Page 48 of No Time for Traditions

“You want to hear about Brittany?” Greg pressed his lips shut and took a deep breath before continuing. “She told me she could see why Autumn wouldn’t marry me and that no girl would want to.”

Jake’s mouth dropped. “Man . . . I had no idea.”

“Yeah, well, now you do.”

“Seriously, I’m sorry. I can’t imagine what would make her say something like that.”

Greg dropped his head. “I can.” He raised his head and leaned back in his chair. “She found the title papers to the farmhouse.”

“So? What’s the big deal?”

“It upset her to see it was already under contract. She blamed her family and me for deceiving her.”

“Did you explain?” Jake leaned forward, clearly invested in Greg’s drama.

“I tried. But she flipped out. And it didn’t help that she saw me in the parking lot with Leslie.”

“The Realtor?”

Greg nodded. “Brittany assumed we were together. Because Leslie’s always smiling and . . . well, you know how she is. And because I’m ... me.”

“But you’re not like that.”

Greg put his hands behind his head and sighed. “Maybe. I was in high school.”

Jake laughed. “Who cares about high school? I weighed about a buck forty and had acne back then.”

Greg snickered. “I remember.”

“Ha ha.” Jake picked up the wrapper Greg had thrown at him and threw it back. Greg caught it. “Seriously, though, if she can’t get over high school and see how you are today, then you don’t need her.”

Greg closed his eyes. Any other woman, and he’d agree with Jake. But not Brittany. He wasn’t willing to give up that easily.

* * *

For once,Brittany was ready for the weekend to end. She’d spent the entire Saturday in her pajamas cleaning her apartment top to bottom. After that, she’d reorganized her kitchen cabinets and cleaned out her closet. Even for an orderly person like herself, that was extreme. Still, she needed to stay busy, or else she’d wind up eating ice cream on the couch again.

She could’ve invited one of her friends to go shopping or for a walk, but she wanted to be alone. Any decent amount of time spent with another person would eventually drive the conversation toward her. And she didn’t want to talk about herself at all. Not about her family, not her job, and certainly not about Greg.

To make matters more confusing, her brother had sent her a text message with Greg’s contact info. Knowing Scott, he’d sensed something was wrong when he drove her to the airport. And being the big brother, he always wanted to help. But this time, he’d overstepped his bounds. Even if he didn’t know it.

Brittany had planned on exchanging numbers with Greg before she left. That is, until she saw him with the other woman and found the title to the farmhouse on his desk. After that, she was glad he couldn’t call her.

They’d not needed to exchange numbers while she was in Alabama. The first few times she saw him were by accident. After that, they’d made plans each time they were together to see each other again. She loved how old-fashioned and personal it all seemed. Now she wondered if he’d had no intentions of staying in contact after she went back to New York.

Brittany shuddered at the thought of him meaning for their entire relationship to be temporary. Of course, she’d held back, too. And she couldn’t really call what they had a relationship. But it felt like one at the time. At least, to her it had.

Hoping that sleep would make everything better, Brittany changed into a fresh pair of pajamas and brushed her teeth. She spit out her toothpaste and watched it wash down the drain. That’s how she felt right about now. Like her life was spiraling down a drain, and she didn’t know how to make it stop.

About the time she climbed into bed, her phone rang. Brittany looked at the screen and sighed.

Mama.

It made sense. Sarah never went more than a few days without calling her or at least texting. She was due for a call. Especially since Brittany’s only response to her “Happy New Year’” text was adding a heart to it.

“Hello?” Brittany clutched her covers and told herself to play nice. Try and not think of how her mom had straight-out lied about leaving up the decorations to stage the home.

After Sarah asked if she was okay, Brittany put her on speaker and set the phone on her nightstand. If it wasn’t in her hand, she couldn’t be as quick to hang up.

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