Page 13 of When We Were More (Aron Falls #1)

H enry

With the kids down for the night, I open a beer, unlock the front door for when my brothers arrive, and then collapse into the recliner by the fireplace.

I stare at the crackling red flames, rehashing this afternoon with Matilda.

I’m pissed at myself for losing control with her today and letting my desire for her consume me.

This is not my style. I don’t lose control. Ever. I can’t afford to. I’ve got my kids, my mom and siblings, our company, and employees depending on me. I have too many people to take care of to get sloppy.

But I’m not only mad at myself. I’m upset with Matilda, as well.

Why the woman would think any man is not attracted to her is beyond me.

It makes me crazy. I was close to kissing her before she started saying all that ridiculous stuff about herself, and we got into a fight.

Hell, I wanted to kiss her until all her self-doubts burned to ash.

Then I lost control a second time and said such a shitty thing to her. If I hadn’t seen the hurt flash in her eyes a split second before she pushed me away, I might’ve believed that I’d only pissed her off. But that’s not true, I hurt her, and I feel like a giant asshole.

It isn’t until movement in my peripheral vision catches my eye, and I glance over to see Harrison walking in my door, that I can get her off my mind.

“Grabbing a beer.” It’s all he says before disappearing into the kitchen. He’s back quickly and plops into the chair across from me with an exaggerated sigh. “I brought you another stack of documents to review.”

“Gee, thanks. More work from home,” I deadpan.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re suddenly spending so much time during the day at one job site instead of going through important documents for the multi-million-dollar company you co-own.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not my fault my tight ass younger brother is opposed to us hiring an assistant for him.” I take a long swig of my beer.

“Kiss my ass. You know it’s not about money,” he answers.

“Do I?” I hide a smirk behind my bottle.

“It’s a family business, man. You can’t be too careful who you trust.”

I chuckle. “You can’t deny we need help, Harrison. We can’t grow if we only ever hire family members. Hell, we’ll eventually run out of people.”

“We’ll see. Now, tell me why you’re spending all that time at that job site. The truth this time. Not that I don’t believe you enjoy the refinishing work, but you’re there way more than necessary if it’s just that.”

I hesitate, but I may need to talk to someone about this. I recognize that I’m acting out of the ordinary, and I’m not sure what the hell is wrong with me. Harrison and I are close. We always were, but when our dad died, we both had to grow up real fast. Mom and our younger brothers needed us.

I turn my head and stare into the flames. “I honestly don’t fucking know, man. I mean, the house is amazing. It’s a century farmhouse with a ton of cool features. I love seeing its transformation…”

“But?”

I turn to look at him. I think about pretending it’s nothing, but maybe he can explain why I can’t stay away from that house… that woman.

“The owner, she’s… She makes me kinda crazy.”

Harrison leans forward, his interest piqued. “Go on.”

“I don’t know. I met her when Lucy gave me a complaint to follow up on and?—”

“Is this the piss incident? The one we had to fire Lewis over?”

“Yup. Fucking Lewis. I’m still disgusted that I had to clean up his urine. Pig. Who pisses all over someone’s floor and leaves it there?”

Harrison laughs—a rare thing coming from him. Nowadays anyway. He wasn’t always stoic.

“Anyway, you were saying…”

“She makes me kind of nuts. She’s such a smart ass sometimes, but she’s also got something about her that tells me that’s not all there is to the story. The house belonged to her grandmother. She seems incredibly sad when she talks about her.”

He narrows his eyes and stares at me, but remains silent. Then he shakes his head. “You don’t see it? Seriously?”

“What are you talking about?”

Harrison leans back. “Do you think perhaps she reminds you of…” He stops and looks at the floor. “Maybe it reminds you of Mom’s situation.”

I don’t answer right away. Could he be right? Could that be all this is? Though it doesn’t explain the insane attraction. That I haven’t had sex in way too long might be partly to blame for that.

