“I guess.”
Noah pushed his plate away and she grimaced. Damn, he must really mean business.
“What did he do?”
“Noah—”
“April, so help me, if he laid a finger on you—”
“What? No! Nothing like that. He … He just—”
“He what?” Noah’s eyes were hard, flinty, his jaw muscle ticking dangerously. It was an expression she’d seen many times growing up, usually when some guy had broken her heart … or when she’d screwed up. “Hewhat, April?”
“I walked in on him with his secretary.” There. She’d said it. It was officially out there in the world andrealand so ridiculously clichéd it was tragic.
Her mom gasped and Noah pressed a hand to his closed eyes, screwing them shut like he was attempting to count to ten mentally.
“I’m going to kill him,” he muttered and April rolled her eyes.
“Get in line.”
Noah shook his head. “I’m sorry, Bug. He’s a dick. You say the word, and me and Luke will pay him a visit.”
Despite the melodrama of the statement, her brother’s supportdidmake her feel a teensy bit better. “It’s fine.” Her nose wrinkled. “I still can’t believe you’ve stayed friends with Luke.”
Apparently recognizing the words as the distraction she’d intended them to be, her mom shook herhead. “It’snotfine.” Kathy leaned across the table and April was shocked to see tears in her mom’s eyes. Two points of pink flushed in her cheeks and her breathing was rapid as she cupped April’s face. “You can stay here for as long you need, honey. You don’t go back there unless you’re sure it’s what you want. OK? Your brother can collect your things.”
Noah nodded. “Whatever you need.”
April looked away, knowing if she looked at them for any longer she’d end up bawling all over again. She’d promised herself last night that she’d shed all her tears for Tyler, for the future they’d been building, and she wasn’t going to break that promise on day one.
“Thank you,” she rasped, and only looked back up once the clinking of cutlery on plates resumed.
Quiet settled over them for a while as they finished eating. Once their plates were empty, their mom started clearing the table, and April was going to stand so she could help out, until Noah cleared his throat.
“There was actually something else that I wanted to talk to you about, Bug.” The softness in his tone immediately made April nervous, as she knew it meant Noah was about to bring up their dad. Noah’s stare was piercing and April shrunk back, feeling like he could see right to the cowardly heart of her, to the little girl who just wanted to bury her head under the covers and forget any of this was happening. “I know things are a bit all over the place for you at the moment, but we need to figure out what we’re going to do with The Last Call.”
She swallowed hard, the lump in her throat making it difficult. “Sure. Yeah. Sounds … good.” The bar had been her dad’s baby, along with a dozen other projects because he’d always been restless. It had been struggling before he’d died and had closed altogether when he’d passed, like the place had gone with him. But he’d left the vacant space to her and Noah, and she’d known that sooner or later they’d have to figure out what to do with it. Yet the thought of even returning, of remembering all the time they’d spent there with their dad, was causing April’s eyes to burn, a sharp pain aching in her chest. She looked down at her plate, willing away the tears that were threatening to spill.
“I don’t know if I want to reopen the bar, Noah,” she said haltingly, fighting to keep her voice level. “I think it might be too hard.”
Noah sighed, reaching across and placing a hand over April’s. “I know, Bug, and I’m not saying we have to figure it out right now. But Luke’s been on at me to sell his firm the plot—”
April’s head snapped up at the mention of Luke’s name. “Pointer wants to buy it? To do what, exactly?” Her voice was stronger now, anger searing away her sadness, replacing it with something hard and inflexible. “There’s no way in hell we’re selling the bar to that …” She cast around for the word strong enough to describe Luke, with his arrogant swagger and cocky attitude. “That cockroach.”
Noah, to April’s great surprise, looked like he washolding back a laugh. “I’m not saying we should sell to Luke. In fact, I knew that you wouldn’t want to. That’s why I’ve been fending him off for the last four months until I’d had a chance to talk it through with you.”
“Oh.” April was surprised at how considerate this was of her brother, and it stopped her in her tracks. Her anger melted away as quickly as it had risen up inside of her, leaving nothing but the aching pain in her chest once more. “Well, OK, then. Let me think about it for a little bit? I don’t really want to rush into any more huge, life-changing decisions right now.”
“Yeah, the hair’s enough, huh?” Noah grinned and the smile faded into something softer when she rolled her eyes. “Sure thing, Bug.”
CHAPTER FOUR
“Up! Get up!”
April groaned as the covers were yanked unceremoniously off of her. Bright light flooded the room as the curtains were shoved back, and when she managed to focus her eyes she grimaced at the sight of her mother standing at the foot of her bed.
“Mom? What the hell?”