"This is true." I picked up my beer and took a long swig of it. "Oh man...I found out what was up between my Dad and Chloe's Dad."
"What? Tell me."
"They grew up together, like you and I did, and then in college I guess Jonathan fell in love with some girl, and my Dad stole her right beneath his nose." I shook my head, not being able to fathom something so horrible happening between me and Brian.
"Damn. That's awful. I don't know what I would do if you did that shit to me." Brian sat back, sipping at his beer and looking around.
"So her Dad totally got the girl drunk, and slept with her in a place he knew my Dad would find them." I sat my beer down, deciding that I'd leave the fact that it was my mother off the table. That was too personal to share.
Brian almost spit his beer, but caught himself. "Are you shitting me?"
"No. Crazy. It's been thirty years and they are still at each other's throats over it."
"I imagine so." He picked up his menu. "Do you think they'll ever fix it?"
"You know, I don't know. My Dad was pretty torn up about it when he told me the other day, which means he still cares for Chloe's Dad. I think between her and I, we can get my Dad hooked up with Milly, and help him work through this stuff with Jonathan. He mentioned something about talking to her Dad to clear things up for me and her, but I told him no thanks. I need to work on that relationship myself."
We paused to order our burgers, but the minute the waitress left, my big sister, Brian showed back up.
"Hey look, I know this is absolutely none of my business, but what are you going to do when Chloe goes back to Cali? Long distance relationship suck for people who are mildly sexually active. You are like what we would call extremely sexually active. How is that going to work out, exactly?" He lifted his hands as I gave him a stare. "I'm just concerned and wanted to make sure you really thought through this. That's all."
"First of all, you're right. It's none of your business, but since I know it's bothering the hell out of you, I'll explain my thoughts on it."
Brian lifted his beer toward me. "You're a good man."
I rolled my eyes. "If she goes back, which I don't think she will, then I have two choices. I can stay here and we keep in touch, visiting when we can and spending a lot of time on Skype and the phone, or I go with her."
"Go with her? Are you insane?" Brian sat up and hit the table with his knees.
"Lower your voice. Everyone's going to be in our business, and I don't doubt that there are several girl's in here that wish they would have gotten my number."
He glanced around and lowered his voice. "Right. Are you insane? You can't leave here. Your Dad's here. You love it here. Fuck...I'm here."
I laughed, and sat back in my chair. "I don't know what's going to happen, Brian, but if she wants to be physically together, and is willing to try things out, then we have to live in L.A. or here. That's going to be up to her."
"You are a snow-shoveler. What are you going to do in California?"
I leaned forward and pressed my hands to the table. "Go back to school and get a degree? I shovel snow because my old man needs help, and I'm his only son. I have other talents."
"I know dude. I didn't mean it like that." He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I just don't like it. I mean like, at all."
"I know you don't, but I really think she's the one. We'll find out as we get closer to the time she's supposed to leave, but her dreams are out there, Brian. She wants to design a line of clothing for people in warm weather."
"And you want to build a lodge for families who like to ski. That's here. You can't do that out there." He shook his head and sighed heavily again.
"I know, and for the first time in my life, I'm alright with that. I'm in love with her. Giving up my dreams to see hers come to fruition is okay with me. I want to give that to her. To support her fully."
"You're fucking crazy. This right here is why I don't date."
I laughed. "You don't date because you're scared to talk to girls."
He tipped his beer toward me and smiled. "And that right there is the second reason."
Chapter 29
Chloe
It was incredibly hard to leave Finn the night before when all I wanted to do was curl up next to him. It took most of the night to calm my racing heart, but after a glass of wine and a movie with my brother, I was finally ready to crash. Having to respect him and Brian's relationship wouldn't have even been on my radar a few days back, but after seeing the hurt in my Dad's face over him and Clark, it was something to be concerned about now.
I woke on Saturday morning to my phone ringing on my night stand. I yawned loudly, and reached for it, too cozy to be in a bad mood.
"Hello?"
"Hey, baby. Where are you?" Finn sounded as if he'd been up for the last two hours.
I rolled over and looked at the clock, surprised to find it was ten already.
"I'm still in bed. I guess I stayed up later than I thought." I yawned again and sat up.
"Well, get your fine ass dressed, and get over here. Oh, and pack a bag. I want you in my arms tonight. I'm twenty-seven. I don't like guy's night. I want my woman with me." He growled.
"Mmm...I like the sound of that." I moaned into the phone playfully.
"If you plan on us doing anything today besides making love, you need to tread carefully. I've had you once, which was a teaser that's left me a grumpy ass bear."
"You shouldn't have thrown yourself down the side of that mountain, and we could have fucked twenty times already."
"I hate me right now."
I laughed at how cute he was. "Alright. I'm getting up and packing. Are we going out today?"
"Yes. I had Brian take me out last night for a little while, but I didn't find the jacket I want for my Dad. You mind helping me find it today? We can have dinner at this great restaurant downtown that overlooks a deep gorge and then back here. Sound good?" His voice sent goosebumps running down my arms and legs.
"Sounds great. I'll pick you up in an hour."
"Thirty-minutes."
"You're so bossy right now."
"You like it." He chuckled.
"Actually, I love it." I let him go, and got up, moving faster than I really wanted to, but the anticipation of seeing him drove me forward.
I moved through the kitchen and ruffled my brother's hair as he ate a donut and played on his phone.
"Where're you going?" He glanced around.
"To Finn's house. I'll be back tomorrow."
"You better. It's Christmas Eve. Dad would blow a gasket if you didn't." He extended another donut in the air. "Need food?"
"Yes. Thank you." I snagged it and held it in my teeth as I jogged to the door, pulling my bag over my shoulder as I went. "I'll be back tomorrow. Love you."
"Yep. All the girl's do."
I rolled my eyes, and walked into the garage to find my Dad's car already gone. He didn't work on Sunday's, so I had to assume he was out with a woman. Where we needed to get Clark to see Milly as a viable candidate for romance, I desperately needed to get my Dad to stop whoring around. He was a handsome guy with so much to offer. It made no sense that he would not only use women, like Finn did, but let them use him. There wasn't any good in living that kind of life.