Page 116 of Worth the Fall

“Your house looks amazing, Patrick. Did you do it, or did you hire someone?” I asked.

Matthew, who was already in the kitchen, throwing back a beer, laughed. “Hire someone? You think my brother wouldeverpay someone to do something he could do himself? Even if it took him ten times as long?” Matthew hopped up and pulled me in for a hug. “Good to see you, sis.”

“You too,” I said as we broke apart and I turned to face Patrick. “So, I take it that you did all this amazingness yourself?” I asked as he threw another log on his already-raging fire.

“I like Christmas,” he said like it was no big deal, but the outside alone must have taken him days. And now that I was inside, looking at the masterpiece in here, this must have taken him days as well.

“Where’s Pops?” Clara asked.

“I think he’s checking out your room,” Patrick said with a wink, and she screamed and giggled.

“Pops! Are you in my room?” she shouted as she sprinted up a set of stairs that headed toward the open loft.

“House looks great, brother.” Thomas gave Patrick a slap on the back, but Patrick only nodded.

“Drink?” Patrick looked at Thomas and waited.

“I’ll take a beer. Want anything, baby?” Thomas asked me.

“Wine? We should have brought a bottle. Do you have any wine, Patrick? If not, I’ll take a beer too,” I said even though I hated beer. What was I thinking?

Matthew laughed again. “There’s a wine cellar in the basement.”

“Stop laughing at me. How was I supposed to know that?” I complained.

“I’ll go pick out a bottle. Red or white?” Patrick asked as he sauntered away before I even responded to his question.

“Red,” I said, and Mr. O’Grady began walking down the loft stairs.

“I second the red,” he said, and we smiled at one another.

I started wandering around the house, taking in all the small details. I couldn’t believe that Patrick had built this whole place himself.

Down one of the hallways, I spotted a calendar on the wall that didn’t make any sense. It was written in weird increments, spanning over what looked like five years, and some of the dates were crossed out while others remained untouched. I was studying it a little too closely right as Patrick appeared behind me.

“Sorry. I wasn’t trying to snoop,” I said, feeling like I’d done something wrong. “What kind of calendar is this? A building one?” I tried to figure it out.

“Sure,” he said, and I knew it wasn’t true.

Patrick was always a little secretive. Or maybe he was just quieter than his brothers.

“No, really, what is it? What is it counting down? The wedding barn?” I perused it once more. “No, that doesn’t make sense,” I said because the untouched dates went on for far longer than it would take to finish the barn.

“It’s not the barn, Brooklyn. Don’t worry about it. It’s stupid,” he said, and I could tell that this calendar was counting down to something he didn’t want to share.

“Patrick.”

“Just drop it. I don’t think she’s coming back anyway,” he said, and I knew instantly that he was talking about his ex-girlfriend, Addison.

He walked away, his head down, and my heart broke for him. I wished that I knew her better or had been friends with her at all because I would give anything in this moment to reach out to her and beg her to come back home.

Patrick was never going to get over her. And after seeing them together in high school and watching the way the two of them loved one another, I completely understood why. They’d always been different, better somehow than the rest of us. Maturer or something. Even back then, I’d realized that what they had was rare and that most people never found the kind of love that they shared.

What I didn’t understand was how Addison could have walked away from him and never come back. I wondered if she was just as miserable and lonely as he was. And honestly, I kind of wished that she were.

All of my O’Grady men deserved a happy ending. I was grateful for the one I’d found. I just wasn’t sure how Patrick would ever get his if Addison wasn’t in it.

THE END

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