Page 105 of Risk It All
She’d said so herself—she wanted to go back to how things were before. Maybe she could, but I sure as hell couldn’t.
So, I’d continued conversations with the two restaurants in Chicago, and I planned to take a few days off at the end of the week to head down to the city for interviews. Wes hadn’t said anything when I told him about the days off—not that I’d expected him to since he wasn’t that type of guy—but he could likely put the pieces together. I think everyone could from the tension in the air.
Getting out of town, even if it was to Maple Bluffs, would be a good change of scenery.
Mom, Colin, and I were going to give the house a final walk-through and clean before the first open house next weekend. As much as Mom loved this house, I heard the excitement in her voice when she talked about what came next, and I couldn’t think of anyone who deserved it more.
Mom and Colin were at the front of the house, carrying a loveseat out of the garage, when I pulled my car up to the side, parking near the curb. I turned off the engine and hopped out, ready to help.
Colin took one look at me and said, “What happened to you? You look like shit.”
Mom scolded him but then grimaced when she turned back to me. “You don’t look great, Leo. Are you feeling okay? Should I make some tea?”
My jaw clenched. The last thing I needed was both of them ganging up on me. “I—” I started, but Mom quickly shook her head.
“I’ll make you a tea. Here, help your brother carry this to the curb. I have someone coming to pick it up.”
Because a tea in eighty degree weather was going to solve all my problems. I sighed, biting my tongue, and walked over to the side where my mom had been standing to take the weight of the couch from her. Last thing I wanted to do was take out my frustrations on her.
“Sure, Mom. That sounds good,” I said.
“But seriously, are you okay?” Colin asked, and when I looked at him over the god-awful orange couch that I didn’t even know my mom had, I swore I saw a flash of concern.
“I’m fine.”
We started carefully walking toward the curb.
“What did you want to talk about?” I asked, figuring we might as well get it over with.
“Oh, uh, I don’t know if now’s a good time.”
My nostrils flared, frustration brewing and patience already wearing thin. “Just get it out, Colin.”
“Jesus, what’s gotten into you?” he muttered.
We got to the end of the curb and carefully lowered the love seat to the ground.
Colin brushed his hands over his jeans. “It has to do with Eliza,” he said as we walked up the driveway.
“What does?”
“What I need to talk to you about,” he said, licking his lips nervously.
I narrowed my eyes at him, not understanding what he was getting at. I stopped walking and turned to face him, my arms crossed over my chest. “Get it out, then.”
I’d never seen my brother so nervous. He ran a hand through his hair and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
“Colin,” I gritted.
“Okay, okay.” He raised his hands in surrender and started to pace up and down the driveway. “I thought it’d be fine if you two didn’t know, because why would it matter? There was no way you and Eliza would end up together, but then you took the job at Lake Ridge, and you two ran into each other again. You mentioned you two were friends. Mom said the same thing. That you two have become close, and…I wondered if I should say something.”
“Say something aboutwhat,” I ground out.
“So, that night at the bar when I went up to Eliza…it was mostly because I knew you wanted her but weren’t going to say anything.”
My jaw clenched and stomach turned, already hating where this was going, and I really hoped I was wrong.
“I wanted something you didn’t have. And I didn’t think anything of it, because she’s hot and easy to be around, but then we started dating, and…” He shook his head. “I thought we could make it work, and I cared about her, but…I realized more and more how much you two had in common. Then, when she broke up with me, I didn’t think either of you needed to know the truth, because you were leaving for Portland.”
