When Love Happens (17 page)

“Can I get you a pint?”

“Absolutely.” He took another drink of the Shaft while George pulled the pint. “Are you the George who taught them all to play pool?”

“I am,” he said proudly, setting the beer in front of Sean next to the sampler rack.

Sean proceeded to tell him about
his disgrace at the hands of The Humiliator, which led George to tell numerous pool stories about Tori and her siblings. Sean was halfway through his pint of Shaft and laughing uproariously when Kyle, Derek, and Dylan strolled into the pub.

“Hey, Sean,” Kyle said, joining him at the bar. “You harassing George?”

“I suppose so.”

Kyle clapped him on the back and threw George a grin. “Good. He
deserves that and worse.”

“You’re a rotten kid, Kyle Archer,” George said with a laugh.

“What’re you doing here drinking alone?” Kyle asked.

“Come on, sit with us.” Derek led them to a booth in the corner by the front window.

Sean was a bit hesitant; he wasn’t sure who was friend or foe at this point. But he was running low on time to kick this show into gear, so he couldn’t afford to ignore
this prime opportunity.

Kyle was still at the bar, typing something into his phone.

“What’s he doing?” Dylan asked as he slid into one side of the booth.

Derek took the bench across from him. “Probably texting Maggie. He’s completely whipped.”

Dylan barked a laugh. “Like you aren’t, newlywed boy.”

“Pot. Kettle. Black.”

Sean sat down next to Dylan.

Dylan offered a sly smile. “Hey, I never
said I wasn’t at Sara’s beck and call.”

“Shut it. I don’t want to hear about my sister,” Kyle said as he took the only open space next to Derek. “Speaking of sisters, where’s Tori?” Kyle asked Sean.

“She’s, uh, recovering.”

Dylan held up his hand for a high five. “Hit me.”

Kyle groaned. “I said I didn’t want to hear about my sister.”

Sean slapped Dylan’s hand but shook his head. “She drank
too much last night.”

“Yeah, Maggie’s feeling it today, too,” Kyle said. “It’s a good thing we broke them up when we did.”

“What happened?” Derek asked.

“She and Maggie hit the wine cellar last night.” Kyle gave Sean a knowing smile. “Although I have to admit it made for a fun evening.”

Sean could read between the lines there. His evening could’ve ended in a similar fashion if he hadn’t been
such a gentleman. No, he didn’t regret leaving her alone. He didn’t want her like that. He wanted her to choose him because she wanted him when she was fully sober.

A server arrived, and Derek greeted her by name. After a brief table discussion, they ordered pitchers of Shaft and Longbow and two plates of nachos.

“Dude, you have not lived until you’ve had Archer nachos,” Kyle said.

“Your creation?”
Sean asked.

He sighed with regret. “Not guilty, I’m afraid. And I admit I’ve tried to improve them, but you just can’t screw with perfection.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“So Tori and Maggie got blitzed last night; sorry I missed it,” Derek said. He looked at Sean. “What’s up with you two?”

How much should he share? That she was trying to drive him away with obnoxious behavior? That he’d
offered her a divorce in exchange for doing the television show? In the end he only towed what seemed to be their party line. “It’s complicated. We’re trying to figure things out.”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “You guys are lame. Just spit it out. Are you splitting up or not?”

Was there any point in not telling them? No. “Probably.” Except when he thought of their shared memories. And the kissing .
. . in the bed. “I don’t know.” He shook his head. “She’s acting strange.”

Derek cocked his head to the side, his dark blue eyes fixed on Sean. “How?”

The pitchers arrived, and the four of them filled their glasses. Sean wished he hadn’t said anything. She
was
acting strange, but he knew what she was trying to do—get rid of him. Just like he knew that last night’s about-face had nothing to do
with a change of heart on her part and everything to do with a magnum of fantastic pinot.

“Oh, never mind. I don’t want to bore you guys.” Sean took a long drink of beer and hoped they’d change the subject.

Derek frowned. “I’ve been worried about her for a while now. Everyone’s been a little off since Alex died, but we’ve all been slowly working back to a new normal. I’m not sure she is, though.”

Kyle nodded. “I thought it was just me not being around the last few years, that she’d changed while I was gone. But she
is
different now.”

“How?” Dylan sipped his Longbow. “I mean, she’s definitely different than she was in high school, but that was a decade ago.”

“Before Alex died,” Derek said to Dylan, “she was more like you remember her than she is now. You know—fun, outspoken, the life
of the party.”

