Just Want Somebody to Love (Bella Warren Book 1) (10 page)

Whitney pushed her bangs out of her face. “So, Kara. You remember that guy I slept with a few weeks ago?”

“How could I forget?” she said in Kara’s voice. “That hot bartender? You went on and on about him for hours before you went to meet him for lunch.”

“I know.”

And all that happening with mom standing right there. Whitney shook her head and leaned on the door. Nope. She’d just have to fill Kara in later. She had about eight places she needed to be. Tasha’s store wasn’t one of them, but she drove straight there, and parked in front of the full ice cream shop.

Damn warm spring day. Looked like everyone thought ice cream was a good idea. These people would leave eventually. Or Whitney might start rumors that the stomach bug was going around. That would get people out of there. And get herself killed by Tasha.

Conversation came from every corner of the room. Murmurs and talk about whatever. Laughter from this table, leaned in whispers from that one over there. Whitney hurried past them all and didn’t focus on a word of any of it.

Except that it sounded like Megan Mack just got engaged. How could you not hear that? She’d find out for sure later as she swung around the end of the counter.

Tasha had her arm in the cooler with a cone in her hand. A little boy pressed his face to the other side of the glass. His eyes grew with the chocolate cone Tasha built.

Tasha grinned. “I’ve been trying to call you for an hour.”

Whitney plucked her phone from her back pocket. “I don’t see anything.”

“Sorry.” She shook her head and moved to the register. “That’s been the problem. I’ve been busy, so I haven’t been able to call. I was about to give up and just text.”

“Is something wrong?”

“Not with me. Hold on.” Tasha pinged over several keys. The register dinged and rang. She called out the total to the little boy who proceeded to drop a handful of change over the counter.

Quarters and dimes pinged off the stainless steel top. Tasha slapped her hand over rolling coins, catching most of them. A couple pieces bounced off the side. Billy Miller, or maybe Bo Miller, all those Millers looked alike and she’d swear they popped a new out every month, never took his eyes off his chocolate stack.

She bent as Tasha did and caught her friend by the arm. Billy or Bo, or maybe that one was Brad, wouldn’t even notice. His tongue was making tracks from cone to the tip of the ice cream. “Guess who’s back in town?”

Tasha nodded. “I know. That’s why I wanted to call you.”

“Yeah.” Whitney plucked two dimes. Note to self, call Tasha before coming to town again. “You should have went with the text like an hour ago.”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you in person. How did you hear he was back?”

“I just ran into him.”

“No way.” Tasha’s brows slashed.

“Way.”

“What did that idiot say?”

“Mrs. Tasha?” a young voice called. “Is that enough money?”

Tasha growled and stood. By the time the boy could see her face, there was nothing but a smile. “Found it all.” She punched a few more buttons, and the money drawer popped open. She dug a nickel out and handed it over. “There you go.”

The boy left and Whitney pulled Tasha away from the counter. “Do you know why he’s back?”

“I’m guessing to see his brother again.”

Whitney shrugged. “I don’t know. We didn’t even know he existed until a few months ago, and his brother has been living here for five or more years. All of a sudden he visits twice?”

Tasha followed suit and lifted her shoulder too. “I don’t know why he came the first time. I heard when he left, people thought he was pissed off.”

Holy new information. “You never told me that.”

Tasha’s brow cocked. “I distinctly remember trying to tell you, and you did that talk to the palm thing that you know drives me crazy.”

Despite everything, Whitney chuckled. Talk to the palm was a hundred times more amusing since Tasha’s oldest did it. Not that he did it to Tasha more than once, but it worked out that Whitney was there when it happened. “You could have come back and told me later when I wasn’t so pissed off.”

“Planting season started and I forgot all about him.”

Too bad it wasn’t that easy for Whitney to forget about him. Planting season just made her think about him more. With all the hours she spent alone over a dirt row, there was plenty of time for her thoughts to get in the way. Even over music, he still wouldn’t get out of her head. She even created the best “Suck It” playlist with every break up and kiss my ass song she could think of. Trouble was, she wanted him to plant a kiss on her rear end and make a trail of them all the way up her spine.

