Winter Interlude (59 page)

“What the hell’s going on?”
James finally asked.

“
Nothing
.
”
His denial
rang
in the air
and he
kept walking until
James
grabbed his arm
and pulled him to a stop
.

“Bullshit
,” he said.
“
Tell me what happened.”

Paul
glared at
him
.
He really didn’t want to get into it
.
But noticing Jame
s’
unyielding expression, he figured he had to say something
.
James wouldn’t give up until he got an answer
.

“
Let’s just
say things ended before they even got started.”

“What
?”
Confusion clouded Jame
s’
eyes as they met Paul’s
.
“The last I knew
,
you were hot to get back here to see
Kate
and now you won’t even
look at
her.”

“She kept her date with Mike.”

“So
?
What’s the problem?”

Paul looked out across the street, unable to keep meeting Jame
s’
direct gaze
.
“Damn it all, you don’t understand
.”

“Make me.”

“I can’t,” he muttered
.
“
So, l
et’s drop it
.”

“No
.”

Paul didn’t
respond
, just stared at a distant point
,
rubbing the back of his neck in agitation
.

James prodded
,
“
I
only
want to help
.”

“We were
this close
…” He stopped and shook his head.
“
No one can help. I just need to forget her
,
” Paul said, the words coming out in one long, aggravated breath
.

“
Wait a minute
—
you’re
all worked up and talking about forgetting her
because she kept a date she made days before
?”

“Yes
.
I asked her to break it but she said she had to go out with him.”

James snorted
.
“
Y
ou
probably
told
her to break it.”

“What difference does that make
?
”
he shot back
indignantly.

“I thought you said you could handle her.”

“I
can
handle her
.”
Paul’s
jaw clenched and his spine straightened
.

“Well, you’re doing a lousy job.
Hell, even I wouldn’t have done that.
”

Glaring at him, he ground out,
“You’re not helping
.”

James let the comment pass and
tsked
.
“And here I thought you
were
the sainted one when it comes to understanding and dealing with women
.
Obviously, you had me fooled.
”

“I know how I feel
.”
Paul
notched
his chin
higher
and
curled
his hand
into a fist
,
as the knot in
his stomach tightened.
“I’m damn sure not waiting around for anyone to figure out who she
wants.”

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing
.”
James shook his head
.
“
Think about it
.
You may have something special with
Kate
and you’re not even willing to fight for it.”

Stunned by the
truth
in the words
,
Paul hesitated, a
s d
oubt crept into his thoughts
.
But
,
t
he idea
of
Kate
with this Mike guy ate at him
.
“My feelings meant nothing to her
.”
He caught
his brother’s
stare, one so much like his own and said, “Now do you understand?”

“Yeah, but do you?”
he
asked
in a gruff voice
.
“Are you sure your feelings meant nothing, or is it your ego
or
jealousy
coming out
?”

“I’m not sure of anything anymore
.”
Paul sighed
.
S
tudying
a point on the horizon
,
he
mulled over
Jame
s’
question
.
He didn’t want to accept
the bit about
ego, nor did he want to admit to being jealous
.
But he couldn’t
deny the
truth
.

“If you and
Kate
had
some kind of
a
connection
, you can damn sure believe that this Mike character didn’t stand a chance
with her
.
She’s not the type to lead guys on
and I doubt she’d start now
.”
He
remained silent
for a few
long seconds
before urging, “Look at it objectively
.
Try to see it from her side
.
Maybe she had reasons for keeping the date
.
Did you ever consider her intentions might not have been to hurt you?”

That all made sense
.
Paul
rubbed the back of his neck
.
“I guess I need to look at this from another angle,” he finally acknowledged.

James grunted
.
“
W
hile you’re at it,
consider
this
.
If you’re in it for the long
haul, running away at the first sign of trouble solves nothing
.
I’m sure there’ll be plenty of times when you’ll hurt each other
.
S
ucking it up and working it out is the only way
you two will
survive
.”

Paul
smiled,
his first
one
in days
.
“How did you get to be so wise?”

James laughed
.
“I can dish it out
.
I just can’t take it
.”
He clapped him on the
shoulder
.
“
T
alk to her
.
Don’t let her go without a fight.”

~

“
T
here you go, Mrs. Stone,
”
Kate
s
aid, handing the woman a receipt
.
She looked up wh
en th
e
bell
over the door jingled and
was surprised to see James saunt
ering toward the counter.

She smiled and nodded
.
“I’ll be with you in just a minute.”

“No problem
.”
James took off his sunglasses and stuck them in his pocket
.
“I have nothing but time.”

“
I can’t wait to see how that chest will look in my bedroom
.
”
Mrs. Stone
stuffed
the receipt in
to
her purse
and
snapp
ed
it closed
.

“
Let me know how it works out.”

“I will
.”
She stopped at the door.
“I’ll take a picture and
email
it to you
.”

“Great
.”
Once she
left,
Kate
glanced at James.
“So what brings you slumming to my neck of the woods?”