Derek described the Tori Sean had gotten to know. The Tori he’d fallen in love with; the Tori he saw glimpses of but worried was fading.

He wasn’t sure he should ask, but in the end couldn’t help himself. “Do you think she hasn’t really dealt with Alex’s death?”

The three men looked at each other. Derek shrugged. “It’s possible. But she’s so stubborn. I don’t know how you’d get
her to realize that. She used to be more emotional—last spring, right after it happened. But over the summer and now into fall, she’s pretty business-as-usual.”

“That’s exactly it,” Dylan said. “She’s all business. She works on The Alex, she does work for her real job in San Francisco. What does she do for fun?”

“She runs.” Kyle grimaced as he lifted his beer for a drink. “Houston, I think we
have a problem.”

“Guys, don’t say anything to her,” Sean said. “At least not until she and I figure things out.”

The conversation thankfully turned.

Sean drank his beer, regretting the focus he’d thrown on Tori. She might’ve liked the limelight once, but he was pretty sure she preferred to hide in the shadows these days. And that was more than enough to change his concern from whether she’d
do the stupid show or stay married to him to hoping that she’d find a way to be all right again.

T
ORI HAD JUST
managed to take a shower and get herself dressed when her phone vibrated on the nightstand. She picked it up and read the screen.

Kyle:
Your husband’s at the A&V drinking alone. WTF?

That’s
where Sean had gone. He’d left without saying a word, not that she’d given him much opportunity after holing herself up in the bedroom with water and crackers. With her stomach
settled and her headache quashed with Tylenol, she now harbored just a vague sensation of blah.

She texted Kyle back:
And?

Kyle:
And why aren’t you here with him?

Tori:
We’re not attached at the hip!

Though they had been last night. The specifics of their brief-but-hot encounter were a bit hazy, but the feel of his body against hers and the taste of his wine-drenched mouth were emblazoned
on her mind. And perhaps between her thighs.

Ugh, she was terrible! Lusting after Sean when she was trying to push him away. Who did that?

She did.

Because she had to. Divorce was her only option unless she wanted to be locked in a long-distance marriage with a guy who constantly reminded her of her dead brother. She winced. It was time to kick Operation Divorce Me into overdrive.

She’d already
tried so many things to push him away, and nearly every single one had backfired. He’d suffered through that horrid pageant show the other night, joined her in her early morning workout, traded his coffee for her disgusting latte—he’d even sat through a poetry reading when his eyes had been drooping past his knees. Even worse—she’d been the one to walk away feeling agitated after watching countless
women eyeing him at the race and then catching that sneaky Dawn Yocum flirting with him at the bookstore.

That’s it!

She’d flirt with someone to show Sean that she wasn’t committed to this marriage in the slightest. She immediately thought of who she could enlist, but it gave her pause. Cade D’Onofrio was a really nice guy, just not the guy for her. She’d pretty much told him that, but he’d
said he was patient. She’d talked to him a couple of times this week about work stuff, but they hadn’t mentioned Oktoberfest and how they hadn’t hung out together like they’d planned. Maybe that gave her an in.

She brought up his name on her phone. She wasn’t really using him; she
did
have a few legitimate work things to review with him about phase three. So what if they discussed them at The
Arch and Vine this afternoon . . .

She dialed his number before she could lose her courage and set the meeting. Operation Divorce Me was back on.

T
ORI HAD PURPOSELY
arrived outside the pub a few minutes early. She wanted to head Cade off so they could walk in together. Right on time, he pulled up and parked across the street. She smiled and waved as he crossed to meet her.

“Hey, Tori.” Cade
was a nice-looking guy, maybe an inch under Sean’s five-eleven, with dark hair and olive skin that advertised his Italian heritage. His dark eyes crinkled at the edges as he took off his sunglasses. The gray morning clouds had burned off to reveal a bright fall day.

“Thanks for meeting me on a Sunday. I wanted to go over a few things. And I also wanted to apologize for last week at Oktoberfest.
I ended up getting sucked into family stuff.” That was as close to the truth as she wanted to get.

“No problem. I ran into some good friends anyway. And you said it wasn’t a date.” He looked at her intently. “Right?”

She nodded once. “Right. Shall we go in?” She turned toward the stone archway heralding the entrance.

He held the door open for her, and she immediately heard her brother’s laughter
coming from the left corner. Seated with him at the booth were Sean, Dylan, and Derek. And judging from the number of pitchers and mostly empty nacho platters, they looked like they were having a man date.

