"Why not?" Sierra asked. "I mean, if it were any other guy, I would completely understand that and tell you that you were being really fucking smart. But this is Brody. I thought you were going to eat yourself into a sugar coma when he married that chick while we were in college."
I shot her a narrow-eyed glare. "I thought we agreed not to talk about that again."
"Cam, you gained five pounds in a week because you ate nothing but junk food while you moped on the couch. This guy means a lot to you. It's obvious he did even back when you pretended like you couldn't stand him."
"I couldn't stand him back then," I stated, forgetting all about my determination not to be drawn into an argument with her.
"You always said that. And you acted like it, but I could tell it wasn't one hundred percent true. Every time you told me stories about your childhood and you said his name, you looked different."
"How could I look different?" I scoffed. "Other than making a face every time I mentioned him."
"You would always smile when you talked about the things he did or the trouble you got into together. And you looked...softer."
I couldn't say anything about that so I took another bite of my dinner.
Sierra sensed my change in mood and changed the subject. Partially anyway. "So, how was your weekend? Really, I mean."
I hesitated before answering. "It was amazing."
Sierra studied me. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"I'm afraid it might be," I admitted. "I didn't want to leave today."
"Then why did you?" Sierra asked, looking at me like I was stupid. "I told you I could handle the shop for the weekend."
"Because I can't treat this relationship the same way I've treated others. Brody is different and I don't want to screw it up."
"The fact that you're aware of that means you won't let it happen," she retorted.
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"You're also not the only person involved in your relationship. Brody has some responsibility in this, too."
"I know, I know," I replied. "But that doesn't mean I shouldn't do everything I can to make this work."
"How do you know that doesn't include spending every waking moment with Brody Murphy?"
"It's time to change the subject," I stated. She was giving me a headache. "How are things going with Lee?"
"She's a great worker and extremely bright. But she's quiet. And I think sometimes I scare her."
I laughed. "I doubt that. She has four older brothers and they're all completely nuts."
"As in crazy or just bad boys?" she asked.
I shook my head. "They weren't bad, per se. Just rambunctious. Always up to some sort of mischief. And there wasn't a month that didn't go by without her mom bringing one of them into the office for some cut, sprain, or broken bone. With anyone else, my dad might have thought it was abuse, but those boys played rough and they didn't cut Lee any slack." I laughed a little. "I saw her take down the youngest brother once. I'm not sure what he did, but it was my senior year of high school. He was a junior and she'd just started her freshman year. He was a foot taller than her and outweighed her by at least thirty or forty pounds, maybe more, and she took him down like that." I snapped my fingers in demonstration.
"Wow. I would never have thought she had it in her."
"It's always the quiet ones," I said with a grin. "Which makes me glad she's working for us. I bet she'll be able to keep any misbehaving high school kids in line when they come in."
Sierra finished the last bite of her dinner, dropped her fork in the container, and leaned back in the chair, rubbing her neck. "God, how did you do this for the past few years? You've been essentially working seven days a week."
"When you love your work, it's not work," I answered with a shrug.
"I love my job but even I need a day off once in a while."
"What's your point?" I asked.
"That it's not healthy for you to work seven days a week for months and years on end. You need time to rest. Time to have a life."
I sighed and put my fork in my own container. "I know. I figured that out."
"When?"
"Recently."
"How recently?" Sierra asked.
"Earlier today," I mumbled.
She tilted her head back and laughed. "Did it hurt?"
I scowled at her but she kept laughing anyway.
"I finally realized that I needed to have a life. Not just a boyfriend or a man in my life, but friends. Hobbies."
"You don't have hobbies?" she asked, clutching her chest in mock horror.
"Oh, and you have a lot?" I shot back.
Sierra did exactly what I anticipated and deflected. "Well, since you've had your epiphany, why don't you rethink your decision not to spend time with Brody tonight?"
"I don't know. I think I'll let him decide."
Sierra gave me a confused look but I didn't clarify.
"Okay, well, if you're done, I'm going to take my dishes and go home."
"Should I check for a sock on the door before I come in tonight?" Sierra asked as she rose and handed me the container that once held her dinner.
"What do you think this is, the eighties?"
"With you, I never know."
I rolled my eyes and stacked the containers in the reusable grocery bag I'd used to carry them in with. "You're a nut."
"Yes, but I'm your nut." She studied me. "I wonder if Lee's brothers are hot as well as crazy. That could be fun. Think she'd introduce me to them?"
It was my turn to laugh. I shook my head. "They're all married. To women even scarier than their mother."
Her eyes widened. "Really? What happened to the wild ones?"
"They were captured and tamed."
She grinned. "So sad when the bad boys are reformed."
"Maybe someday you'll have a bad boy of your very own to domesticate," I said.
"A girl can dream."
I carried everything out to my car, forcing myself not to go back out to the front to check on things. Sierra and I had hired Lee for a reason. I had to loosen my grip on the business a little at some point. I was only one person and there was no way I could take care of every teeny, tiny detail and not lose my sanity.
It was time to get back to that life I was telling Sierra I wanted.
24
As I finished washing the last dish and stuck it on the drain board, my cell phone rang.
I picked it up and couldn't stop the dopey grin that spread across my face when I saw Brody's name.
"Hey, whatcha doin'?" I asked when I answered.
"Thinking about you."
My dopey grin got even wider. "Oh, really? I like the sound of that."
"Did you get your stuff done?" he asked.
"Yeah, I did. I'm actually getting a little bored."
"Ah. Does this mean we can talk on the phone for a while?"
"Actually, I was thinking you could come over and watch movies in my basement. My parents won't be home until tomorrow morning. We could, you know, do stuff."