shirt. “I’m going to leave, and you’ll be stuck sharing that bed with Grandma.”
“Doesn’t bother me.”
“And her cat. The cat likes to crawl on your face when you’re sleeping. You’ll wake up with hair in your throat and the taste of the litter box in your mouth.”
I shuddered. “Gross. You’ve made your point.”
Once the room was rearranged appropriately, I asked, “Hungry? I can make something if you are.”
“No thanks. I’m going out tonight.”
Something in his voice startled me. I’d always been fairly attuned to my siblings. Well, all except for Joe. I’d never figure him out. Scot and I were close, being the two eldest, and we’d always had an especially strong connection. “Out to dinner with whom?” I watched him closely.
His eyes shot downward and he brushed his hair off his forehead. “Did I say I was going out with anyone?” If there was a picture next to the word avoidance in the dictionary, it would most definitely be one of Scot. Trust me. He was, beyond a doubt, hiding something.
“You’d like me to believe you’re eating at a restaurant by yourself? Come on, bro—I know you better than that. You despise eating in public by yourself.”
“Not true. I eat out by myself all the time.”
“Where? McDonalds?”
“And this is important to you why? You sound like Mom.”
“Ouch. Don’t ever say that to me again.”
He didn’t speak, just shifted a few more boxes around in the closet—which was totally unnecessary, by the way.
“Don’t tell me, then. What ever.”
“You’re such a whiner. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this anyway.” He hesitated for a second and then continued, “I’m meeting Marc for dinner tonight.” It was way too evident he didn’t like admitting it to me. We were both silent for a minute while I took it in. I wasn’t completely sure how I felt about it.
That’s a lie. It bugged the hell out of me.
“Marc? My ex-husband Marc? Why in the world would you be doing that? You hate me that much?”
“Give me a break, Liz. He’s my financial consultant, you know that. You hooked us up.” Lifting his gaze from the floor, he said, “He does a good job with my money.”
Silly, but I wanted to scream “Traitor!” at him. I wanted to stomp on the ground like a three-year-old. Basically, I wanted to be an obnoxious brat. Obviously, I didn’t. Because while I didn’t like it, I did understand. I hated that I understood. Sometimes, being mature sucks. “Well, okay. Marc is exceptional at what he does,” I grudgingly admitted.
“You’re not going to cry or anything, are you?”
I laughed at the expression on Scot’s face. As soon as I did, all the tension in the room evaporated. Poor guy. “Of course not. It’s up to you who you hire. I won’t say I’m happy about it, but it’s your call.”
“Don’t think I didn’t lay into him after he left you. I did. Hell, I even gave him a black eye.” Scot grinned at that statement, and my heart warmed. Like I said, sometimes, older brothers rock. Even better, I remembered Marc showing up at the house with a shiner. I didn’t bother asking him about it because that would have shown I cared. And you don’t want to show a man who’s just left you for a Barbie doll bimbo that you cared. “That was you?”
With a sheepish grin, Scot nodded. “And then, we just got back to business. That’s how it is with guys. I showed my respect for you, he took it like a man, and we forgot about it.”
Ha. I wished I could forget about it so easily. Maybe I should punch Marc in the eye. I almost told Scot that Marc was sticking his nose into my bakery business, but really, what would that have solved? Absolutely nothing, that’s what.
With a smile as bright as I could make it, I said, “Let’s go haul the bed in so you can head out for your date