Jamie let his head fall back and he sighed his exasperation into the sky. “I’m on a ride. Why the hell did you call me three times—four times—in a row?”
“I just wanted to talk.”
“Well, I’m busy.”
“Every time I call you you’re busy!”
Jamie paced to the edge of the cliff and back. When he didn’t acknowledge her complaint, Tessa pressed again.
“Can you come in today?”
“No. I’m busy.”
“Please, Jamie. I want to talk to you. And Eric wants to talk to you.”
Jamie took a deep breath. He paced to the edge a few more times, then sat down on a boulder that eased out even farther into the air.
They wanted to talk. A few days ago, he would’ve said no. He was done talking. He was done pleading for a chance.
But after his first days of outrage and fury had worn off, Jamie had felt a hundred different things. Determined, yes. And self-righteous. And scared. And hopeful. But at night, those feelings had slowly fallen away and revealed the one true emotion pulsing beneath it all. Grief. Grief for what he’d lost.
“Jamie?” his sister whispered. “Will you please come talk to us?”
He closed his eyes and listened to the silence around him. The peace. It sounded nothing like what was going on inside his head. “Tessa…I don’t want to talk anymore.”
“I mean, we really want to talk. Not argue. And not lecture.”
“Why?” he asked wearily.
“Because you’re a part of this place!” she yelled. “And we don’t want to do this without you.” Jamie heard Eric’s voice in the background before Tessa snapped, “Shut up. You’re on my shit list, Eric, so zip it.”
Jamie’s eyes popped open. Eric was never on Tessa’s shit list.
Tessa cleared her throat. “Please come in, Jamie.” Her voice was all sweet vulnerability again. “You’ve already quit, so what can it hurt?”
Crap. His pride told him not to go, but the truth was that he missed the place. He’d only been gone a few days, but the distance was there. He missed the brewery. He missed his place there. He missed his sister. For now he was leaving Eric out of it.
He’d tried to turn his mind to the future. This morning, he’d even gone to look at a few available properties, but it felt strange. It wasn’t the exhilarating passion he’d felt before. Jamie rolled his shoulders, trying to shake the feeling off, but even after fifteen miles on the trail, it was still there.
“Fine,” he bit out. “I’ll try to be there in an hour or so.”
“Thank you!” she gasped. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Or so,” he clarified, unwilling to leave an opening for Eric’s criticism. The phone clicked off. He got back on the bike and headed downhill. None of his worry had left, but at least he felt as if he was heading in the right direction.
Exactly one hour later, he stepped through the front door of the brewery. His timing was no accident. He hadn’t even bothered to dry his hair after the shower. He wasn’t going to give Eric the chance to aim that familiar look in Jamie’s direction.
“I’m here,” he said flatly as he stepped into Tessa’s office.
She jumped up from her chair and shooed him out. “Eric’s office.”
“Fine.” He stalked into his brother’s office and dropped into a chair. Eric looked exactly the same—stern. Jamie met his eyes and said nothing. If Eric wanted to talk, let him talk.
The door behind him closed with a snap, and Tessa dropped into the last chair. “Okay,” she said, taking his hand into her smaller one.
“Okay, what?” Jamie asked.
Her hand squeezed his, and for one heartbeat, everything was quiet inside him. Then Eric pushed something across the desk.