“What’s his problem?” Kelly asked as we went to sit outside in the break area.
“We kind of got into it this morning.”
“About what?” she asked as she unwrapped her sandwich.
I did the same with mine. “Addison.”
“Ah…”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
She laughed. “It means my daughter works with her and heard your conversation in her office. I know she’s trying to fix what happened.”
“Did you tell Foster that?”
“No. Until now, I haven’t seen him since I talked with Serena. He’s still pissed?”
“Yes. I tried to tell him that it was her father’s fault, but he says she’s going to hurt me again.”
Kelly took a bite of her sandwich and lifted her brow.
I rolled my eyes. “And then I asked him if he planned on knocking over another gas station.”
She winced and wiped her mouth with her napkin. “Harsh, dude.”
“I know. But he called Addison a bitch. I wasn’t feeling very nice.”
Kelly tilted her head and studied me. “You’re starting to care about her again, aren’t you?”
I shrugged.
“I thought men were supposed to separate sex and love?”
“Ha-ha.” With other women, yes. With Addison, it was complicated. “I’ve just seen a different side of her since I came back to town. She really cares about her clients and the people of Brook Creek. I don’t know what happened twelve years ago, but I would like to think she had a good reason for not alibiing me.”
Kelly skeptically looked at me. “I agree that she’s not as heartless as we originally thought, but I don’t know. She’d have to be lying on her death bed if it were me doing the forgiving.”
“Yeah, well…” That was probably why I hadn’t asked her about it yet. I didn’t want reality to ruin the little fantasy I had going on in my head. “Right now, we’re just enjoying each other.”
“You know, you’re going to have to talk to her eventually.”
“Yes, Mom, thank you for the advice,” I said mockingly.
She stuck her tongue out at me.
“So, what’s Addison’s plan?” Kelly asked a few minutes later.
“We’re going to try to get the park moved. She worked out some deal with the company that’s building the golf course.”
Her eyebrows went up again. “We?”
“Yes, we. I told her I’d help however I could.”
“You got it bad, dude.”
“Stop saying dude. It sounds weird.”
“Okay, dude. Whatever you say, dude.”
“You’re such a brat. Aren’t you my older sister?”
“Yeah, dude, I am, dude.”
“I think I’d rather be hanging out with Foster,” I said under my breath.
Kelly just laughed.
Thirty-One
Addison
I waved at Brandon as I walked into the diner. He was already seated in one of the booths, and I slid in on the opposite side to join him.
“So, what are you thinking?” he asked me.
“Well, I have no idea if this will work, but a couple of years back, Dan Davis put a big chunk of his farmland up for sale. He sold some of it to his neighbor but not as much as he wanted. He still has over sixty acres, and I thought maybe he’d be willing to sell your company several of those acres for the mobile home park.”
“Have you talked to him yet?”
I smiled uncomfortably. “I was kind of hoping you’d go with me. I figured he’d be more likely to say yes if you were there. And, if he had questions, you could answer them.” I folded my hands and mouthed, Please.
Brandon laughed. “Of course I’ll go.”
I clapped. “Yay. Thank you.”
He grabbed one of the menus that were always kept at the booths. “Are you sure Maddox is going to be okay with that?”
I frowned. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t he be?”
“Seriously? He all but whipped out his dick and pissed a circle around you.”
I laughed. “No, he didn’t.”
Although he had gotten rather possessive after Brandon left, I still thought Brandon was exaggerating by quite a bit.
“So, what’s the story with him? What’s he doing back?”
I didn’t get a chance to answer because Dani came over.
“Hello, I’m Dani, and I’ll be helping you today.” She grinned at Brandon. She looked at me, her smile not quite as big. “Addison.”
Brandon smiled back at her. “I’m Brandon.” He studied Dani for a second. “I think we’ve met before. I came to visit Addison a couple of years ago, and you waited on us.”
“Oh, yes.” Recognition showed in her eyes, and then she looked confused. “Did you two used to date?” she asked, pointing her pen back and forth between the two of us.
“Yes,” Brandon said. “But we’re just friends now.”
I leaned back in my seat. Go, Brandon.
“So, what brings you back to our tiny town?” Dani asked.
“I’m here, overseeing the golf course project.”
“Interesting. That means, you’ll be here awhile, right?”
Brandon nodded. “A long time.”
“So, you’ll be here for Brook Days?”
Brandon wrinkled his nose. “Don’t you mean Creek Days? I saw signs for it when I was coming into town. And isn’t it over?”
“Oh, no,” Dani said. “Brook Days is in August, and it’s totally separate.”
Brandon looked at me.
I shrugged. “It’s a small town. We get bored. And we can’t cram everything in on one weekend, so they made two. Creek Days, we have the parade and the street dance. Brook Days, we have the chili cook-off and Brook Creek tournament.”
“What kind of tournament?”
“There’s fishing, baseball, flag football, horseshoes, volleyball…basically anything you can think of,” I said.
“So, when is this Brook Days?” Brandon asked Dani.
“The first weekend in August.”
“I’ll be here.” Brandon grinned.
Dani beamed. “Great. Now, what can I get you two to drink?”
After we finished eating, Brandon went to use the restroom, and I got up to pay the bill at the counter.
Dani didn’t look at me right away. When she met my eyes, she looked hesitant.
“What?” I asked and smiled. I wanted to reassure her that she could talk to me.
“You and Brandon?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re really just friends?”
“Yes.”
“Do you mind if I go for him?”
I laughed. “I feel like I’m having déjà vu.”
She gave me a look that told me she didn’t think I was very funny. “Yeah, well, I tried to go after Maddox, but he turned me down.”
This was news to me. “When?” I asked before I realized she might see it as none of my business.
“The night of the street dance.”