“Ah shit, honey. Come here.” Dane stood and crossed to give her a hug. “Tell me something. If he’s distancing himself, is that the worst thing in the world?”
She didn’t say anything. Resting her head on her big brother’s shoulder, she clamped her lips tightly, holding back her words as she willed her tears to stay in her eyes and not escape.
“I thought you two were just friends,” Dane said.
“We are,” she whispered. “That’s the problem.”
“Aha. You’re in love with him,” Dane guessed.
“Well, duh.” Tess stepped back and sniffled hard. “It’s complicated.”
“Now there’s an understatement.” He smiled kindly as he added, “I’ve been waiting for you to fess up for weeks, you know.”
“Oh really.”
“Yup. I mean . . . you’ve been so excited and happy about the baby . . . but with this underlying sadness that’s made no sense. Now it makes sense.” He sighed. “You’ve been missing him.”
The tears sprang up and rolled down her face. She sniffled and wiped them away with impatient flicks of her fingers. Her heart felt like it was lodged in her throat.
“My poor sweetheart. Shit.” Dane let out another sigh. “Come on. Let’s go get you and my growing niece or nephew fed, and you’ll tell me all about it. Maybe I can help. If I can’t, at least I’m here to listen.” He tweaked her nose the way he always had when they were kids. “I love you, Tesstastic. I hate seeing you sad. I’m here for you.”
His show of kindness left Tess wobbly with gratitude. She hugged him again and whispered, “Thank you.”
* * *
When Tess got home that evening, she’d had an entire car ride through rush-hour traffic to think over her lunchtime chat with Dane. He thought she should tell Logan how she felt; she disagreed. But one thing she’d definitely agreed with: Call him, not text or email, and ask him directly what was going on.
As soon as she’d let Bubbles out to go potty, fed her, and sat down, she did something she hadn’t done in over five weeks: She called Logan.
“Hey there,” came his deep voice over the line, and it sent a shiver right through her. “How are you?”
God, she’d missed his voice. She knew hearing it would only make her miss him more, which was why she hadn’t called all this time. Now, the sound of his low, sexy rumble made her want to crawl through the phone to get to him and wrap herself in his strong arms. But all she said was, “I got your email today.”
“I figured,” he said.
“Annmarie’s worse? Why haven’t you told me?”
“Umm . . . yes, she is, and because there’s nothing you can do, so why upset you?”
“Because I care,” Tess ground out. “Because I’d like to support you, and her, if I can. How about that?”
He paused. “You sound angry.”
“I am,” she admitted. “You’ve been contacting me less, which stings as it is. Now I find out she’s worse and you’re quitting my family through a formal group email?”
“I’m not quitting your family,” he said. “I’m giving some of my houses to Richie because I’m not going to have the time to devote to them. Something’s gotta give. I’m taking care of my professional obligations.”
“Who are you talking to?” she exploded in a shout. She sprung up from the couch to pace wildly. “This is me, Logan. You’re talking to me like I’m a fucking client.”
“You are one of my clients.”
“Not anymore. Right?” Her heart pounded, her blood raced. “And we’ve been a hell of a lot more to each other than that. So tell me the truth. Is this really about reassigning your jobs, or about getting away from me? Because I can’t shake the feeling that in spite of everything we shared, all the wonderful things you said and did, you’re doing your best to get away from me now, and this is just part of it.”
Again he paused, then said in a low, deliberate tone, “Tess, my whole world doesn’t revolve around you.”
She stopped in her tracks, the air rushing out of her lungs. His rebuke felt like a slap. Embarrassment washed over her, but was quickly replaced by icy anger. She let it drape over her like a familiar cloak. “I never thought it did, thank you very much.”