Page 96 of Just One Night Together
“You didn’t.”
“I didn’t do anything.” He sighed. “I might as well be the first to tell you that Garrett’s divorced.”
Haley’s heart skipped in that wild way she always associated with Garrett’s appearance. Divorced? She swallowed and deliberately didn’t reply to Brad’s earlier comment. She really hoped they hadn’t decided to invite Garrett for dinner. She didn’t need an audience for that meeting. “Really? That’s a shame.”
“Is it?”
“Divorce always is. Did they have kids?”
“I think so.”
“So, it’ll be hard for them.” Haley kept her tone light. “Anyway, I’m not sure I want to leave New York.”
“Even for your dream job?”
“I don’t know that it is, not yet. It just sounds interesting.”
“You’re going to a lot of trouble for something interesting.”
Haley sighed. “I don’t think that exploring opportunities is going to a lot of trouble.”
“Uh oh,” Brad said. “There you go, sounding stubborn again. Tell me that you’re not just teasing Mom, that there’s at least a possibility that you’ll accept the job if it’s offered to you.”
“You’re being protective of her.”
“Damn straight. Someone has to be.”
Haley felt keenly aware of her father’s absence and wondered if Brad did, as well. They never talked about it and she wasn’t sure she wanted to now. She felt agitated and self-conscious, exactly the way she didn’t want to feel for a job interview.
“There are a lot of variables,” she said instead. She counted them on her fingers. “The job needs to be what I hope it is; the pay has to be as good as advertised; the authority has to match the responsibility; I have to be offered the job in the first place...”
“All right, all right!” Brad grinned. “I know enough to recognize when you’ve dug in your heels.”
Haley didn’t say anything. She hadn’t dug in her heels. She was exploring. She hadn’t made a decision yet. It wasn’t nearly time to make a decision.
But she felt that her brother was deciding for her all the same.
Garrett was divorced...Her heart fluttered and she halfway wished Brad hadn’t told her.
No. It was better to be warned.
Haley hadn’t had the jitters about the interview, but this news had fixed that. There was a whole fleet of butterflies in her stomach.
Brad turned down the street to the house. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you had no intention of taking a job here,” he said. “Which makes no sense since it’s supposedly the job you’ve always wanted.” He gave her another of those intent looks as he pulled into the driveway. “Unless of course there’s a specific reason you want to stay in New York.”
“I like my job. That’s a pretty good reason.”
“Besides your job,” Brad said and Haley felt as if he’d caught her in the middle of something one more time. Her big brother had always been too perceptive. “Like a guy.”
He didn’t wait for her answer, but got out of the truck and grabbed her bag, heading for the door as he flicked through his keys. It was one of his favorite moves, to drop a verbal bomb then walk away, leaving the other person to run after him and explain.
“No guy,” Haley said when she caught up to him. She sounded breathless, as if she was lying, and she knew it.
So did Brad. He smiled at her. “I knew it. It’s about time, Haley. He could move here with you, you know. You would be the first one to tell me that the guy’s job doesn’t decide everything.”
“No, that wouldn’t work. He’s a partner in a business...” Haley bit her tongue and fell silent.
“No guy officially, but a guy all the same.” Brad shook his head. “You’re not the kind to play games, Haley, not with Mom and not with this guy. Decide what you really want and don’t screw with anyone else’s expectations. It doesn’t suit you.”
