Page 56 of Castle's Cards

“What do you want to talk about, then?” Court blinks. I sigh and sit across from him before letting the door close all the way. This is a sensitive topic, and I certainly don’t want anyone overhearing.

“It’s about Addy. We had a fight last night and now she won’t answer any of my phone calls.”

“What was the fight about?”

I swallow and shake my head.

“It’s Addy’s personal business and I don’t want to be spreading her business around. But she’s having a tough time. I offered to help and she didn’t take it very well. I think I offended her in some way, although I can’t imagine why she was offended.” I scratch my chin. I’m still completely perplexed on why my offer to help seemed to make her angry.

I’ve considered both the possibility that she was so angry that anything I said would have made her angryandthe possibility that what I said sounded different coming out of my mouth than it did in my head.

“Well, it’s hard to give advice when I don’t have all the details, but I respect that you don’t want to spread your girlfriend’s personal business around. But if she was offended, then the only thing you can do is apologize. But don’t apologize if you don’t know what you’re doing it for; that only makes women even angrier. Trust me, I speak from experience.”

Court stares off before shuddering and refocusing his attention on me. “Just ask her what you did to offend her and then apologize for it. Express your feelings without taking over the conversation.”

“But she won’t even answer my phone calls.”

Court grimaces.

“Damn, man. What did you do to her?”

“I don’t know! How can I talk to her if she won’t even pick up the phone?”

“You’ll just have to go over there.”

“Wouldn’t that piss her off even more?”

“Of course it will, at first. That’s why you need to give her some time. Give it another day or so and then go over there. Tell her that you miss her and want to work things out together. Bring her flowers, too. Women love that. Bonus if it’s her favorite flower. What’s her favorite flower?”

I stare at Court blankly. Am I supposed to know her favorite flower by now? Is it a bad thing that I don’t?

“I don’t know.”

“All right, whatever. Roses are a good alternative. Every woman loves roses, even the ones who say they don’t.”

I nod and give my brother a small smile.

“Thanks, man. I think this is all actually good advice.”

Court snorts.

“Of course it is. I’m giving it. That means it’s automatically good advice.”

I roll my eyes before standing up.

“Yeah, sure it is,” I say as I stand up. “I’m going to go play some cards. Take my mind off of things.”

Court grins and I step out of the office. The club is busier than it was when I went in. Nearly all the tables are full, both in the card room and in the main open areas where the drinking and dining take place. I go to the chip counter to buy in before grabbing one of the last empty seats in the room.

“Evening, gentlemen.” I nod at the host. She smiles easily and shows me to my seat as the dealer begins to deal out the hand. The other men at the table nod in greeting, except for one scowling cowboy fellow in the back. Our eyes meet and he frowns.

“Just lost three grand,” he mutters in exasperation. I grimace in sympathy before looking at my cards. The dealer lays out the flop of three cards, and I resist the urge to groan out loud. Not a strong start for me. I don’t have a pair or any suited cards in my hand and the flop is a pair of queens and two hearts. Seat two bets $100, seat three calls the bet, seat four raises and now the play is to me. I wonder if I should stay in to see what’s next or just fold.

“Carter?” a soft voice says from behind me. When I turn around and see Izzy my decision is made for me.

“Izzy? What are you doing here? Where’s Addy?”

“She’s at home. I need you to talk to her. Please don’t let her send me away. She wants me to go live with our mom until we figure things out and I can’t go there. I simply can’t.”

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