by Nicole Helm
Brandon’s expression went from confused to serious and he pushed out of the chair. “What’s happened?”
The demand was so forceful, the truth nearly came tumbling out. A reflex to that no-nonsense tone. Except what happened was none of Brandon’s business. “N-nothing.”
“Tori. You’ve been here, hell, not even two months. You can’t leave again.”
“I . . . I have to.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, and she’d forgotten that his natural leadership and innate power didn’t just exist inside Mile High or business. Brandon was like that with everything and everyone.
Except maybe Lilly. Would Lilly understand? Maybe Tori should have appealed to her, but it was too late now.
“L-look. So. I . . .” She let out a shaky breath. Hell, she wasn’t in the wrong here, she might as well tell him the truth. Surely he’d see . . . he’d understand. Brandon understood people better than anyone she knew, so he’d get it.
“Will seems to think . . . Well, it’s just, he’s got it in his head we can . . .”
“He’s in love with you.”
“No.” She said it on more of a gasp than was probably necessary, but the last thing she wanted to hear was that word. “No. Look. No. Things are all . . . No, and I just need to leave. We can’t . . . I need you to help me find a job, and if you can’t, it doesn’t change my mind. I can’t stay.”
His mouth flattened. “This seems sudden,” he said, his voice accusatory at best.
Which was helpful, really, because she’d accuse him right back. “I’ve thought long and hard about it.”
“I see. And what did Will say?”
Tori had to look away. This wasn’t going at all like she needed to, and it was her own fault. She was panicking. Not acting rationally. She should have gone home and planned it all out. She should have done everything different.
“Tori,” Brandon admonished, his hands falling to his sides.
“Don’t tell Will,” she said, losing what little pride she had left. “Please.”
His mouth went even harder. “You know I can’t do that.”
“Please? Please. Not for me, but for his own good.”
Brandon’s eyebrows furrowed again, as though she was speaking some foreign language he couldn’t work out. “What about yours?”
Her own good? Hell, this was for her survival. “This is for everyone’s own good.” She knew. She knew.
And if you’re wrong?
Nothing about this meeting had surprised her so far, but Brandon resting his hands on her shoulders did.
He looked down at her, trying to figure her out, so much like Will. Same dark, thick hair, same hazel eyes, same beard hiding so much.
But Brandon was her friend, not her heart. She didn’t understand him the way she understood Will. She didn’t understand anyone the way her soul locked with Will’s.
Which was the scariest thought of them all.
“I’m telling you what I would have told him seven years ago, had he asked. I don’t know what happened, but I do know running away isn’t the answer.”
“I don’t have a choice,” she managed to say, sounding sure. Because it was the truth. Truths were always hard. The right choice was always the hard choice. She’d learned. She knew.
“Of course you do,” Brandon returned.
Had he said it in an offhanded, condescending manner she’d heard Brandon employ often, she might have bristled. But he said it in that even, certain way that made her heart waver.
Did she have a choice?
“He’s not the same man, and I’d wager you’re not the same woman. This isn’t the same life any of us had seven years ago. You have a choice, of course you do. Having a choice is the hardest part of the whole thing. You don’t want to consider love, fine, but I don’t say it lightly when I say he cares about you, in a way he’s possibly never cared about anyone else, including himself.”
Her heart twisted, painful and scraping. “He thinks he does, but he . . . He doesn’t . . . He can’t . . .” She couldn’t find the words, or maybe she didn’t want to give them to Brandon. “Look, it doesn’t happen for me, okay? My life is a cruel cosmic joke. I’m saving everyone the trouble.”
He squeezed her shoulders, and though she refused to look up at him she could feel that heavy weight of his gaze. “We get to choose our lives, Tori. What we fight for. What we’ll hurt for.”
She pushed his hands away and stepped back, finding the strength to meet his concern with her righteous certainty. “I’m done hurting.” That was the beginning and end of it. Hurt was shit, and she was done with it. Life was about finding good and happy and easy. It was about being able to take a breath, not going through bloody and broken always wondering when someone would realize what she’d always known . . .
“If you won’t help me, that’s fine.”
“I’ll always help you, Tor. Always.”
“Then don’t tell him!” She swallowed, at the lump, at the rising tide of panic, at all the emotion swamping her.
“He’s my brother.”
“And he means more. Yeah, I get it. Someone always means more,” she muttered to herself. There was her certainty. Her reminder.
“If you’ve got a scorecard locked away in there you’ll always lose. Because life is not a win and loss column.”
“Well, you’re very wise and all, but I’ve got shit to do.”
“I’m not wise,” he said, even as she walked away. “But I learned that love will always be scary, and it will always hurt, and sometimes you have to do the thing you think you can’t.”
Tori closed her eyes briefly, but she didn’t stop her retreat. No, not retreat. This was an exit. A good-bye. Inevitable and necessary.
Brandon only thought different because he was married, because he was the type of man who could move mountains if he so chose.
Tori didn’t have that kind of power. Never had, and she never would. She marched through the front room of Mile High again, and though Skeet didn’t look up from his desk, he did speak.
