Page 12 of Every Bit As Perfect
“You kicked her out of the nest?”I chuckled.
He grinned and nodded.“She mostly lived at his place but couldn’t bear to part with our family home.It just sat there empty unless her partner was in Greece for an extended period.She’d been waiting for me to get married and make a family of my own.When that didn’t happen, she resigned herself to sticking close.As soon as I realized what she was doing, I put my place on the market and then approached her about selling hers.”
“How did you find out that’s what she was doing?”Max asked.“I know your mom.She’s pretty adamant you’re the best thing since sliced bread.I can’t imagine her giving off vibes like she wanted to get away from you.”
Daire grimaced.“It may have been because I approached her partner and accused him of stringing her along while he went about his merry life.”
Dad laughed.“I’m betting Mom didn’t like that overmuch.”
Daire shook his head, a rueful smile curving his lips.“He set me straight and now she’s living her best life in Greece for six months a year.Thankfully, he requested we keep that conversation between the two of us so as not to upset her.”He wiped his mouth with a napkin.“His idea, not mine.”
“But you didn’t argue,” Noelle teased.
He twinkled back at her.“No, I did not.”
A frisson of jealousy snaked through my heart.
Oh, no.
I was not having that.
All through school, boys befriended me in hopes of getting close to Noelle.
My first date was with a boy I thought was genuinely interested in me.I was thrilled when he asked me out.
Noelle and I spent hours choosing the perfect outfit.I even begged my mom to take me for a haircut, which she did.
But in the end, he spent the entirety of our date peppering me with questions about Noelle.Then had the audacity to expect a kiss goodnight.
He wasn’t the first or the last to use me to get to her.
And she had eyes for nobody.
Noelle and I had made it this far without letting some testosterone-befuddled male come between us and I was not going to start now.
I exhaled and purposefully relaxed my shoulders.
Noelle was married, happily, to my brother.And she’d been with my brother since she first breezed back into town.There had never been anything between her and Daire.
Not that it mattered.
I couldn’t imagine him being interested in me if he gravitated toward the likes of the Queen Bee Bitch of the Brady Bunch.
By the end of the night, I’d laughed so hard at Max and Daire’s stories from college that my stomach hurt.Who knew Max had once been so adventurous?
Noelle, too, sat with her mouth hanging open.
Max had always been the responsible one, next only to Hawkley who took his role as protector to the extreme.
Over the past decade, Max had slowly morphed into a pale-faced workaholic.This new version of Max, which was in fact a rebirth of a much older version, was unexpected.
And welcome.
Daire moving here was good for Max.Maybe Daire was helping him find his way back the same way Noelle brought Hawkley back.
Despite the less than stellar start, we had a great night.
I smiled to myself the whole way home.It wasn’t until I snuggled into my quiet, cozy nest, that the realization hit me.