Just like he did before

Gah. Enough sitting around talking and thinking about him. He so wasn’t worth her time and energy. “I need to get busy.”

Tasha leaned against the counter. “Just like that.”

“Just like that.” Whitney snapped her fingers. “Done.”

“Good for you.” Tasha pointed at her ice cream case. “Do you want to take one to help with being over him?”

Whitney pushed off the counter. “Maybe later. I can’t get ice cream all over Kara’s boxes.”

Justin grinned as the dust fell from where Whitney had driven off. So much something was packed into that spitfire blonde. He wasn’t quite sure what. Sure he’d met funny women before. Had certainly met pretty women, too. He’d also had sex with women who were both funny and pretty.

Maybe not as often in one night as with Whitney. He pushed his hands in his pockets as he returned to the diner. That night had been something else. Exhausting and amazing. Being he thought all his dreams were coming true, having the best sex of his life added that extra element. Parts of it unexplainable. She’d jumped under his skin and he still wanted more. That was his kind of night.

Then his dreams crashed and burned. His thoughts darkened and a frustrated pull started on his mouth. He rubbed his chin to relax tightening muscles. He’d never get anywhere with Brandon if he came in swinging with a temper. That’s why he was at the diner.

A tall waitress with a little extra love on her middle breezed past him with a tray on her shoulder. “Just have a seat anywhere you like. I’ll be right with you.”

“My brother was supposed to call something in.”

“Got it,” she called over her shoulder. “Just have a seat.”

A booth next to the register was empty so he eased in the padded chair. There wasn’t a ton of people in the room, but with all their eyes on him like they were, it might as well have been packed.

The waitress pushed through a swinging metal door and reappeared through it seconds later. A plastic sack hung from a wrist and two large Styrofoam cups were in her hands. “Rawlings, right?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She stepped behind the counter and tapped on her register. “Got you all fixed up. How long are you staying in town this time?”

“I’m not real sure.”

“I hope it’s longer than last time.” She leaned over the counter and gave him a big grin to go along with his receipt.

“We’ll see.” The longer he stayed in town spelled bad news for him, since it meant he’d still be talking Brandon into the deal. “Thanks.”

He grabbed his items and headed out the door.

He still couldn’t figure out why his brother landed in this town. Of all the places in the world, why here? It was smaller than the backwoods Texas town where they grew up, and he remembered his brother wishing for the day they could get out of there.

And then he moved to this shithole waiting to go belly up.

He drove around the corner and parked at the back. He’d take it as a good sign his brother’s truck was still parked there and he hadn’t slipped off the moment Justin walked out the door. Brandon hadn’t been much of a talker, but it was time he started. How he ran a successful bar remained one of life’s greatest unsolved mysteries.

At least in the past when Justin would send a text, Brandon would answer within the day. Over the last few weeks, Justin was lucky to get an answer at all. He pushed open the backdoor and turned into the empty kitchen. Footsteps moved around upstairs, and Justin wasn’t about to chase his brother down.

Looking desperate wasn’t the way to win Brandon over either. He wasn’t actually sure how to do it, since they’d always been on the same page. He knew Brandon’s pet peeves and pleading was near the top of the list.

Justin unpacked the burgers and considered leaving Brandon’s in the sack to keep it warm, but oh well. If it was cold, then he deserved it for hiding upstairs. Like it or not, he’d have to stay in the room long enough so Justin could show him charts and graphs.

He couldn’t hide from the truth of charts and graphs. Justin sorted everything apart, opened ketchup packets, and took a seat. “I’m back with the food.”

The footsteps above paused, then started back up. It didn’t sound like he headed for the stairs. Justin shook his head and bit into his burger. He couldn’t rush this either. Any kind of over-eagerness or pushiness would clue a timeline, and then all his brother would have to do was wait him out.

And there was a very real timeline in effect. Brandon just didn’t need to know that.

Justin got halfway through his burger when footsteps started on the stairs. He didn’t stop eating and worked on his fries as Brandon appeared in the room and sat in the other chair.

