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West wasn’t someone to do that without contacting him first, but he’d been kept out of it.
“He did,” his mother said. “It’s about time. And don’t be pissed he did it without telling you. He’s still the boss and he’s your brother. It’s the right thing to do.”
“I know,” he said. “I was told that too this morning.”
“Did West know you and Lily fought last night or did he find out this morning?”
“This morning,” he said. “I told him after he said Thomas was terminated.”
He was positive Thomas was getting one nice settlement to keep his mouth shut.
“Then he did it for you and Lily.”
“Yeah,” he said. Thinking back, he didn’t expect any differently.
“He didn’t promote you though, did he?” his mother asked. There was humor in her voice.
“It didn’t appear to be the time to ask what was going on. I’m more concerned about figuring out what to do with Lily than my job.”
“Good for you,” his mother said. He could almost see her nodding her head in his mind.
“I guess,” he said.
“Braylon, stop being so stubborn. Go back and apologize.”
“I’m trying to figure out what I could have done differently,” he said. “I didn’t sleep last night. I wanted to know the truth. I wanted to hear it from her. I couldn’t hear it from her if she didn’t tell me or I didn’t bring it up.”
“Then you say that to her,” his mother said.
“I’m not sure she’s going to talk to me,” he said.
“I’m sure she will,” his mother said. “You told her it wasn’t you that looked into her, correct?”
“I did,” he said. But he realized he hadn’t said who it was and didn’t want her to think it was West either.
“You didn’t do anything wrong other than jump to conclusions. Did you tell her that you didn’t think she was using you?”
“Of course I did,” he said. “I told her I wanted to know why she never told me.”
“Maybe you should have said you were hurt she didn’t trust you enough. That you’d be the last to judge. That you would have wanted to know to protect her. My guess is none of those words came out of your mouth.”His mother was laughing.
“I didn’t have a chance to. She told me to leave.”
“I used to kick your father out of the room when we were fighting too.”
This was news to him. “Why?”
“Sometimes you just need to have some time and peace to gather your thoughts. Then when I was calm enough we’d talk it through.”
“It’s not like we live together,” he said. “For all I know she could never want to see me again.”
“I doubt that,” he said. “You might have to make the first move again. Just like you did in the coffee shop. You rescued her once, you can do it again. Rescue her from herself and her demons just like you’ve got your own.”
“What demons do I have?” he asked.
“Never feeling like you’re good enough or measure up,” his mother said. “You’ve been like this your whole life. Big brother was always one step ahead of you. West doesn’t think of you two that way.”
“I know,” he said. It’d taken him a long time to realize that.
