Page 24 of Harboring Secrets
“Uh, I actually walked here.”
“Then I’ll take you there myself. Come on.”
I followed Neil outside and waited for him to lock up. “You seem very excited to show me this place.”
“I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but the owner of this property won’t move on price. They want a very specific number. That, plus the unique appearance and the different aesthetic, it’s been a challenge to sell. There’s a friendly competition at the office to see who will be the lucky agent to finally sell it.” Neil fiddled with his phone and a moment later mine buzzed with a notification. “I sent you the listing so you can have a look on the way over if you want. Unless you want to be surprised.”
I left my phone in my pocket. “Surprise me.”
Chapter 12
Liam
Iignoredcallsfrommy sister. She had every right to be worried about me, but I wasn’t in the mood to deal with angsty Carol. Oren had called me after getting in touch with the lab a final time. I still wasn’t sure how to feel about losing that last little bit of Piper, but honoring her wishes was the right thing to do.
My turbulent thoughts about it had me wandering town like a zombie for a couple of days. I wanted to see Brodie again, but he hadn’t reached out. I needed to do something before I went insane.
On the evening of the third day, I showed up at the doorstep of Brodie’s brother again. This time with a pizza without olives, a cooler with drinks, and a couple of blankets.
The tips of my ears heated and I fought the urge to rock on the balls of my feet as I waited for someone to answer the door.
I heard a thud, and a faint commotion from the other side of the door and then Brodie shot out of the house and yanked the door shut behind him.
“Sorry about that.” He made no move to explain and I didn’t ask. We were both the youngest in our families and I imagined the commotion had something to do with his brother.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him. “I, um… brought dinner. Pizza again, but no olives this time.”
Brodie looked at me and then at the pizza box and the blankets. Before I could parse what he was thinking, a flick of movement caught my attention.
“I think we have an audience.”
Brodie whirled around to see the curtain fall back into place. He turned back to me and raked his fingers through his hair.
“I can go if you’re not comfortable with me being here.”
“No, you’re fine. It’s those idiots inside I can’t stand.” Brodie looked up at me. “Do you think we could go somewhere?”
“I’d like that.” I stepped off the porch and waited for him to fall into step next to me. He surprised me by taking the blankets and the cooler from me so I could unlock the car. Once they were stowed in the back seat, Brodie climbed in the front and I passed him the pizza.
I took a deep breath as I rounded the car and climbed in the driver’s seat.
“Anywhere in particular you want to go? If you don’t want pizza, I could take you somewhere.”
“Pizza’s fine. I’ll give you directions.” Brodie put his seatbelt on. “Just get me away from Kieran and his boyfriend.”
I put the car in gear and followed Brodie’s directions out of the neighborhood. “Kieran is your brother, right?”
“Yeah. He and Shane are both older than me. And Clay is Kieran’s boyfriend. Kieran thinks you’re bad news, but Clay is totally team Liam. He’s apparently a sucker for a second chance.” Brodie huffed out a breath. “Long story.”
My chest puffed a little at the fact that someone in Brodie’s circle was team Liam. Brodie cut me a glance and a smile tugged at his lips. An ache erupted in my chest at the sight of it. I’d missed his smiles and the way they lit up my universe.
“Don’t let it go to your head, Liam.”
The grin that broke out couldn’t be stopped if I’d tried. And I didn’t want to stop it. I’d spent so long being sad and I didn’t want to be that anymore. I’d grieved and mourned. And I’d moved on. For the living, therewaslife after death. There had to be.
“Too late. I have a fan club. I think I like Kieran’s boyfriend already.” I waited at a stop sign for Brodie’s instructions.
“Take a left,” he told me. “Can I eat in here?”