“You’ll always regret running away. Trust me,” he muttered.
She gaped at the old man she barely knew, but he busied himself with papers on his desk, and Tori . . .
She had to get out of here. Clearly, it was some kind of insane asylum. Maybe some screwed-up nightmare.
Either way, it was done, and she had to go home and pack up the life she’d always wanted.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lilly yawned at her desk. This whole pregnancy-exhaustion thing was really not her favorite, but she supposed anything that assured her the twins were growing as they should be, she would deal with.
She gave her stomach a little pat, something she did only when she was completely alone and no one could see that she was trying to communicate with two tiny fetuses. Tap, tap, keep growing, little ones.
She glanced at her watch and frowned. It was at least half an hour after when she had expected Brandon to swoop in with water and snacks and check on her to make sure she wasn’t working too hard. He was like clockwork that way, and she couldn’t ignore the fact that even though it grated on her nerves when she was really focused on something and he interrupted . . . On the whole, she enjoyed it, felt comforted by it.
So it was especially concerning he hadn’t appeared. She pushed out of her chair and shoved her feet back into the heels she’d slipped off earlier. She wasn’t going to forgo fashion just because she was pregnant. Though sometimes she considered it.
She left her office and went to Brandon’s across the hall. The door was open and when she stepped inside, he was standing at the window looking out over the backyard of Mile High.
It was funny that even a surprise baby, a quick wedding, and a million fights in between didn’t dull the way her heart could pitch at just the sight of him. So big and handsome and hers.
Lilly took a few more steps toward him and looked out the window herself. She didn’t see anything of importance, but
when she looked up at Bran his face was grave.
“What’s wrong?”
He sighed and rubbed a hand over his beard. “I’m not really sure.”
“Elaborate,” she demanded, poking his side.
He sighed again, his gaze not leaving the trees that surrounded this side of the cabin. “Tori came in a little bit ago. She told me she wanted to leave. She wanted me to help her find a job out of state.”
Lilly frowned. “What did your brother do now?”
“As far as I can tell he didn’t do anything. But she wasn’t exactly forthcoming.”
“Something had to set her off to want to run away.”
“I agree. The issue is that I don’t have a clue as to what. She asked me not to tell him, so, yeah, it has to do with him.”
“Of course, you’ll tell him! She can’t just disappear.”
Bran’s mouth curved a fraction and his hazel eyes met hers. “It isn’t as if he’s never done it to her.”
Lilly fisted her hands on her hips. “You think it’s revenge then?”
“No, I don’t think it’s revenge. She was too upset and jittery for that. She seemed . . . panicked. I told her I thought he loved her, and she just . . .” He shook his head, looking back out the window. “I don’t know how much of it is my business.”
“All of it,” Lilly replied resolutely.
“Lilly—”
“We’re family, Brandon.” She didn’t let him lecture her on her busy-bodying. Though she’d vowed to be more careful with it after Will’s outburst, it had all worked out, hadn’t it? Will and Tori had clearly gotten something out of her interfering.
How could you argue with results? “Will is your brother, and my brother-in-law, and quite frankly anyone who we invite into Mile High has come to be a part of our family. It means something more than just a business, this place, and that means the people in it are important to us as people.”
“Don’t get agitated,” he said lightly, already scanning the room no doubt so he could shove her somewhere and hover.
“Then don’t argue with me,” she replied primly.
“I won’t be able to keep it from him. It’s not like I’m considering not telling him. I’m just wondering . . . I don’t want to get in the middle of this. I think they need to figure out their own shit.”
“Because when we were having problems, Will didn’t give you any advice or speak to you in any way about it?” she asked sweetly.
Brandon didn’t say anything, but his mouth firmed so she knew she’d scored a point.
“Exactly. We have all been pushing each other and into each other’s businesses, and it’s not always right, and it’s not always perfect, but it is what we do. It’s what you do when you care about someone. You offer them a shoulder, and you offer them advice, and you’re there for them regardless of what outcome they choose. That’s love.”
“Yes, it is.” He wound his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close until she leaned against him, but he was still tense. Worried. “Remember when you weren’t too happy with me over looking into Hayley and where she came from?”
Lilly shifted on her feet uncomfortably, afraid she was going to have to acknowledge him scoring a point. “Well. Yes.”
“And you said that I was using my power to do something against her will.”
“I had a little bit of my own baggage in that particular fight.”
“I know, but I’m just wondering how much of this is my . . . She seemed scared, and I know she’s not scared of Will. I couldn’t get out of her what this was all about, and it makes it impossible to know the right course of action.”
“Well, if she isn’t scared of Will, then it’s obvious.”
“It is?”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “Love. She’s scared of love.”
Brandon took a minute to consider that, and she liked that he gave it the weight it deserved—didn’t just jump to agree or disagree with her.
“Love is a scary thing,” she added. “Some of us feel inclined to . . .” She delicately cleared her throat. “Occasionally run away from it.”
Brandon chuckled at that and squeezed her tighter to him. “That they do.”
