Part 4 (2/2)
She and Archer exchange glances before Kelsey shrugs.
”Okay,” she says. ”We had to meet with the Explorer Channel producers about the upcoming season. Contract details and stuff. Did you bring me my panettone?”
”Yeah, it's at home.” I glance from her to Archer, aware of the lingering tension. ”Guess I'm interrupting something.”
”No.” Kelsey rolls her shoulders back and fidgets with her cuffs. ”You're not. I was just leaving.”
Archer's gaze follows her as she heads out the door. Something is off, but I'm not about to try and figure out what it is.
I lower myself into a chair without comment. While I know well that dealing with Kelsey can be a challenge, I've learned to stay the h.e.l.l out of her and Archer's relations.h.i.+p.
The air crackles with faint awkwardness. My relations.h.i.+p with my brother is no longer overtly hostile, but we haven't entirely figured out how to get past years of estrangement and anger.
I give Archer full credit, though-after meeting Kelsey, he settled in Mirror Lake and completely turned his life around. He opened the garage two months ago, after a year of searching for a place and working out a business plan. For years, it seemed as if Archer would never even hold a job, let alone own his own business, and he proved all our doubts wrong.
”So what's going on?” Archer asks.
I hand him the folder I'm carrying. ”That's the details of your investments. I made some recommendations you can look over. Good rates on some newer gold-star funds.”
”Thanks.” He glances through the papers.
”Looks like you're starting to pull in some customers,” I say, nodding toward the window.
”I put out a few ads and got some word-of-mouth.” Archer puts the investment papers into the filing cabinet. ”Hey, I haven't seen Nicholas since I got back. He's in daycare today?”
”No, he's at home with Liv for the afternoon.”
”Maybe I'll text her, see if I can stop by.” He reaches for his phone. ”I might have a lead on a truck for her.”
”A truck?”
”Yeah, for the party thing she and Allie want to do.”
”What party thing?”
”The thing.” Archer works the b.u.t.tons on his phone. ”You know.”
”I don't know.”
Archer sets the phone aside. ”Liv and Allie are trying to get a loan to buy a used truck for the cafe. I guess they want to be able to go to kids' houses for birthday parties or whatever. I said I'd help them find something that'd work. She didn't tell you?”
I shake my head. ”First I've heard of it.”
Apparently there's a lot going on in Liv's life that I don't know about. Or at least, that I'm the last to know. I don't like the idea that I'm out of the loop when it comes to my wife.
As I leave Archer's office, I suppress the urge to call Liv and tell her I'll donate a truck to the cafe. She still doesn't like it when I offer to give her something that she wants to work for-and while I love her drive and know where it comes from, it's still frustrating when she doesn't want my help. Or when she wants it only on her terms.
I leave the garage and cross the street. Kelsey's car is parked at the curb, partly hidden behind a row of trees. She's in the driver's seat, her forehead resting against the steering wheel.
Concerned, I walk to the car and knock on the driver's side window. Kelsey looks up and rolls down the window. Her eyes are glistening with a faint sheen of tears.
I pull a clean handkerchief out of my pocket and hand it to her.
”Thanks.” She blows her nose and gives a humorless laugh. ”Don't tell anyone you caught me being girly.”
”It's in the vault.” I pause, knowing she won't want me to probe too much. ”What's going on?”
”Your brother is a G.o.dd.a.m.ned stubborn a.s.s.”
”You say that like it's a bad thing.”
”He wants to get married.”
”To you?”
Kelsey glowers at me. ”Of course to me.”
”The b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You want me to beat him up?”
”Maybe.” Kelsey groans and rests her forehead on the steering wheel again. ”I don't get it, Dean. Everything has been perfect, you know? We live together, we have an amazing time storm-chasing, we f.u.c.k like rabbits whenever and wherever we want-”
”I get the point.”
”I'm just saying, it's all good. Why does he want to screw it up by getting married?”
”Kels, I'm guessing he wants to get married because it's all good.”
”Well, I told him I don't need to get married,” she replies. ”When we were in LA, he wanted to go to Vegas and do it, then he got p.i.s.sed when I refused. He doesn't know how to take no for an answer.”
”Why aren't you saying yes?” I ask.
”Dean, I'm thirty-eight,” Kelsey says curtly. ”I've never been married, and I see no reason to get married. It's not like Archer and I are going to settle down and have kids. Why can't things just stay the same?”
”If things stayed the same, you might never have met Archer.”
She shoots me a glare, like that's exactly what she didn't want to hear.
”Hey, you want to go for a run tonight?” I ask to change the subject. ”Or racquetball?”
Kelsey studies me. ”How often do you hang out with your guy friends, Dean?”
”Huh?”
”I mean, you play football and stuff with them, right?”
”Yeah, sure.”
<script>