Tangled Love on Pelican Point (Island County Series Book 3) (17 page)

“Ooh.”

“I’ve never told anyone before. Cole thinks I was just drunk and into home renovations, but I couldn’t stop. It was like with every fling of my wrist, everything I’d been carrying around for the last thirty plus years escaped.” He grimaced. “Until I hit the stud.”

I listened to his words but still didn’t understand where this animosity came from. Why would he feel that he had to pretend a wall was his parents?

Anthony slid his phone from his pocket and went to voicemail. I saw the several I’d left listed on his screen with ten times as many from Cole.

“So this was the first message I got from my brother and why I needed time away. I got it while I was in the hospital.”

Dude, when are you ever going to get your act together? Even when you tell me things have changed, you prove otherwise. I’m so disgusted by your behavior. I don’t even know what to say. I’m getting tired of it, Anthony. I’m about at my breaking point. I’m starting a family with Natalie. Someday, I’ll have children to care for and I won’t have time to fix your messes. I’ve already given up on fixing you. Call me when you sober up.

I’d never heard Cole that angry. The sharpness to his words made me cringe on Anthony’s behalf.

“So you didn’t call Cole to tell him you weren’t wasted and that you were just sick and hospitalized with pneumonia? That would straighten the whole thing out.”

Anthony shook his head. “But it wouldn’t. He’s left another twenty messages with the same delivery. If he can’t trust me, what’s left?”

“An amazing relationship between two brothers. Forget the work stuff and the image thing. I didn’t know about your family’s past. I always thought you had the perfect family. I think all of Fireweed figured that. It sounds like that wasn’t the case, but through it all, you and Cole not only survived, you thrived. Don’t let a series of misunderstandings cause a divide.”

I wanted to ask what it was that made them so close—what had happened in Anthony’s past to create such pain—but it wasn’t my place. Not yet, and maybe never.

“It’s been years and years since I’ve done anything stupid. Except when I knocked myself off the ladder, I hadn’t had more than a few beers in over five years. It’s not like Cole hasn’t had his fair share of screw-ups.”

“People tend not to take their own faults into consideration when they’re busy critiquing someone else. It’s human nature.”

A few minutes of silence passed, and I placed my hand on his knee, feeling a spark I had to ignore. More than anything, Anthony needed a friend.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

“You don’t have a thing to apologize for.”

“Yeah, I do. I thought the photo was just you being you.”

“It’s a reputation I earned, and it has been hard to shake.”

“Especially when your brother is helping to perpetuate it.”

“It helps to sell albums.”

“Does it though?” I asked, sliding my hand along his knee.

“Who knows?” He let out a sigh. “But I don’t blame you for thinking that. If I were in your shoes and saw all those women around and someone who’d just kissed you flat on his face—”

I tilted his chin toward me.

“From this moment forward, I’m only going by what I know about you. And you’ve been nothing but the most kind, generous human I’ve ever met.”

His eyes darkened a shade and he smiled. “Unless you want another kiss, you’d better stop rubbing my leg.”

“Decisions, decisions,” I whispered. “So you still hate Fireweed since last I asked?”

“Still not my favorite place, no,” he breathed, and my eyes fell to his lips as I pulled away my hand. “But that’s not to say if I’m stuck on Fireweed, I wouldn’t want to enjoy the company of someone who sparks my interest while I’m here.”

“So I’m just your platonic entertainment while you’re stuck here.”

“Yes, held hostage here.” Wonder flicked through his expression.

“Why’d you come back?”

“I needed some refreshing honesty, and there’s only one person who hands it out freely.”

I placed a kiss on his cheek, not expecting to feel the spark from something so innocent.

“I’ve got to get to Island Bluff.” I pulled away, and to my delight, I saw Anthony’s expression fall.

“I saw you changed the name of your Etsy store to Sophie Bristol Designs,” he said, standing up and hauling me to my feet.

“I did.” My gaze accidentally fell to the empty bed, and I imagined what it would be like to be kissed hard and with such passion that love was the obvious answer.

“Maybe someday,” he muttered, following my gaze.

I straightened up and took a step back, seeing the smile in his eyes.

“Maybe someday, what?” I questioned.

“I think you know.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I stated nervously, clearing my throat. It wouldn’t take much to get me tangled up in those sheets with him, but I knew in my heart, I’d fall hard for him.

Hard.

“Did you know you tend to clear your throat when you’re nervous?”

“Do not.” I started to turn the doorknob, but he wrapped his fingers around my wrist and brought me into him.

“Must be my imagination,” he said softly. His gaze stayed on mine as his finger ran along my cheek.

“Must be,” I whispered, feeling the gentleness of his touch.

Did some men just exude so much sexuality that it infected every woman in a five-yard radius?

“Well, I’d better get going. Don’t want someone to steal my tables.” I smiled, willing myself to leave.

He let go, and my world shrank to the size of this room. If it had been another day, maybe I’d be crawling into bed with him.

Maybe.

“I feel absolutely awful,” I told Nick, resting my head in my hands.

We were taking a break from the large order of wedding favors I’d promised Natalie for her clients. They’d loved her idea and accepted my bid on making the magnets. I’d been painting them at my dad’s every free second I had, and now Nick was lending a hand by putting them in cute boxes and tying an aqua ribbon around each.

Ribbon spools, glue sticks, scissors, labels and twine were sprawled on the kitchen table.

“So, let me get this straight. You show up on Anthony’s doorstep and tell him he looks like death warmed over and he still invites you in?” he chuckled, cracking his knuckles.

“Yep. That’s exactly what happened.”

“Sounds like the man has a sense of humor.”

“He has pneumonia, actually.”

“Yikes.”

