Page 79 of Yesterday I Cared
“No, it’s fine. I can watch him.” I might as well get all the puppy time I can. “Sorry, I was thinking over my schedule. Besides, they would be the worst dog sitters.”
“What makes you think that?” His tone is adoring, and I really wish he’d stop talking to me like that. Especially if he’s going to end up breaking my heart.
“Bryce would never agree to watch him because Josie would be able to talk him into getting a dog. And Carter would have Lezak so spoiled so quickly.” I shake my head even though he can’t see me. “I’m not convinced you’d ever get him back.”
Ronan lets out another one of those laughs, but this time it feels bittersweet, and I want to run away from it. “Did you just accuse our friend of dognapping?”
“I accused him of having the potential to be a dognapper,” I correct. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
“I can’t,” he admits, which makes me feel a little smug.
Silence settles between us again, which means the one question that’s on the tip of my tongue comes bubbling out. “So, only two days and then you’ll be back?”
The way he sighs into the phone doesn’t help my mounting anxiety. “Yeah, that’s the plan. We’ll see what the next few days bring after this meeting.”
“What’s the meeting about?” I’m not even sure it’s really my place to ask a question like this, but I can’t help wondering.
“Just something to do with finances. I’ll tell you more about it later. When I get back, though, we should go to dinner. There are some things we need to talk about.”
What kind of things? Things like, “They need me back here, so I have to move back to California”? Things like, “There are projects all over the nation that absolutely need Ronan O’Brien and his restless heart can’t turn them down”? I don’t want to force him to choose between me and Operation Fly. I wish I could know if there was a reason the choice needed to be made.
“Yeah, I think we do,” I agree quietly.
“Don’t worry about it, baby. I’ll be home before you know it.”
I wonder if the promise feels as hollow to him as it does to me.
“I’ll see you in a couple of days,” I assure him. “I gotta go.”
Hanging up the phone, I look down at Lezak, who’s staring up at me with wide-eyed love. I don’t want to lose this. I don’t want to lose him—Ronan or the dog—but I feel like I’m sitting on a ticking time bomb and everything’s about to go up in pieces. Including my heart.
I look up at the knock on my office door to find Bryce standing there, phone in hand and a grim look on his face. "I heard from Ronan. Do you want to talk about it?"
My brow arches. "Do you want to talk about why you still haven't proposed to Josie?"
He takes a tentative step into the room. "I'll talk if you talk."
Normally, Bryce wouldn’t be the first person I’d go to with a feeling like this, but we’re on equal footing now. He knows sides of Ronan—pieces of Ronan’s life—that I can only hope to. I’m still learning how things shifted for him following the accident. Still learning how to exist in the same place as him, instead of seeing him a couple of times a year. It took me a long time to realize thatsometimes it’s much easier to have a relationship over the phone than in person.
And I know Josie better than anyone. Maybe aside from the man standing in my office. In that instance, it’s not that he knows her better; he knows her differently. I’ve been there from the beginning of them. I know how anxious he is to get this right; I need to make him understand that there’s no such thing as perfect. It has to be right.
“Sit down.” I wave him in. He quickly moves into the office, the door swinging shut behind him. If Josie, or anyone else, were to come up here now, they’d assume we’re having a marketing meeting and wouldn’t disturb us. “Who goes first?”
“You,” he spits out before I can say the opposite. I glower at him, but he just smiles. “Mainly because I’m not sure I trust you to hold up your end of the deal. You’re not exactly known for opening up, Mia, especially to me.”
“So you’re holding the information I want to know hostage?”
“Yeah.” He chuckles, nodding. “Pretty much.”
Bryce Clark is a lot smarter than I give him credit for. “Fair enough. Did Ronan tell you anything about these meetings? He told me they’re regarding the future of Operation Fly, but that’s it.”
Bryce’s look is sympathetic, which almost hurts as much as the vagueness of Ronan’s explanation. “You’re worried it may mean he’s not sticking around.”
“Obviously,” I reply flatly. “I know both you and Carter have talked to him about this. He doesn’t stay in one place. He runs.”
“He won’t run from you, Mia. I can promise you that.”
“Do you think he’s staying?”