“She’s not that sad, Harrison. She gets out of bed and functions. Jesus, Mom… I can still remember what she was like as if it were yesterday. I’ll never forget it.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe you didn’t ask for help sooner. You shoulda, you know. It wasn’t fair for you to bear that all alone. I—” he pauses, gripping his beer in both hands and looking down at his feet, “I’m sorry I didn’t see it. Didn’t help sooner.”

“Harrison, look at me, man.” He hesitates but looks up after a few seconds.

“You were dealing with your own grief. It’s okay.

I had it. It was my job as the oldest. I’d do it again if it meant I could have shielded you and the others from some of it.

Plus, you had to make sure our dumbass brothers didn’t derail their lives.

Your handling of them enabled me to deal with Mom. ”

Before he can respond, Hayden and Holden come through the door.

“Party’s here!” Holden yells too loudly.

“Shh, the kids…” Hayden reminds him.

“Shit.” Holden looks at me. “Sorry, Henry. I promise I’ll get them back to sleep if I woke them.”

Over the next few minutes, my brothers grab drinks, and we sit and talk about Heath’s football stats.

“He’s playing on Thanksgiving again ?” I ask.

“Yup. But he’ll be home at Christmas this year, so that’ll make Mom happy,” Hayden adds.

“Speaking of Mom, what do you all think of her dating?” Harrison asks.

I sit back, instantly uncomfortable.

“As long as she’s happy,” Hayden offers.

“And safe… I mean with money. I don’t want to see someone take advantage of her.” Harrison’s face is red now. Holden sees the opportunity to razz him a bit.

“She should be safe , too. Right, Harrison? You meant that as well.”

Harrison tosses a throw pillow at him. “Don’t be gross. Mom doesn’t have sex.”

“Oh, okay,” Holden snorts.

Hayden pinches the bridge of his nose. “Can you two not do this tonight? Let’s keep it light. Okay?”

I narrow my gaze and study him for a few seconds. He looks drained. Dark circles under his eyes.

“You okay, Hayden?”

He looks over at me, then shoots Holden a quick glance. I notice Holden’s face is instantly serious, and he gives Hayden a subtle nod. When Hayden looks back at me and Harrison, his eyes are glossy, and the corners of his mouth have curved downward in a frown.

“Um, not great. But I’m okay. Charlie—” He clears his throat and stares down at the floor. “She wants to separate… not be married anymore.” No one speaks. Hayden’s been with Charlie since their freshman year of college.

“Is there any chance she’ll change her mind?” I ask.

Hayden looks up at me and shakes his head. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Holden watches him closely, and it must be a twin thing because he knows when to speak up instinctively.

“She’s moving to New York. Already has a job and an apartment lined up.” Holden’s voice is quiet, solemn.

Hayden clears his throat. “I didn’t plan to spring this on you at guy’s night, so let’s talk about something else. But I wanted to tell you both. I might be a little off for a while.”

“Do you need anything? Anything at all?” I ask.

Hayden shakes his head, then looks over at Harrison. “Well, actually, I was hoping you’d be my lawyer. Read over anything before I sign it.”

“Of course, man. Anything you need.” Harrison shoots me a quick glance. He represented me during my divorce and custody hearings with Jeana.

“I think we need the good whiskey.” I stand and walk to the liquor cabinet to retrieve it.

When we’ve all got a glass, we sit in silence for a while, sipping our drinks and getting lost in our thoughts.

“Henry, are you going to be in the office tomorrow? I have those drawings for the Michigan project that I want to go over with you. It’ll need to be early. After, I have to head to the city to meet with the city council about the variance on that restoration in the historic district.”

Hayden’s voice is steady. You wouldn’t know that a few minutes ago, he told us his marriage was ending. But if that’s what he needs to get through this, then we’ll do it.

“Um, I can be. What time?”

“What time? Isn’t a workaholic always at the office if you’re not here with the kids?” Holden’s tone is teasing and light.

Harrison snorts.

For fuck’s sake. Really?

Harrison throws up his hand, the one that isn’t holding his whiskey. “Sorry, that was an accident.”

