“Hey, Braxton,” she answered.
“Hey, Sophie. Are you busy?”
His rich tone flooded the line. Of all the Monroe boys, Braxton was the peacemaker, the comforter, the “brainy” one. Braxton and Liam had always been like brothers to Sophie. They’d always treated her as family, and their friendship ran deeper than any bond she’d ever had with her own family.
Then there was Zach. Regardless of the anger she held toward him, there was always some nugget of attraction. After all this time, she figured it was just something she’d have to live with.
And her anger didn’t stem from the accident. Her years of rage stemmed from him blocking out those who cared for him, those who needed to get through the emotional mess with him. Did he even wonder how she was doing, after all that happened? Did he even care that she’d cried and cursed and broken things when he wouldn’t see her?
Gripping the phone, she focused on Braxton and pushed his frustrating brother to the back of her mind.
“Just digging into a dinner of chocolate-chunk ice cream.” She made her way back to the couch. “I’m good at multitasking, though.”
“I cannot figure out how you live on junk and don’t weigh—”
“I’d watch what I said about a woman’s weight,” she warned with a laugh. “I assume you didn’t call to discuss my pounds or my warped version of dinner.”
“Yeah.” Braxton’s sigh came through loud and clear. “I wanted to apologize for everything earlier. I know you’re just trying to help.”
Propping her feet on the low coffee table, Sophie settled deeper into the corner of her couch. “You may be the most considerate man I know. I put you in an awkward position and you’re calling to apologize to me?”
“You were just giving us all the information so we could do what we wanted,” he told her. “I actually appreciate that you didn’t dance around whatever I would be feeling. It’s Zach and Liam’s behavior that I’m apologizing for, though.”
“I know what I’m getting into with you guys. Liam already texted me and said he was sorry.”
“And Zach?”
Sophie laughed. “I think you know the answer to that.”
Even though she hadn’t expected anything from Zach, his dismissal of her still stung. Did he honestly think he was the only one grieving? Not just Chelsea but years of emotions he held on to were surely going to break him at some point.
Not her problem. She’d moved on.
“I’ve backed out of playing the middleman with those two,” Braxton went on. “They’ll have to actually discuss this if they want to come to an agreement.”
Sophie cringed. “Without you between them as referee, how will they have a conversation without shouting and one of them storming off?”
“They’re adults. They’ll figure it out.”
“As long as I can tell Martin something by next week, that’s fine.”
“You’ll have an answer,” he promised. “One way or another. I need to get to class, so I’ll talk to you later. Just wanted to apologize for my asshole brother.”
“Can I ask what you’re leaning toward?” Silence answered her question, followed by a sigh. “It’s okay. Just think about it. I’m not judging you guys either way. I know this is hard for everybody.”
“Yeah, it is. That still doesn’t give my brothers the right to go at it in your office. It also doesn’t give Zach the right to be a jerk just because he can’t get a grip on his emotions.”
Sophie dropped her spoon into the carton and set it on the table. “No worries. The animosity with Zach isn’t new.”
“Soph—”
“No.” She came to her feet, sending Flynn to the floor. “It’s fine. I mean, it’s not fine, but it is what it is. Zach has problems he needs to work out on his own. Apparently he’s perfectly content to live inside that shell.”
“I wish someone would knock some sense into him,” Braxton muttered. “I’ll call you in a couple days. Gotta run.”
Placing her cell on the arm of the couch, Sophie couldn’t help but wonder what it would take to get Zach to see that life hadn’t ended that night. Yes, mistakes were made, lives were altered. Why did he feel it was okay to hate the world, to push away those who only wanted to help him?
She had hoped the one silver lining to come from Chelsea’s death would be Zach waking up and seeing that life was fleeting and he still had people here who cared what happened to him.