Page 89 of Sycamore Circle

And, there it was. “Yeah. I would. I can’t change my past, Eric, but you choosing to not accept my present gets old.”

Eric didn’t say anything for a few seconds. “You’re right. I’ve been kind of a jerk.”

There was no “kind of” in it at all, but he figured that he had to take what he could get. “I’ll see you on Easter and I’ll call Beth tomorrow.”

“Why don’t you bring this woman home for Easter? Everyone would love to meet her.”

“I don’t think she’s ready for that.”

“Why? Does she have a past too?”

And there it was again. One day Bo hoped Eric would come clean about why he was so against everything that Bo was. When he did, Bo knew he’d be anxious to hear all those reasons. Today wasn’t that day, though. “See you Easter Sunday.” He hung up.

Luckily, he was parked outside of Joy’s house. He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders. He didn’t want to bring his crap into her life. It was just too bad that his crap happened to involve his brother.

She opened the door seconds before he knocked. “I was looking for you.”

“I’m glad we’re not waking Chloe up.”

“She would be thrilled to see you though.”

He smiled. “Ditto.” Scanning her face, he saw something in her eyes that made him want to look a little more closely. “You look like you could use a hug. Want one?”

She nodded just seconds before stepping into his outstretched arms.

Joy pressed against him, half molding her body to his. He gently wrapped his arms around her and pulled her even closer. She was five or six inches shorter than him and so soft. He’d dated several women who worked out as much as he did and while he appreciated the work and dedication to create the bodies that they had, he much preferred her soft curves. He ran a hand up and down her back. Brushed a kiss on the top of her head.

“Bo, I can’t believe how you make me feel. It’s like you enter the room and lift my mood.”

“Good. I like you telling me that.”

She pulled away. “Would you like something to drink? I have some beer.” She wrinkled her nose. “And a bottle of pinot noir.”

“What’s that look for?”

“I wish that I had something else that you might like. Something better instead of beer or red wine.”

“I like both, but I like water too. How about that?”

“I’m on it.”

“While you do that, how about you let me see that text.”

“Bo, you don’t need to...”

“Sorry, but I do.” When she called out her password, he smiled, picked up her phone, and scanned through her texts. Until he came up on the latest one. “Have you sent it to Kevin yet?”

“Not yet. I’m going to do it tomorrow.”

He had to trust her. Had to let her take care of it. “All right.”

“Thanks for not arguing with me.”

“I don’t want to argue with you, sweetheart. Now tell me what’s going on with your ex.”

“Can we talk about you first? What’s on your mind?”

“Other than a kid who’s still giving me fits because he can’t get over his girl cheating on him, I’m thinking about my brother Eric. He wants me to reach out to his daughter tomorrow.”

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