“I just hope Will is smart enough to stand up to that fear.” She looked up at the man she’d married, who’d been just that smart, and smiled as she touched her palm to his scruffy jaw. “That would be the right course of action.”
“You guys talking about me?”
They both whirled to face Will, who was now standing in the doorway, looking puzzled.
“You’re back,” Brandon offered lamely.
“Yeah, I’m back. What’s going on?”
Lilly looked expectantly at Brandon and he sighed. “Let’s go sit down. We’ll talk it out.”
“How very concerning,” Will muttered.
Lilly hooked arms with Will as they walked out to the main room. Sam was coming in the front door as they did, and Hayley was fiddling in the kitchenette.
She knew that some people would find it a gross violation of privacy to air this all out in front of everyone, but when she’d told Brandon they were a family, she meant it.
She wanted to know that when she brought her children into the world, they would have this amazing support. That they would never have to worry like she had. That they would never feel like they were the only person they could count on. She would build that for them, and for herself. For Brandon, for Will. For all these people who hadn’t been in her life a few months ago, but she had grown to love and need.
“Why don’t we all sit,” Lilly said with a wave to the others.
“Okay, now you’re just freaking me out. What’s wrong?” Will asked, taking a seat on the couch.
“It’s not so much that something’s wrong,” Brandon said evenly as Sam, Hayley, and Skeet gathered.
“Oh, just tell the boy already,” Skeet grunted. “Poor girl’s running scared. I wouldn’t beat around the bush.”
“What the hell are you all talking about?” Will demanded.
“Tori came by to see me after her excursion today.”
Will’s frown deepened and Lilly couldn’t fight the urge to take a seat next to him and put her hand on his arm. He looked at her fingers as though they were some offensive thing, but she wanted to offer what support she could.
“She asked me to help her find a job out of state. She said she has to leave. And she asked me not to tell you.”
The expression on Will’s face didn’t change, but Lilly felt his muscles go to steel underneath her fingers.
She had a feeling this was going to be quite the situation.
* * *
Will figured they all expected him to react in some way. But he couldn’t. Much like the freezing he’d done earlier when he’d had that horrible feeling something wasn’t right, he couldn’t move. Or act.
Brandon’s words seemed to sink into his brain, not quite making sense, but slowly clicking into place.
Tori had slept with him, and now she wanted to leave.
He looked around the room at too many concerned faces and tried to smile. “Figures, I guess.”
“I don’t think it figures at all,” Hayley said, so self-righteously he wanted to laugh.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Sam added, looking concerned and confused.
But it made perfect sense to Will. Sure, he’d been certain he could fix things with Tori. He’d known he would do whatever it took to have a relationship with Tori.
But what he’d missed in all his certainty was that she’d have to let him.
Why would she let him? He didn’t have anything particularly special to offer. Why should she give him the time to prove himself? She didn’t have to. She didn’t owe him.
So this really made all the sense in the world.
“What are you going to do about it?” Lilly asked, sitting next to him, her fingers resting on his forearm. His force of nature sister-in-law, who thought you could just do things about p
eople, was sitting there asking him what he was going to do.
“Well, aren’t you going to tell me?” he asked blandly.
She frowned at him, but she didn’t take her fingers away, and none of that horrible concern choking him left the room.
What was he going to do? He was going to accept that he’d wanted to change, and he’d wanted to love her, and it just wasn’t going to happen. People were people, after all. All you could count on was yourself.
His father had branded him useless. His mother had cut him off for telling her the truth. If blood couldn’t love him, why would he expect someone he’d hurt to?
“Will.”
Will looked up at his brother’s voice, and it was there he saw his exception.
Brandon had always been there. His brother. His leader. A million other things, but Brandon had always been there.
Mom and Dad had proven that blood didn’t mean anything to some people, so it wasn’t even because he’d had to be. Brandon wasn’t there because they shared blood, because it was some obligation.
He’d been there because that was Brandon.
The frozen thing inside of him started to thaw, and in its wake was not the warm glow of love—brotherly or otherwise.
No, he was hot with anger.
He’d never deserved a second chance with Tori, but they both deserved a chance. To learn from their mistakes. To be better and try harder. They deserved a chance at something.
And she was going to run away.
No. No, not this time. It wasn’t going down like this again. He stood abruptly, jostling Lilly, offering a half-hearted apology as he strode for the door.
A chorus of his name filled the air. He heard Sam tell him to stop, and Hayley ask where he was going. Brandon said his name again in that no-nonsense drill-sergeant way.
“I’ll tell you where I’m going, I’m going to tell Tori, if she wants to disappear, she’s damn well going to have to get through me first.”
“Don’t lead with anger when love is on the line,” Skeet’s scratchy old voice said, with enough force to make Will stop at the door. “Life doesn’t give us very many second chances,” he added.
Will could only turn and stare at the old man. Skeet shrugged, not looking any of them in the eye. “You don’t get to be old and alone for no reason, or without learning a thing or two. ’Less you want to be like me.”