“What’s going on?” Hayden asks.

“Nothing. There’s nothing going on.” I take a swig of my whiskey.

“I call bullshit,” Holden says.

I huff. “There’s nothing going on. Harrison’s giving me shit for spending too much time at a renovation site I’m doing the refinishing for.”

“You’re doing the refinishing yourself? Why?” It’s Hayden this time.

“Yes. It’s an old century farmhouse. The kitchen’s the first part under renovation. Original trim and cabinets. I didn’t want someone else to screw them up.”

I risk a glance over where Hayden and Holden sit, and Holden’s eyes narrow. Then a huge smile breaks out across his face.

“The one on Magnolia? With the gorgeous brunette… What was her name again?” Holden’s eyes light up now.

“Yes, that’s the one. And never mind what her name is.” There’s an edge to my voice that I don’t mean to let them hear.

“Ooh, you think she’s pretty , too. Don’t you?” Holden teases.

“Grow up, Holden. It’s a job.”

“Are you saying you don’t think she’s pretty? Then tell me her name, brother.” Holden’s like a dog with a bone when he wants something.

“Yes, of course she’s pretty. You don’t need her name. She’s a client, Holden, you can’t screw around with her.”

You did.

Holden pulls his phone from his pocket. “Fine. I’ll check my phone for her name since I have her number. She liked me, if I remember correctly.”

He’s my brother, and I love him, but I want to kick his ass right now. He’s swiping through his phone, and I can tell the moment he gets to her number by the grin on his face. That’s when I dive for his phone, and once it’s in my hands, I glance down and see a text from my brother to Tillie.

Hey, beautiful, this is Holden, the owner of Aron Family Builders & Restoration. Use this number anytime… for anything.

Hot woman on Magnolia (Tillie):

“Seriously? You called a client beautiful ? Could you be any more inappropriate?” I delete the exchange and then swipe to his contacts and delete her there as well. “There, problem solved. Now you don’t have her number.”

Holden grins and shrugs. “I know where she lives. I can pop in to check on the progress.”

“Stay away from her, Holden. She’s not a conquest.” Why the hell am I worked up about this?

Holden starts chuckling. “I’ll stay away. Was just trying to push your buttons. And it worked.”

“Kiss my?—”

“Uncle Harry!” Layla’s voice is sleepy but excited. Before anyone can respond, Harrison’s arms are wide open, and Layla’s crawling into his lap.

“Hey, sweetie. Why are you up?” Layla brings out a tenderness in Harrison like no one else can.

“Uncle Holden was being loud and woke me up.” Layla’s head rests on Harrison’s chest, and he places a tender kiss on the top of it while he gently brushes his hand down her hair.

He shoots his eyes over to Holden. “Bad Uncle Holden,” Harrison jests.

“He’s not bad, he’s loud, Uncle Harry.”

“Ladybug, it’s time for you to go back to bed.” My daughter releases a soft whine, and Harrison chuckles.

“I’ll put you back to bed, sweetheart.” Harrison rises from his seat and walks over to me, dipping down so I can kiss my baby goodnight.

“Goodnight, Layla. I love you,” Hayden says when it’s his turn.

When she gets to Holden, he rises. “I’m sorry I woke you up, ladybug. Do you want me to put you to bed instead of Uncle Harrison? Since I’m your favorite?” He kisses her forehead.

Layla’s hold on Harrison tightens.

“I love you, too, Uncle Holden. But Uncle Harry is my first favorite. I want him to tuck me in.”

When Harrison goes to tuck Layla back into bed, Holden frowns. “I seriously can’t believe I’m not her favorite. Harrison is grumpy. I’m the fun-loving uncle.”

Hayden laughs for the first time tonight. “Goes to show you that you’re not everyone’s cup of tea. Our ladybug is one smart cookie.”

They joke back and forth for a minute, and I get lost in the thought that I hope Holden isn’t Tillie’s ‘cup of tea.’ What does that hope I’m holding onto mean, though? That’s something I’m not ready to dive into yet.