What happened last night was already fading like a dream upon waking. She clung to the remnants, wanting to remember every moment of the pleasure, every second of the intimacy. Their most meaningful bout of lovemaking had come after he’d told her it was over for good.
It ain’t over till it’s over, she told herself, a small smile slipping onto her lips.
CHAPTER 31
ALEX
“I’m beginning to think there’s something a bit odd about bird owners.”
Alex looked up from the chart he was reviewing. “What do you mean?”
Emma was wiping down the examination area. Their last patient, a parrot named Lester, and his owner had left a few moments ago. Lester had a penchant for swears, which had made the little old lady who brought him in blush with embarrassment. Every time the bird squawked out a “shitheel” or “bastard,” the woman had covered her face with her hands and shook her head.
“Well, take Lester’s owner, for instance. Before you called her back, she was carrying on an in-depth conversation with her bird about how she’d be preparing his dinner tonight. The bird had notes, by the way.”
Alex chuckled. “That’s not too out of the ordinary. Plenty of pet owners talk to their pets as if they were people.”
“At least a dog doesn’t talk back. A dog also doesn’t live to past sixty like some of these parrots can. That bird is likely to outlive her, possibly by decades.”
“I thought you’d mention the fact that they keep creatures that fly in a cage all the time.”
Emma washed her hands, her expression letting him know she was considering his words. “You know, I’ve always secretly wondered if flying was overrated.”
“Flying?” His tone was incredulous. “How could flying be overrated?”
Emma straightened. With a completely serious face, she said, “You know how your windshield collects all those squished bugs when you’re driving down the highway? I just imagine my face being like that windshield.”
Alex was a second away from laughing until he realized she wasn’t making a joke. “That’s a good point,” he said thoughtfully. What he wanted to say was, Where is your sense of adventure? You’d give up the power of flight just because you might hit a bug from time to time?
He was relieved when the bell on the clinic door chimed and Emma left to see who’d come in. Alex let out a long breath. He knew he was just cranky, that Emma didn’t deserve his judgment. But he couldn’t seem to turn his mood around, not after what happened last night.
Alex should have been over the moon. Last night, he and Brenne had connected on a whole new level, and he’d felt something he’d never felt for another girl. She’s the one for me, the perfect woman, and I was too damn blind to see it.
He thought he needed someone like Emma, someone who cared about appearances and traditions. Not a wildcat who couldn’t care about what others thought of her. And if she thought a tradition was stupid, she had no problem flouting it. If Brenne was given a chance to fly, she wouldn’t spare a thought for squished bugs. She’d take off like a rocket.
The bitter irony was, he’d given her up over nothing, and now he had zero chance of getting her back. Even if he believed Johnnie MacAllen when he said Jameson and the others would get over his crossing a line with their sister, he’d missed his shot.
How am I ever going to get over her?
Emma popped her head back into the exam room. “Jack MacAllen is here to see you.”
Alex was surprised to hear that name. He went into the lobby to find the middle MacAllen child staring at the new photo on the wall. “Jack,” he said warmly, shaking the man’s hand. “I wouldn’t have expected to see you here. When I left this morning, both heifer and calf were doing fine. Did something go wrong?”
“The cows are fine,” he said, then pointed at the photograph. “This is from the charity event, isn’t it?”
“Uh, yeah I think so.” Alex looked at the photo, and for the first time, he paid attention. He’d been so distracted, he hadn’t even noticed that Emma had hung it up until she pointed it out herself, and even then he’d paid little attention to it. Now he realized he’d made a mistake.
The photograph was of him and Emma on the red carpet. He remembered the music being interrupted by Pastor Harris and his proposal. He didn’t even think the photographers were still snapping photos, but they had been, and one had caught him right after Emma had embraced him. He was touching her face, actually wiping a tear. It was a tender moment, or at least the photo made it out to be that.
Jack turned to him, his expression unreadable. Alex could tell the man had something on his mind. “Why don’t you come back into my office?” Alex suggested, gesturing toward his door. He held it open for him, then closed it behind them. Jack settled into the chair across from his desk. “You sweet on your secretary?”
“She’s not a secretary. She’s a vet tech. And I wouldn’t say sweet exactly. She’s an excellent employee and a friend.” Alex wasn’t sure where Jack was going with this, but he didn’t like the man’s expression.
“You certainly looked friendly in that photo.”
Alex could see Jack was out of sorts. His foot was tapping, and he was gripping the arms of his chair. “Why did you come here, Jack?” he asked, figuring it was best to cut to the chase.
“I just had a long talk with my sister. I’ve been going through something, and it turns out that she has too. Something I never would have expected.”
Alex kept his expression casual and fought against the tightening of muscles that occurred when he thought he’d been exposed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the way you two have been running around behind everyone’s backs.” It was a bombshell, but the way Jack said it, it sounded more like an annoyance. “I figured Brenne was up to something, but I’ve been distracted and didn’t bother to dig. I have to admit, I’m surprised it was you.” Jack looked him up and down. “You don’t seem like her type.”
Fatigue descended. “Forgive me if I’m less than cordial, but do you want an apology or to kick my teeth in? I can’t really get a read on you.”
Jack rubbed his face, and Alex realized that the other man was just as exhausted as he was. He wondered what demons had been hunting Jack and if they were like the ones bedeviling him. “Brenne’s secrets are her own. I know my older brothers want to protect her from herself, but they don’t know her like I do. They still see her as that barefoot little girl gamboling through the fields like a colt learning to run.”
Jack leaned in, his eyes focused on Alex. “I love my sister, but she’s human, same as me and you. She’s going to make mistakes. The question is, are you one of them?”
Am I a mistake? Alex thought he was. He thought lust was the only thing he and Brenne had in common. But the more time he’d spent actually getting to know her, he discovered they were more alike than he thought.
We’re both passionate about our causes. We like helping others. We don’t appreciate a smoke show. And when I’m with her, I’m comfortable. I trust her, and when she’s not around, I miss her.