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She offered a half smile. “Can’t you guess?”
Right.
“Look,” I cleared my throat, “I’m sorry about the wedding. About everything. I should have said something sooner, and I know that…but—”
“Jessica…stop.” Amelia leaned in and covered my hand. “I’m here to see how you’re doing. Don’t worry about apologizing tome.”
The compassion in her eyes almost broke me. It was one thing to receive such a gift from my parents and Jami, but Amelia was one of those who’d been wronged by me. I doubted she knew the truth of my relationship with her brother, so to her, I was the woman who’d literally left her brother at the altar.
And she’d come to see how I was doing.
She squeezed my hand, her gaze soft. “You look like you need to talk.”
Talk? I almost started laughing. Talk with somebody who had no ulterior motive? Who actually cared about other people’s feelings? What a novel idea.
“Shouldn’t you want to talk to your brother rather than me?” I asked.
“He’s angry,” Amelia said softly. “He’s closed up like I’ve never seen him before. He’s never been close to our parents, but he won’t even talk to me or Drew. I’m worried for him, but I’m also worried about you.” She squeezed my hand again. “I get the feeling you cared about him.”
Her gaze was so insightful, I couldn’t lie. And I didn’t want to. She was the one person who wouldn’t just me for this truth. Miserably, I nodded. “I did.”
“Then what happened?”
I made no conscious decision to do it, but over the next ten minutes, the entire story came pouring out of me. Amelia’s eyes softened, then narrowed, then widened and softened all over again.
Based on how many times she muttered “stupid bastard” and “asshole” under her breath, I had a feeling when Derrick did finally talk to Amelia, he wasn’t going to enjoy it.
When I was finished, she sighed and leaned back, releasing my hands but still watching me with warm, compassionate eyes. Her voice was soft as she asked, “You still care about my brother, don’t you?”
I clenched my jaw and shook my head. “No.”
Her smile made me think that she could see the truth, that she knew I was struggling to figure out what my feelings were now. She didn’t push through.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “This is a mess.”
“You don’t need to apologize,” I said, tucking my hands in my lap and looking away. I wasn’t comfortable talking about my feelings, not with anybody, but especially not Amelia.
It sucked to realize that I hadn’t just fucked up my relationship with Derrick, but with Amelia too. If I’d gone through with the wedding and the eventual divorce, I had no doubt that she and I would’ve stayed friends. The fact that she was here now gave me hope, but who knew how things would change once she heard Derrick’s side of the story.
“What are you going to do to fix my brother’s idiotic decision?”
The somber question had me looking at her. Perplexed, I asked, “What do you mean,fix? I can’t do shit tofixthings. I’ll start looking for another job. Help my parents find another place for their store…hell if I know how I can help Jami or Bristol.”
Amelia gave me a long, considering look. “If you could do anything in the world for work, what would it be?”
Confused, I studied her. “What?”
“What would you do if you could choose any job in the world?” she asked.
I felt like I was missing something. “Why are you asking?”
Her face took on a serious cast and she leaned forward. “You do realize that my brother isn’t the only one in the family who has money, right?”
My heart fluttered even as I met her eyes. “What do you mean?”
Amelia smiled. “Let’s get some coffee andreallytalk.”
THIRTY-THREE