Page 243 of Small Town Firsts
“Fair question. I believe we may have gotten off on the wrong foot.”
“For thirteen years? I think that would be an understatement.”
He dipped his hands into his pockets. “The Hamilton men aren’t known for their grace with the fairer sex.”
“Maybe you and your father, but I’m pretty sure Seth got the bulk of your share.”
“Probably true.”
Yet Oliver was the one who’d found me, not his brother. Did Seth even notice I’d been missing? And now I was just beingmelodramatic. Seth had been texting me a few times a day, every day.
I’d told him I needed a little thinking time.
I slid my hand over my belly self-consciously and sat forward, hunching my shoulders. I was already going into protective mode for a child who might not even exist. Along with heavily protecting myself.
Then again, perhaps Seth was waiting outside, planning a sneak attack.
“Is Seth with you?” I asked.
“No.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good.”
“Is there a reason you wouldn’t want to see my brother?”
“No.” I shoved my keys and pepper spray back into my bag. “Yes.” I stood and crossed to the windows of the screened-in porch, hoping for a breeze off the water. It had helped earlier, but my mom wasn’t talking now.
The vast, mirror-like lake shone and in the distance. Now I could see the white string lights around the gazebo, winding down the pier. Night was creeping over the town and the sun was sinking behind the trees with fantastic red and pink slashes across the sky. Music and laughter traveled with the occasional snatches of breeze on the heavy night. The pier and park was all tricked out already for the reunion. It was time to celebrate the ten years of our lives we’d put behind us.
Ten years I’d spent not moving forward.
I swallowed hard. “I don’t know. That would be why I’m here. I don’t know anything.”
“Not surprising since my brother is the king of cowards.”
“What?” I turned back to Oliver. “No, he’s not. He?—”
“No, that’s exactly what he is. Both of you are. There’s a reason no one ever fit either of you over the years. I may not want to tie myself to one woman, but Seth has been a family mansince the moment that little girl was put into his arms. I just put the wrong woman in his path.”
I flinched. “What does that mean?”
Oliver tugged at his tie again until it snapped out of his collar. He jammed it into his pocket before shrugging out of his suit coat. “It’s too blasted hot.”
I lifted a brow. “I thought you were impervious.”
“Yeah, well, don’t look at the line of sweat down the middle of my back. I’m not a fucking machine, no matter what you people think.”
“I…” I didn’t even know what to say to that, actually. Oliver had always been mostly cool and aloof around me. Had I started it? Or had he?
He blew out a breath. “This wasn’t where I wanted to go with this. I’m here to save my meathead brother from making a mistake.”
“Meathead?” I blinked. First, he was de-suiting and now he was plain-speaking.
I squinted at him to make sure he wasn’t Seth playing a joke on me, but the edges of his tattoo demonstrated clearly which twin was which. They were both covered in ink, which was interesting considering Oliver’s penchant for suits. But their ink was as opposite as their personalities. Seth’s was more dark and heavy, while Oliver’s contained more streaks of color.
Not that I would ever mistake the twin brothers for each other. The differences were staggering to me, if no one else. But there was a new glint in Oliver’s eyes. Frustration and an openness I’d never seen before.
“Look, Ally.” He swiped his hand over the back of his neck and my heart melted. Such a Seth gesture. For the first time, he really looked and acted like his brother. They’d always seemed like the opposite sides of a coin. “I may have had an idiotic moment when I pushed Marj into Seth’s life. Intentionally.”