She didn’t want to risk talking to them and having Sean introduced as her husband. That would open a whole awkward conversation with Cade—which she fully intended to have
after
she obtained
her goal of driving Sean off.

She scanned the room for a nearby table so Sean would be able to see them and decided on one situated beneath the mural. She led Cade to it and took the chair that faced the booth with Sean and the others. Cade sat at the side next to her, with his back to the wall. There were two empty tables between them and the guys, and she hoped they’d remain that way.

“Hey,
isn’t that your brother and Derek and Dylan?”

She looked over at them and pretended to be surprised. “So it is.”

Kyle turned his head and made eye contact, and if glaring was a language, she would’ve translated his look as
what the literal fuck
?

She smiled and waved and turned back to her companion. “Do you want a beer?”

“Sure. Who’s that guy with them?”

“A television producer who’s trying
to talk us into doing a ‘Where Are They Now?’ show about our family.” She congratulated herself on sticking to the truth, even if she was lying by omission.

“Trying? You guys aren’t interested?”

“I’m not. Reality shows are so awful, aren’t they?”

Cade lifted a shoulder. “I actually like the competition shows—
Survivor
,
The Amazing Race
, that sort of thing.”

“I’ve actually seen
The Amazing Race
a few times. Sara likes it. Looks like fun.” She’d watched a season in which one of the teams had been in a long-distance relationship. They’d done the race to see if they could spend that much time together and still be a couple. She thought of doing that with Sean and acknowledged it might have been fun—before the Mistake.

The server came and took their order. Tori ordered black coffee and
a hummus plate. She wasn’t terribly hungry, but the pita bread sounded good for her sensitive stomach.

She glanced over at Sean and was satisfied to see he was watching them—covertly, but still watching them. She made a show of smiling at Cade and appearing super engaged as they discussed the engineering of phase three. Every so often she’d sneak a look at Sean, and while the rest of the guys
were talking and laughing, he seemed focused on his beer.

Okay, this was all fine and good, but how did she show Sean that she was moving on? He slid a look at her, and she touched Cade’s hand.

This drew Sean’s complete attention. It was now or never. Before she could lose her nerve, she leaned over and kissed Cade. She felt his shock of surprise, followed by the gentling of his lips. He tipped
his head to the side and kissed her back, his fingers tangling with hers on the table.

Uh-oh, this could go wrong so fast.

And then it did.

His tongue licked along her lip, and she jerked back. She flicked a glance at Sean to see if he’d seen the kiss. He was already on his way out the door.

Yeah, he’d seen it.

Instead of feeling relieved, she felt awful, worse than she had when she’d woken
up.

“Hey.” Cade squeezed her hand, and she turned to see his dark eyes narrowed with concern. “Was that a problem?”

Me using you to drive my husband off?
Yes, that was a problem of epic proportions.
She
was a problem of epic proportions.

“I’m sorry, Cade. I really like you. I’d thought there might be something, but I don’t think there is.” She inwardly cringed, hating herself for this ridiculous
idea, though it looked as if she might’ve achieved her goal.

Kyle stalked over to her table and scowled down at her. “What the hell, Tori?”

She looked up at him. “Can we talk about this later?”

Kyle put his hands on his hips. “Aren’t you going to go after him?”

Cade glanced between them, confused. “Why would she go after him?”

“Because he’s her husband.” Kyle registered the surprise on Cade’s
face and shook his head at Tori.

“You’re married?” Cade asked, incredulous. “Since when?”

“February.”

“Holy shit.” Cade ran his hand through his hair. “Well, I feel like a giant tool.”

And she’d used him like one. Tori had never hated herself more than in that moment, and she’d spent a lot of time circling the pit of self-loathing over the past eight months. “I’m so sorry, Cade. It’s complicated,
but we’re not really
married
married. I’ve only even seen him once since the wedding.”

“I’m sure you think that makes it okay, but it’s still shitty.” He stood up. “You’ll have to forgive me for not picking up the check, but I think it’s a business expense.” He looked at Kyle. “See you at the job site tomorrow.”

“Sure enough, man.” Kyle clapped his bicep and nodded as Cade left.

“I have no
idea what you’re up to, sis, but I hope you realize what a clusterfuck you just made.”

Oh, she realized it, and unfortunately that had been her plan. Too bad she felt as though this one had backfired, too. Not because it hadn’t achieved the desired goal, but because she wasn’t completely sure she desired it after all.

