Page 15 of Seeing You

Once Jade and Ashlynn joined them, they snacked on cookies and cupcakes while Chloe told them all about her honeymoon. “Oh, and thank you for the surprise cupcakes, Bill! Tanner was so excited when we got home and saw the box on the table!”

“I hope you don’t mind that I asked Ash to drop them off. I knew you wouldn’t mind if she let herself in, but I didn’t feel right doing it myself.”

“Stop. We’re family! And anytime you want to drop off some surprise cake, do it!” Laughing, Chloe turned to Jade. “So, what’s the plan for Cal’s birthday party? What time should we be there on Sunday?”

For another hour, they talked about birthday parties, pregnancy, and basic life stuff. By the time everyone left, Billiewas thoroughly exhausted and secretly thrilled that she didn’t have to get up early tomorrow.

Padding through the house, she shut off the lights and made her way to her bedroom. Opting to skip her nightly skincare routine, she simply changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. Chloe’s question of what she would say to Marcus if given the chance came to mind, and she knew exactly what she would want to say.

“I’m sorry I walked away from our wedding.”

For two days, Marcus went over his father’s finances—every bill, his tax returns, investments, assets, everything to help him paint an accurate picture of what kind of financial shape his father was in.

It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either.

The conversation he and Max had detailing everything they were going to need to do for their father had been awkward, and for a moment, he almost felt bad for the old man.

Then he’d find some documents with his mother’s name on it and get mad all over again.

“Want to grab some lunch?” his brother asked as he stepped into their father’s office.

Leaning back, Marcus raked both hands through his hair. “Can we go out and eat somewhere? I don’t think I can eat another meal in the kitchen. This whole place is just…the walls are closing in on me.”

“Yeah, sure. We can go wherever you’d like—the café, the pizza place, the steakhouse, there’s a restaurant up at the ski resort if you feel like driving, or we can head out for some Mexican. What are you in the mood for?”

“The café is fine. They always had good sandwiches and burgers.” Standing, he stretched. “Is Dad coming?”

“What? No. I think he’s eager to be alone since he’s not used to having so many people in the house with him.”

“So many people? Max, it’s the two of us and we’re his sons. We grew up in this house. Why is he being weird?”

“Seriously?”

“What? What did I say now?”

“Dude, you haven’t been home since Mom died, we’re here talking about his finances, and making plans for him like he’s incompetent. I’m sure he feels like we’re ganging up on him, but you’re definitely making him tense.”

“Naturally. I love how it’s always my fault.”

“Are you really going to stand there and deny that you’re not going out of your way to be condescending to him?”

“How? How exactly…?”

“It’s how you talk! God, I just wish you could be like a normal brother! Don’t you ever laugh or smile? When’s the last time you had a few drinks and just…unclenched? Jeez.” Max turned and walked out of the room, but Marcus didn’t follow right away.

When was the last time he’d laughed? Like…genuinely laughed?

Nothing came to mind. Not a movie, not a joke, not…anything.

Huh…thatisweird.

But it didn’t make him a weirdo. He worked in finance, for crying out loud. It wasn’t like he had afunjob. He handled people’s money for a living, and he could say with great certainty that his clients preferred someone who took that task seriously. Plus, there wasn’t a lot to joke about. It was either, “Hey, you just made a fortune!” or, “Hey, you just lost a fortune,” so…where was he supposed to make things funny?

Laughing wasn’t everything.

Walking out to the living room, he spotted his father and brother talking. “You sure you don’t want to join us, Dad? You haven’t been out in a few days.”

“Most of the time, I only go out once a week,” his father replied. “My home health aide comes tomorrow, so I’ll go out then.”

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