“Well, I somehow managed to insult him a little more just for kicks and giggles. I feel awful about it. He even fed me homemade soup.”

Nick’s expression softened. “You’re falling for him.”

“I am not. That would be the worst thing in the world to do.”

“How do you figure?” he asked, standing up and stretching. “Wanna pop?”

“Sure. I’ll take a Dr. Pepper. And it would be a bad idea because I’m not leaving Fireweed, and he’s not staying on Fireweed, and word on the street is it’s hard to have a long-distance relationship last a lifetime when you don’t live in the same house, let alone city.”

Nick opened our drinks and poured them in a glass, handing me mine.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be so stuck on Fireweed.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“But I’ve experienced other places. I’ve lived in other cities. I just decided to come back.”

“Okay. So I keep seeing people like you leave and come back. You’re my guinea pigs. Why in the world would I leave if you all make your way back? It proves that Fireweed is the best place to be.”

He shrugged. “Maybe for now, but you might change your mind. Shoot. I might change my mind.”

Nick shook potato chips in a bowl and stayed standing by the sink.

“I couldn’t leave my dad here,” I said softly so my dad couldn’t hear. He was in his bedroom watching television while working on the list of exercises Mary had dropped off this morning.

“As a guy, I can tell you that no one would put up with your behavior unless they were interested.”

“My behavior?” I smacked the table in shock. “I’ve been the good girl in all this, working and staying on the straight and narrow.”

Nick rolled his eyes.

“You’re not allowed to do that,” I teased.

“When it deserves to be done, I can do what I want. You’ve insulted the very man who has given you more opportunity than you’ve ever had, and he still comes back for more. There’s genuine interest there. Didn’t you tell me you told him his song sucked?”

“Not in so many words.” I paused. “He invited me to California.”

“Point proven.” Nick crunched on a chip.

“Well, it wasn’t an actual invitation. It was a bet I lost.”

“Oh, Sophie. The guy’s trying to spoil you even when you lose bets, and you can’t see past the end of your nose. They always say that the men in the world are the jerks, endlessly toying with women’s emotions, but that’s not what I’m seeing here. Not at all.” He washed his hands and came over to the table.

“How do you figure?” I asked.

It was time to get back to work. I wrapped a magnet in silver tissue paper and placed it in a small box, tying the ribbon around it and affixing the correct label with twine. I was so grateful for this job. The deposit had been eight hundred dollars, which not only paid for the supplies, but it helped to pay off a chunk of one of my credit cards. Granted, several thousand still remained, but it was progress.

“You’ve been a huge tease, kissing him, giggling, doing dinner, showing up on his doorstep—”

“That’s me being friendly,” I protested. “I’m not leading him on. We’re just platonic.”

“Have you ever kissed me like that?” Nick’s brow arched.

“No,” I chuckled. “Would you want me to?”

Nick pinched his chin and looked toward the ceiling, debating.

“You’re such a liar.” I laughed.

“I’m surprised the library kiss didn’t make our local paper,” Nick continued.

“Oh, please. Natalie obviously embellished what happened. I can’t believe she told you.”

“I heard it from Jewels. Natalie didn’t tell me a thing.”

“Well, all I know is that Anthony Hill is nothing like the papers paint him to be, and hopefully whatever he and his brother have bubbling between them can get straightened out. It’s really awkward around Natalie because she firmly believes Cole knows what’s going on since he’s been around his brother for all these years.”

“You’re not getting involved, are you?” Nick looked concerned.

“Heck, no. That would be a losing battle. Cole and Anthony need to have a heart-to-heart. I haven’t even told Natalie that Anthony’s on Fireweed.”

“Maybe they’ll hash it out at my costume party.”

My shoulders sank. “That’s right. Halloween is this Friday.”

“Way to make me feel like you’re excited about my party.”

“Sorry. I’ve just been losing track of time. I can’t believe we’re almost to the end of October. Did you invite Anthony?”

“How do you suppose I could do that? I’m not in the inside circle. I don’t have access to his cell.”

“Maybe I should invite him.”

“Maybe you should.”

“But his pneumonia might still be a problem.”

“Or not.” Nick tied a ribbon around the box he was working on. “So have you thought about your costume?”

I shook my head.

“If you do invite Anthony, I say go sex kitten.”

“Are you serious? You’re trying to pimp me out?”

He fell silent for a few minutes as we both continued assembling the wedding favors.

“You know,” he began again. “Neither of us has ever wanted a relationship.”

“You mean with each other or in general?”

Nick snickered. “Either, I suppose.”

“You’ve dated more than I have.”

“But I always pick the wrong ones,” he countered.

“That’s because you use sites like Tinder.” My brow arched. “That’s not exactly known for long-term relationships. What’s your point?”

“I know we both think that being in love isn’t for us, but what if we’re wrong? What if we’re so busy running from the idea, we don’t recognize a good thing when it happens right in front of us?”

“I can only speak for myself, but I’ve seen
what from this day forward
and
forever after
really mean for couples,” I assured him.

“That’s such a jaded way to look at things.”

“Like you have a different perspective?”

“My parents are still together.”

“True. So what’s your excuse?”

“They set the bar too high. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to find a love like they have, so I just go for relationships where I never have to worry about getting down on one knee. It’ll be a case of when pigs fly.”

“You’ve given it that much thought?” I asked, curious to hear a man’s perspective.

“I have a lot of quiet time for thinking while building furniture.” He smiled and stacked another finished box with the others and looked over at me.

“So you’ve thought about the whole getting down on one knee thing.”

“And I decided against it.” He paused. “Unless you can change my mind.”

A shiver ran through me. Was he talking about me?

And him?

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”