Page 98 of For The Weekend
I huff. No way. That’s not Eloise. “I’m sure that’s not true.”
Marianne lifts a shoulder. “She’s been a tad cranky.”
Clara snorts a laugh. “A lot cranky. A pretty good impression of you, actually.”
I roll my eyes. “I don’t know why you even care. Why does anyone in this town care?”
They both smile at me like I’m an idiot. Which only annoys me more.
“You’re the prodigal brother,” Clara supplies. “Everyone’s favorite mystery. And Eloise is a popular woman. Of course there will be whispers about you two when you go out to Tabby Cat together, when people spot you kissing and holding hands.” She presses her hand to her chest. “Sets my little romantic heart on fire. The grumpy bad boy returning home and the sweet sunshine girl? I mean…”
Marianne shakes her head in amusement at her wife then turns to me. “What she means to say is, we care about you. We care about your well-being. Your whole family, your friends—whether you believe you have them or not—we want to see you happy, and it was clear Eloise made you happy.”
As Mazie sprawls out on the floor with a book, theshop cat next to her, I rub at my neck, tense from not sleeping well the past few nights. The exhaustion has been wearing on me, the anger I thought would make me feel better doing nothing to stem the pain at not having Eloise. Not being with her.
She is my panacea. But I don’t know how to undo what I’ve said. How to move on from what she did.
With my mind on the relationship I’ve ruined with the apparent bear of a baker, I don’t notice the owner of Chapter and Verse until she’s almost right next to me, looking suspiciously…unkempt. Tangled hair, flushed cheeks, and the buttons of her top are mismatched.
Clara and Marianne break out in laughter, and Nicole realizes she’s wearing her shirt all wonky and quickly fixes it, her face glowing even more red.
“Nice little lunch break you had?” Clara asks.
Nicole pointedly does not answer. Instead, she moves behind the counter, pulling two books off a shelf. “I have your orders here.”
Marianne smothers a grin as she hands over a card to pay, and I remember that conversation I was forced to endure last week about Ian and Nicole’s…proclivities.
“Where’s Ian?” I ask Nicole, and she gestures upstairs.
“The apartment.”
“You mind watching Mazie for a few minutes?”
She shakes her head, and I offer Clara and Marianne a wave as I head over to Stone Ink, silently greeting Riley and Jaybird on my way to the back, so I can take the stairs to the second floor.
I knock twice before opening the door to find my brother lounging in the living room, and he looks up from the paperback copy ofPersuasionhe’s reading and lowers the glasses he only wears when he’s working or reading.
“Am I interrupting your postcoital quiet time?”
Ian rubs his hand over his mouth and beard, a self-satisfied smile gracing his face. “Ah, you run into Nic?”
“Yep.”
He nods and motions for me to take a seat, so I do, but he waits me out. Not bothering to ask what’s wrong. Probably because he already knows.Everyoneknows.
I last all of one minute before I let it all fly. I tell him about how I first met Eloise the night I moved back and that nothing felt more right than being with her at the wedding. Like I was supposed to be at her side, like I’malwayssupposed to be at her side. I explain how it feels like every bad thing I’ve ever experienced in life is all worth it if she’s my reward on the other side.
It’s when I come to the more recent events with Eloise and Amy that I need to pace the room. I’ve felt like clawing out of my skin every day since we had our confrontation out back, and the one thing that’s been keeping me sane is staying in motion. Without Eloise’s constant energy and chatter surrounding me, I feel like I’ve been standing still. And I miss it.
I miss her.
And yet…
“I know she was just trying to help, but it hurt. I don’t want Amy in Mazie’s life. Not yet, at least.”
“Understandable.”
It is understandable, which makes me angrier. More confused.
