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Claire
Once we arrive at the bar in Frisco, I begin to feel glad that I gave in and came. These four are so welcoming and inclusive that I should always know that they’ll have my best interests at heart. I grew up with Dalton as my only likable relative, and Caleb has been the second brother I never had. Both of those men are protective and caring, and the women they’ve decided to make theirs are just as good of company, if not more. In Lauren and Aubrey, I have real, honest-to-goodness, actual friends for the first time.
Still, being here with two couples reiterates the fact I’m a fifth wheel. I’m a single with their pairs. I don’t fit in. Watching them together makes my heart sink just that little bit more. I fall back into the pit of missing Sawyer and wishing for something more with him. I envision him here, smiling and holding my hand as we complete the night as a third couple.
But he’s not here. Other than stopping in my cabin to scare the crap out of me, just walking inside to pick something up, I haven’t seen him or heard a peep from him. No calls or texts. No plans to work on the cabin. It was so weird, knowing he saw me like a mess as I worked on framing the dress, but he hadn’t shown any sign of being bothered by my appearance.
Sawyer has fallen off the face of the Earth as far as I’m concerned, so when Aubrey introduces me to a man who resembles the cocky contractor I can’t stop thinking about, I’m intrigued.
“Claire, this is Kevin, Sawyer’s brother.” Aubrey beams at the man as he approaches. He seems to have had the same idea as us, to grab a drink at this bar connected to the hotel Lauren and Caleb flipped last summer.
“We both teach at the same school,” she says. “Kevin, this is Claire, Dalton’s cousin.”
“Nice to meet you,” I tell him after he says the same and takes the seat next to me. “Younger brother?” I guess.
He nods. “Yeah. Jason’s the oldest.” A wry smile hits his lips. “Obviously. Then Sawyer and me.”
“I’ve met Jason at the Goldfinch.” And I’ve heard about Kevin. Sawyer mentioned him previously, but he never put many details into their relationship. Honestly, I forgot about him, and I can’t help but wonder if Sawyer intended that. If this relationship isn’t a fond one.
“Jason’s been up that mountainside more than ever,” Kevin says as his drink is delivered.
I nurse my cocktail, not very interested in seeing it disappear too soon. “Because of Marian?”
He chuckles, and I notice how different it is from Sawyer’s. Sawyer’s voice is deeper, sexier, no matter if he’s joking, whispering, or laughing. Kevin is much more proper, more like a man my mother might approve of. Not crude and laid-back enough to let loose like Sawyer.
“Jason and Marian are a good fit. I wonder when they’ll both give in and just admit he’s going to move in there to be with her. He’s got to be getting tired of pretending to be needed or wanted there for projects that need to be done.”
“Maybe it’s like a slow build-up.”
“Maybe,” he agrees. “And with how long Marian’s been alone after her husband passed away, it makes sense that she would be slow and cautious to officially announce anything with anyone.”
I smile, loving how everyone not only knows the older, smart woman running the B&B but also how they admire and look up to her. It’s something I sure lack practice with. The only maternal figure in my life, my mother, has never encouraged admiration from me.
“It would be good for Jason to settle down. He’s always been a bachelor, and now that he’s retired and has given Sawyer his half of Dad’s company, he’ll have plenty of time to finally spend it with someone.”
His comment seems multilayered, and I’m not sure what to pick at first. “Jason and Sawyer run your dad’s company?”
“Sawyer does. When Dad passed away, he gave it to both of them.”
I raise my brows. “Nothing to you?” That sounds like fodder for resentment.
“No. I got some money. I’ve never been interested in construction, not like those two are. Jason grew up with it, so it’s natural that he would follow in Dad’s footsteps. After Jason’s mom passed and Dad remarried, Sawyer came along and fell right in with the business.”
“You didn’t?”
He shrugs. “Like I said, I was never interested. I was already halfway through getting my education degree when he passed away. My calling has been to teach, not bang a hammer around outside all day.”
I frown at my drink. There’s resentment, all right. Sawyer is a hardworking man in a manual-labor field of careers, but even I know he doesn’t just ‘bang a hammer around all day.’ He’s smart, analytical, and probably one of those super wise math geeks who can master chess and just see how dimensions line up. I’ve never been good at math, much stronger in the creative department, but it saddens me that his own brother would be so quick to belittle him.
More so, it’s depressing to realize even closer-knit families with siblings can still be as dysfunctional as the relationship between me and my mother.
Kevin shrugs again, almost as though he wishes he could get the topic of his brother off his shoulders and out of his mind. “Sawyer and I have never been close.”
“That’s understandable. You have different interests. Dalton and Caleb are the closest things I’ve had to a brother, and I know they will never relate to my career or even understand it.”
“What do you do?” he asks, looking me up and down.
I almost want to bristle at his tone. Was he implying he’s surprised that I do anything? That I look like a spoiled woman who never works? I feel like he’s judging me just like that.
