Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m tired.”

I set the tray down and handed him one of the teas. A part of me wanted to be sympathetic, but the girl who was still reeling over my broken heart wanted to be a bitch. It was an internal battle, and I wasn’t honestly sure who would win. Oh hell, I knew who would win so I let her come out to play.

Bitch, it was.

“Right, I heard something about your travel problems from your momma. Something about a lost passport or some nonsense. For as much as y’all travel, I was surprised that you’d misplace a passport.” That’s right. I had put stress on those words, to get my point across.

Lucas shot me a dirty look, and I smiled politely in reply. Okay, it was a cheap shot with a bit of jealous on the side, but what the hell.

“So. What do we do? How do we resolve this problem?” I asked, taking a seat, then picking up my tea.

Lucas sat back in the chair and rubbed his neck. “What did your letter say?”

“What did your letter say?” I asked with a smug grin.

“I asked you first.”

“Well, I’m the one who showed up to the house first, so I win.”

He leaned forward, a pinched expression on his face. “You win?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I win.”

“What the fuck is the game we’re playing, Paige? Where someone wins and someone loses?”

“The who-got-to-the-house-first game, Lucas. That counts for something. I care more about this house than you do.”

He scoffed. “What makes you think that?”

“If I sell my portion to you, are you moving in?”

“No, don’t be ridiculous. I’m selling it.”

I nearly choked on my own tongue. “Selling it?”

“Yes. Selling it. I’ve already got an idea of what to do with it.”

My voice was gone. Lost. I couldn’t have made a sound if I had wanted to, and believe me, I wanted to.

After a few moments, my mouth moved, and words finally came out. “Lucas, why in the world would you want to sell this house to anyone other than me? To someone who wouldn’t cherish this place and would only see it as a moneymaker?”

I saw the conflict in his eyes. There was no way he would sell, or would he?

“Because, Paige. There is nothing here for me.”

“The memories. All the amazing times we had in this house. You had in this house. This house meant something to your grandfather, Lucas.”

For a moment, he looked like he was going to smile. “None of that matters anymore. Granddad isn’t here, and the dreams I once had for this house died a long time ago, so I have nothing of interest here anymore.”

I looked down at my tea. Once upon a time, Lucas had said we would get married here. Raise a family in this house. Make it our home. Then Lucas changed his mind about how he felt about me—and used my choice of college as an excuse to break up. It still made me feel sick to my stomach.

Before I could stop the words, I whispered, “I didn’t want to lose that dream either, Lucas. I was simply asking you to put it on hold. You walked away from it.”

He stared at me for the longest time. Both of us realizing we shared the same loss. His eyes looked as if he wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth, the moment was gone.

“Bianca doesn’t like the country. Even if I kept my half of this place, I’d never be here.”

“Thank, God,” I mumbled. Okay, the inner bitch was back. The idea of that woman sharing a house with me made me want to gag.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I shrugged. “Rumor has it she’s a screamer. And sound carries in the country. Might be awkward with me living here. Don’t you think?”

“You can’t live here, Paige. You live in Austin. You work in Austin. Are you really going to make that drive every day?”

I took a slow, deep breath and exhaled just as slowly. I could tell he was waiting for my response.

“First off, Lucas. I can do whatever the fuck I want to do.”

“Nice language.”

“Thanks. Second, dickhead, if it’s any of your business. I quit my job and moved into the house this morning.”

He coughed and hit his chest. “Wait, you did what?”

“Which part of that are you asking me about? The job or the house?”

He grunted. “You quit your job and moved into the house already?”

“Yes. And yes.” I took another sip of tea and watched as his face grew redder by the second.

“You moved in. To the house. This is still my house.”

“Half of it is, and half is mine. I left you the main master downstairs that was William’s room. I took the guest room with the bathroom upstairs. I always did like being on top.”