Page 84 of Sawyer
How could a misunderstanding hurt like this? “Romeo and Juliet had a misunderstanding, and look how that worked out. With both of them taking poison and dying.”
“Okay, that’s enough.” Kyle put both hands on his shouldersand got in his face, his blue eyes fiery. “This is where I tell you to stop spiraling out of control. No one is going to take poison and die here. We are going to put our heads together and act like adults. You’ve got an agent now. You’re going to talk to her like a professional. This is just a huge blowup, but you two will get over it. Got it?”
He nodded. The car pulled up and Kyle opened the door and pushed him inside, greeting the driver with a tight smile. “If she won’t talk to you, then she’s not the woman any of us think she is. But I don’t believe that. She’s crazy upset. We figure out why. We fix it. You two make up. All right?”
He nodded, because he couldn’t lose her. “I hear you.”
“Since you like quotes, I’m giving you one of my favorites from Richard Branson.Screw it; let’s do it.You with me?”
Panic was making deep cuts in his throat as he sucked in a breath, but he nodded again. “All the way and back.”
“Good. I’m texting the others to be on standby for Operation Sawyer—not Thea and Jean Luc—so don’t look so stricken.”
“I wouldn’t mess up their honeymoon for anything.” He laid his head back against the back seat, his head pounding from the lack of oxygen. “Don’t text Madison. She’s working?—”
“Not how this works, Doc. Your friends get to know what’s up. She doesn’t have to do anything, but I won’t have her feeling left out.”
His chat with Madison last night in the kitchen came to mind. “She’s torn, you know. Between wanting to be with you and playing it safe.”
Kyle’s laugh was harsh. “You think I don’t know that? But let’s focus on one tough girl at a time. I laid my heart on the floor last night, and Madison knows it.”
What would she do? God, he couldn’t think about that right now.
“Around the corner,” Kyle told the driver in French when he paused to look at his online map.
When they turned, Sawyer’s heart flipped over. Brooke was waiting for them outside, tapping her wicked red Louboutin heel on the sidewalk in a heavy coat, smoking. “She only smokes when she’s upset.”
“She loves you, Doc.” Kyle thanked the driver and opened the door. “We all do.”
Kyle kissed Brooke on the cheek, but she engulfed Sawyer in his arms as soon as he shut the car door. “Oh, Sawyer! I’m so sorry this happened. Come inside. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
He let her pull him along through Axel’s beautiful landscape, something that failed to awe him and give him peace like usual. Axel was waiting in the doorway in one of his bulky Nordic sweaters, his large brow tense. “Welcome, although I wish you were here for another reason. Come and share with us what happened.”
He was dimly aware of Brooke helping him out of his coat as he ran through what he knew. “That Beverly meant her mother’s gallery even though I asked if she knew Phoebe? After giving Beverly Phoebe’s card and telling her she was one of the interested galleries? It hadn’t dawned on me once this was a possibility. Does that make me stupid?”
“No, only literal.” Brooke stored Kyle and Sawyer’s coats in the side closet before stripping off her own and hanging it there, directing them down the hall to the den where a warm fire was blazing. “You’d better call Beverly.”
He sank onto the long cream sofa, resting his hands on his knees, feeling exhausted. Brooke sat down next to him, putting a hand on his arm. Even though she was wearing a soft pants set in a red cashmere, her face looked hard. Strained.
He dug out his phone. “I really do feel stupid. I’ve put the ‘ass’ in the assumption thing.”
“Stop beating yourself up.” Brooke pointed to the sofa for him to rest his phone there. “Call Beverly and put her on speaker.”
“Elskede,Sawyer can talk to Beverly privately in my office,” Axel pointed out.
“No, here’s fine.” She whacked Sawyer’s arm gently like a baseball coach might before he stepped up to home plate—a little weird but it grounded him. “We can be quiet.”
Kyle strolled over and sat down in another cream chair while Axel remained standing with his back to the two-way fireplace.
“I’ll…ah…call her, then.”
“You don’t have to put her on speakerphone, Doc,” Kyle added, sending Brooke a look.
Sawyer punched her number and stared at the phone before laying it down on the sofa and hitting the speaker button. Not having to rehash his conversation with Beverly felt like the easier path.
“Sawyer!” Her friendly voice eased some of the knots in his belly. “Happy early New Year.”
She clearly wasn’t pissed. “Happy…ah…New Year, Beverly. I hope I’m not interrupting your holiday plans.”