S
EAN WENT TO
his car but just stood on the curb for a minute and breathed
in the fall air. Nope, still furious.

Dylan had identified the guy as Cade D’Onofrio, the engineer working on The Alex. He was also the guy they’d been trying to hook Tori up with the past few months, Kyle had apologetically informed him. That alone had been enough to spark Sean’s jealousy, but then she’d gone and kissed him. His jealousy had burned into pure anger.

He climbed into his rental
car and drove directly to the garage apartment, where he went about packing all of his stuff. Sitting at the small dining table, he pulled up available flights to LA on his iPad, saw one for that evening, and picked up his phone to book it.

The agent answered. “Hi,” Sean said, “I need a seat on the five thirty-five from PDX to LAX.”

“Sure, hold on.” The sound of her punching keys carried through
the phone. “I’m sorry, sir, that flight’s booked.”

Fuck it all.
“Standby?”

“It’s already quite long. Do you want to look at something tomorrow?”

His shoulders sagged in defeat. “Sure.”

“Hold for a moment, please.”

A knock on the door drew his attention. If it was Tori, he was slamming the door in her face. He’d had more than enough of her games.

He got up and answered the door, surprised
to see Sara standing at the top of the stairs.

She offered a weak smile and said, “I’d hold up a white flag if I had one.”

The humor was enough to take the edge off his ire, but he was still angry. “Hang on, I’m on hold with the airline.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh, you can’t leave. Please? We were hoping you’d stay.”

He gripped the edge of the door, holding it open. “‘We’?”

“May I come in?” Sara
asked.

“Sir?” The airline agent was back on the line. Sean held up a hand to signify to Sara that he was off hold and then opened the door wider to allow her to enter.

She mouthed, “Thank you.”

“It looks like there are a few seats on the nine a.m.,” the agent continued, “and a few at twelve fifteen, and then ten or twelve on the five thirty-five. Do you want to book one of those?”

He glanced
at Sara, who wore an expression that could only be described as pleading. “I’ll call you back.” He ended the call and slipped the phone into the back pocket of his jeans. “Why should I stay? Wait, let’s back up. Why are you even here?”

She moved into the living room and fidgeted with a leather bracelet she wore. “Kyle texted me about what happened. Would it make you feel better to know he read
Tori the riot act?”

“It would.”

Sara smiled. “I like you. We all like you. We’d like you to stay and give Tori a chance.”

“I think I’ve given her plenty of those.” He moved to stand near the table and peered out the windows that overlooked the parking area between the two garage buildings before turning to face her again. “I need to get back to LA.” Why exactly? So he could clean out his office?

Her smile faded, and she twirled the bracelet around her wrist. “You’ve been so patient. We’re hoping you could wait a little longer. She just needs time.”

Eight months, and she needed more? “I’ve been empathetic and patient and supportive. But now I’m out of time.
She’s
out of time.”

Sara winced. “I get it.” She crossed her arms over her chest and did that thing he’d noticed a few times. He
was pretty sure it was part of her sensory processing disorder, and part of him wanted to ask if she was okay. The other part said to keep his mouth shut, that he likely wouldn’t be seeing her or any other Archer ever again.

“You keep saying ‘we.’ Are you all in on this intervention?”

Surprisingly, she laughed. He’d thought she looked too tense to do that, but apparently not. “Intervention is
exactly it. Yes, we’re all in on it—Kyle, Dylan, Derek, everyone. That’s how we Archers roll. We drive each other nuts, but we don’t let each other flame out.”

He liked the sound of that, even if he had a hard time understanding the complexity of a large, crazy family. “Well, as it happens, I can’t get a flight out tonight. I can, however, get a hotel room near the airport, which I think might
be best.”

She released her arms and stepped toward him. “Please don’t go. Just stay one more day, and if things are still a mess, you can leave with our blessing.”

“Sara, I appreciate all you’re trying to do, but I can’t stay. And she doesn’t want me to, either.”

“What about the show? We haven’t decided for sure, but I think we’re going to do it. We just need to convince Liam—he says he’s too
busy—and, of course, Tori.”

He arched a brow at her. “Your parents are in favor?”

“Yeah. Actually, Mom thinks it’s a great idea.” She twirled her bracelet again. “So you’ll stay?”

He exhaled, his earlier anger fading into disappointment and frustration. “I might as well, since I can’t get a flight. But I’m leaving tomorrow, so decide about the show fast.”

“We will. And we’ll get Tori to come
around.”

He shook his head. “I don’t know why you’re bothering.”