He pulled the toothpick from his burger and pushed the wrapper out flat. “Thanks for grabbing this.”

“No problem.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to come back so soon.”

“I told you I would.”

“If that deal is why you came back, then you might as well leave again.”

Shot to the gut. The last thing Justin wanted was food, but he crammed it in. “I thought you wanted me to visit too? That’s what you said before? So after I got home and thought about what you said, I cleared a chunk of my schedule out and I’m here to visit.”

“And that’s all?”

His brother would know he was lying his ass off if he said yes. “I want to talk about the expansion too, whenever you’re ready. I have plenty of time. I can stay for several days. A couple weeks even.” God, he hoped not. “If we decide against the expansion, I can stay for months.” Because he’d have nothing else.

Brandon shook his head. “I already decided against it.”

“I haven’t yet, and we both have to be in agreement, remember?”

“I remember.” A brow lifted. “And while we’re not in agreement, I get what I want.”

“I also want to know more about why you’re against it. That night we talked, it was late and we didn’t get to say a lot. I want to understand more of where you’re coming from.” So he could find a way to change his mind.

“I don’t want it.”

Justin dropped his hands under the table before he fisted them in front of his brother. “Do you have a problem with more money? I like it and like the idea of making us more. I’m not asking for any help or financial assistance. This is a low-risk deal for us.”

Brandon just looked at him. “When was the last time we saw each other at Christmas?”

Christmas? What the hell was he going off on now? Justin opened his hands, released some tension and lifted a shoulder to play along. “I don’t know. You came here and haven’t left.”

Brandon laughed, but nothing sounded funny. “Nine years. You haven’t asked about me, been curious about where I live, anything, in nine years.”

Justin scratched the back of his head. Had it been that long? He couldn’t remember. Running a chain of restaurants by himself since his partner left him high and dry kept him a little tied up. “I’ve been busy. You seemed to have needed the space, so I gave it to you.”

“When’s the last time you saw mom?”

“We talk every couple months.”

“But when was the last time you saw her? In person.”

He rubbed at his temples and considered the possibility of forging his brother’s signature. That had to be easier, and it wasn’t like Brandon was involved in the business in any way to even know the difference of what happened. “I don’t know.”

Brandon shook his head and let out a heavy sigh. “Exactly.”

“When’s the last time you saw mom?”

“Last month.”

“You left here and went somewhere?”

“Yeah. I go at least once a month. You don’t. And that’s why I’m not signing those papers or looking at them or even listening to anything you have to say about making the business bigger. Come to me with an idea about shrinking, selling off parts, or anything about going smaller, and I’ll listen.”

He didn’t want to do this. They started it together, and whenever his brother got his shit together, they would finish it together, but enough was enough. “Then sell me your part of the business. Headache free for you, and you can retire right now. I’ll even throw in royalties to keep you making money.”

“No.”

He squeezed the edge of the chair under the table to keep from raking his hands through his hair. Showing he was pissed off would lose his brother’s attention in a heartbeat. “I thought you wanted to talk smaller. That’s smaller for you.”

“And bigger for you.”

“This is all we dreamed about as kids. It’s here. It’s trying to happen and you won’t let it.”

Brandon sighed and shook his head. “I’ve lost enough to that fucking restaurant. I’m not losing anything else.”

Oh, hell no. He was not going to keep using his failed marriage as an excuse. “Anything you lost with your marriage is on you. We could have taken the restaurant to Georgia if she wanted to go back home and you wanted to go with her. You could have operated a chain from there, and I could have kept managing what we had in Texas. We could have done a number of things, but you didn’t give me the chance.”

Brandon shook his head. “I didn’t want more. That was the problem. I was so wrapped up in wanting to be successful I lost everything I had. I was just like you. I’m holding on to my percent and I’m not signing if that’s what it takes to keep you from doing the same. I know you don’t understand, but one day you will and you’ll thank me.”

Doubt that. “I have a life. I’m happy. I’m glad you’re concerned and worried about me, but I’m okay. If that’s what’s holding you back, put your mind at ease.”