“I wanted to see your dog. Neve filled me in on what happened to him.”
Noah relished the opportunity to turn some tables and needle his brother. “I see you went toherfirst.”
“Straight from the horse’s mouth.”
“Why don’t you two just get it over with already?”
“Getwhatover with?” Reece challenged.
“Scratch each other’s itches. Get some R&R between the sheets. You’ve both been dancing around it since high school.”
Reece’s jaw firmed in a stubborn set. “Not gonna happen. I don’t think about her that way.”
“Well, it’s pretty obvious she thinks aboutyouthat way.”
“Even if Idid, I’m pretty sure Charlie got there first, and that would be plain weird. So let’s drop it, okay?”
Noah held up his hands in surrender.
Reece leaned forward, elbows on his thighs. “Back to the other reason I’m here. I’m volunteering my services for the evening since you’re stretched thin.”
“Oh. I appreciate that.” Guilt surged inside Noah for giving his brother a bad time. “Hey, I never heard the outcome of the lost skiers.”
“Not good,” Reece murmured. “That’s another motivation for helping out tonight. I could use a change of scene, you know? Where people are happy and living … life.”
“Shit, dude, I’m sorry. Need to vent?”
Reece shook his head.
“Fair enough.” Noah rose to his feet. “Let’s introduce you to my dog.” He was anxious to check on him anyway.
They climbed the stairs, and Noah was dismayed to find the mutt curled up on the kitchen mat again. The tiny rug couldn’t have been comfortable for the animal’s bony frame. The dog raised wary brown eyes and fastened them on Reece, who hunched over before dropping onto the couch.
Noah snickered. “What are you doing?”
“Figured if I look small and sit quietly, he might wander over and say hello. I don’t want to freak him out. While we wait for him to warm up, why don’t you fill me in on the latest with your train idea?”
Noah parked himself beside the dog. “Who the fuck knows. I’ve been trying to get a meeting with the developers and decided to just pay them a visit out of the blue, but the storm had other ideas.”
Reece smirked. “I thought theirliaison, who shall not be named,was setting that up.”
Noah snorted. “Theirliaisonisn’t big on communicating with me unless it suits her. And most days it doesn’t. I have a sneaking suspicion she’s making sure I’m not included in any of their brainstorming sessions. I’m having to do an end around, and I’m not sure how that’s going to go over with the big boys.”
“So she’s playing gatekeeper.”
“Yeah, and she basically threw away the key.”
Reece slid a sidelong glance at the dog, who remained stubbornly fixed in his spot. “She’s probably torqued you haven’t crawled back with a five-carat-diamond peace offering.”
“Maybe. With Ursula, it’s always been about the money. Now that I’m not dropping hundreds by the boatload, she’s busy harvesting greener pastures.”
“Does that bother you?”
Noah’s answer came quickly. “No. Honestly, it’s kind of a relief.” He had come to the conclusion he’d been trying to jam the proverbial square peg into a round hole for reasons he had yet to comprehend. It had taken the humiliation of a lifetime for him to recognize a relationship couldn’t get to the next level if it wasn’t on a foundation to begin with. He silently thanked his parents for that jewel.
“I gotta say, little bro, I’m proud of you. It’s been over a year since you broke it off. No lie, I was worried there for a long time that she was your drug and you couldn’t break your addiction.”
“It wasn’t an addiction. It was me being stubborn—not to mention shortsighted and stupid.” Noah hadn’t realized it at the time, but Wyatt’s wedding had been his last pitch at something with Ursula beyond their high school romance. After the shock of what happened wore off, he’d come away feeling like he’d advanced to the adult classes while she languished in middle school.
