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“I’m hungry too.” She laughed.
Probably not in the same way he was.
Over breakfast, Brodie asked her about Cal Poly and told her Naughton had gone there.
“Kade mentioned that a couple of times. I knew him, but not really, you know what I mean?”
“I do.”
“Where did you go to school?” she asked. “I’m sure Kade told me at some point, but I don’t remember.”
“Davis, like Mad did. I started out in enology, but my heart isn’t in wine-making the way his is. I’ve worked on the business side of wine in Napa for a few years.”
“For a while, I thought I’d work up there too, but I’m more comfortable sticking around home.”
Now that Kade was gone, Brodie did too, not that it made any sense.
“I dated my husband all through college, and once we graduated, he was anxious to get married. It seemed as though I graduated, got married, and had kids before I even figured out what I wanted to do with my life. It all felt too fast, which it obviously was, since it didn’t work out.”
He remembered his brother saying the guy was a douche. Or maybe he’d just thought it, listening to him. “Naughton might have known him.”
“I doubt they were friends. Lang would’ve been too…uh…much for Naughton.”
Brodie laughed. “You got that right. I’m too much for him. I think everyone is.”
“I don’t know him or anyone else in your family very well. Kade and I had so little time together that, when we did, we wanted it to be us and the boys. Not anyone else. Selfish, I guess.”
“Not selfish. In love. You probably would’ve spent more time with us after you were married.”
Peyton’s forehead scrunched, and she turned her head away.
“Sorry, does it make you uncomfortable to speak about him?”
“No, I like having someone to talk to who knew him. Does it bother you?” she asked.
“I feel the same way you do. I can talk to my family about him, but you knew him in a different way than we did. I wish we could’ve seen more of that side of him.”
“See? Selfish.”
Brodie reached across the table and rested his hand on hers. “No, Peyton, not selfish. No one thinks that. No one would ever think that. Everyone understands. It took Kade a long time to find someone he wanted to be with as much as he wanted to be with you. We were happy for him.”
“I loved him.”
It made no sense that those three words felt like a knife in his heart. He’d change the subject, but she’d just told him she liked having someone to talk to who knew him.
“How about you, Brodie? Am I keeping you from something you’re supposed to be doing today?”
“Nope. Like you, I have nothing on my schedule. I don’t even have to pick anyone up after basketball practice.” He glanced at his watch. It was only noon, which meant she wouldn’t have to return to Cambria for another four hours. “So, what would you like to do now?”
“Feel like driving some more?”
“If you’re asking me if I want to drive your car again, baby, I could do that all day and night.”
PEYTON
Peyton felt heat spread from her neck up to her cheeks. Even her forehead felt as though it was on fire. Brodie hadn’t meant it the way she heard it, of course, but damn, she couldn’t get the image of him driving her all day and night.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.
