Page 12 of Coming Unraveled
“I reserve the right to have my own opinion about people.”
They continue walking in silence, stopping in front of the back entrance to the stairwell that will lead her to her apartment. He holds the door ajar and gestures her forward where he trails behind.
They enter the apartment and Austin looks around before tugging her into a hug.
“I just want to see you happy and Brooks seems to like you. Maybe you could give him a shot to change your mind.”
Stepping back, she tosses her purse onto the chair next to them.
“I am happy and I don’t need a boyfriend to do that.”
He nods, knowing that this isn’t an argument he needs to be having and looks around her space once more. Her tiny apartment is half of the open space above her pharmacy, stands at about 700 square feet, and all of her furniture is crammed into the rooms.
“Have you thought about moving? Buying a house?”
“I have, actually. Since I used my trust to buy the pharmacy and I make money from the rental unit next door I’m in a good place to look at buying. I was waiting for the pharmacy purchase to finalize before I started looking. And, well, I’m hesitant for another reason.”
“Rich,” her brother adds without hesitation.
All her family knew is that they had a bad breakup their senior year of high school. Everleigh never went into the details of that breakup, and she has no intention of starting now.
“I don’t know why you don’t want to work with him. It’s ancient history.”
“Because it’s weird and awkward. Maybe you can help me and work on my behalf?” she asks fluttering her eyelashes dramatically at him.
Laughing loudly, Austin holds his hand against his stomach as he leans forward.
“Ok, how about I find you some properties and you can check them out with your sisters?”
Launching toward him, she wraps her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly.
“You’re the best big brother.”
“I’m your only big brother,” he interjects as she steps back. “And you will have to be near Rich if we find a house you like. I don’t have a realtor license and he’ll most likely represent the sellers.”
She sucks her lower lip into her mouth, biting the soft skin as it puckers.
“You’ll be there though, right? You’ll stay with me?”
His eyes narrow, wondering if there is more to her story, but if she hasn’t cracked in seven years she isn’t going to now.
“If you want me there, I’ll be there. I’ll start looking at listings and send you a list in the next few days.”
“Thank you, Austin.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m the best big brother,” he says as he turns to leave her apartment, opening the door leading to the enclosed stairwell.
“Only because you’re my only one,” she adds with a laugh mimicking his earlier declaration.
Everleigh hears her brother chuckle and then shout, “Lock up!”
She steps towards the door and engages the lock, then heads towards her kitchen. Grabbing a bottle of red wine from her wine rack she pops open the cork and pours herself a glass of Malbec. In the freezer, she shuffles through the boxes and lands on a frozen dinner. Normally she would cook, but she just doesn’t have it in herself tonight. Popping the dinner in the microwave she slouches onto a bar stool, resting her head against the countertop.
She didn’t need to only take her brother’s advice and lock up her apartment; she needed to remember to lock up her heart.
***
IN THE PAST FEW days, Brooks feels as if he has seen Everleigh everywhere, much to her dismay. First, he had noticed her wavy blond hair in the deli section of the market while he was scanning through the produce. Being the mature adult that he is he had walked over to where she stood to wait for some sliced roast beef and noticed a display of sausages. He couldn’t resist. Grabbing the largest and thickest packaged meat in the stack he snuck closer to her and stood beside her cart, sausage poking from his hip, and resting on the edge of the wire frame. He chuckled when she turned with her package of deli meat in hand and noticed him standing there. At first, she didn’t spot the sausage until she tossed her roast beef into her cart. She had whispered his name with a gentle blush coating her cheeks and her eyes glanced around wildly. He simply asked her if she liked the sausage he had chosen, but instead of giving him a bit of her anger fueled condemnation, she gripped her cart tightly and huffed away. He stood there, sausage in hand, Ms. Shirley Fitzgerald staring at him in awe, thinking he had just made things with Everleigh worse until he heard it, a faint giggle coming from where she stood. His ears had perked up, yearning to hear more of her beautiful laugh, and he was rewarded when she turned her head over her shoulder and flashed a brilliant smile in his direction. She had said that the sausage didn’t quite measure up and left him and Ms. Fitzgerald staring at her with bug eyes. But now he knew, he knew how to keep her. His girl had a sense of humor he is sure many didn’t get to witness. He planned to do whatever he can to make her laugh the rest of her life because she never looked more beautiful to him than when she has a smile on her face.
