Page 10 of Unbearable

I let out a deep breath, frustrated at my brother. I should have known returning to Woodstone would have my family back to inserting themselves in my business at every corner.

“Fine, but I am not your friend.” Having my heart broken by my brother’s best friend,mybest friend again wasn’t in the cards for me. But he was right, I would get a lot more done with his help and thus be able to return to Seattle sooner because of it.

He smirked, and it took everything in me not to deckhim in the face right on his stupid, stubbled jawline. Maybe I’d kick him in the balls instead. He’d deserve it after everything that happened between us all those years ago.

“I can work with that. I love this place too, you know.” He looked around and his face fell, looking at its current dilapidated state. “I want to be a part of helping restore it.”

“Fine, let’s get started. I was planning to haul some of the old furniture out to start.”

“Good thing I called a dumpster to be delivered,” he said, glancing at his watch while I tried not to stare at the veins running along his muscled arm. “It should be here in thirty minutes.”

Most items had already been removed, leaving only some furniture and random decorations. There was little worth saving. Most of it ended up in the dumpster.

For the next few hours, we worked in silence, filtering through everything that was left in the cabin.

We only spoke when necessary but still made good progress. I began sweeping up the thick layer of dust on the floor, preparing to get to a stopping point for the day.

“Am I allowed to ask what you are up to these days?” Trent said, breaking the silence.

I glanced up at him and instantly regretted it. He had switched his hat backward and sweat glistened on his brow. All my efforts to forget his face over the years were immediately erased, and I subconsciously replaced those memories with this new image of him.

It had been only a few hours since he reentered my life, and I was already falling back into his stupid, charming trap.

I focused back on sweeping and my eyes drifted backto the floor. “No.” I wanted to leave it at that, but after a few moments, I continued. “Fine. I’m an architect. I’ve been licensed for a couple of years now, and I’m working on getting promoted. You?” I really wasn’t ready to have a conversation with him, but I also wanted him to know that I had made something of myself after I left Woodstone.

And Imighthave wanted to know what he was up to.

“Wow, Dot. That’s great. That’s a big accomplishment, especially at your age.” Neither of us said anything for a moment, the reality of the last ten years of not knowing each other at all settling in. “Not much for me. I help run the ranch. Once we get a couple more guys on, hopefully your dad could actually retire, for real this time. It’s not much, but it keeps me busy. Got out of the army coming up on three years ago now.” His smile was strained.

“Thanks for helping my dad,” I said, letting my bitterness dissolve for the moment, knowing how much it meant to my dad that Trent has helped take over the ranch.

With my brothers having their own careers, it helped to know someone he could trust was taking it over. Even with the tension between us, my response was sincere. Selling the ranch would be hard on my dad, especially with our family’s ties tracing back for many generations. Trent had been an extension of our family for as long as I could remember, and I knew my dad thought of him as his own.

Trent’s father had dedicated years to working on the ranch until he lost his battle with cancer during our senior year of high school. With Trent’s mother not in the picture, my father welcomed Trent into our family.

As my broom slipped from my grasp, Trent bent down to grab it. Our eyes locked and the heat of his palm sent afamiliar surge of electricity pulsing through me as our hands coincidentally clasped the handle.

I had assumed that ten years apart would dull the effect he had on me, but apparently that wasn’t the case.

We lingered in that charged silence for a beat too long until the ring of my phone snapped us out of the trance. I quickly withdrew my hand and hurried to answer the call.

“Hey, Sawyer. What’s up?” I managed to say, attempting to conceal the tremor in my voice and slight breathlessness.

“I was wondering if you are still over at the cabin. I wanted to see if you wanted to grab lunch with me since I have to head back home tomorrow.”

“You know we are going out tonight together, right?” I laughed.

“True, but it’s not every day I get a chance to take my sister to lunch,” he replied. Sawyer was definitely the most charming one of my brothers.

“Yes, I’ll go with you. I got caught up cleaning up over here, but I can head back now. I’ll just need to shower and change first.”

“Sounds great. See you soon.”

He hung up, and my eyes traced back to Trent. “Better get going,” I said.

“We made good progress, Dot. I will be back later this week too. Text me if you need anything. Numbers the same.” His smirk equally pissed me off and made my heart flutter, which only pissed me off more.

FOUR

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