“Yeah, I know.” Lucas ran a hand through his hair. “I’m mostly mad at myself for blowing it, though Beth tells me there was nothing to blow in the long run. It’s not easy to hear your fiancée would have left you whether she fell for your brother or not.”
Though he’d had this kind of conversation with Beth back when it all happened, Lucas had never called up Joe to hammer things out. He’d been more interested in hammering his brother into the ground at the time. Maybe they should have done this sooner.
“She’s happy here,” Joe said. “We’re both happy. We owe that to you.”
“Glad I could be of service.” As soon as the words were out, Lucas regretted them. “Sorry. Bruised ego. Leads to a lot of scorch-and-burn comments like that.”
“No problem.” Joe picked up a pen and starting tapping it against the desk. “That’s why this part is so hard.”
“What part?” Lucas tried to imagine what could possibly make things worse.
Then Joe pulled a small black box from his pants pocket. A ring box. Holy shit.
“Is that—”
“My mom’s ring. Dad gave it to me the day before we moved Beth’s stuff down here.” Joe spun the box between his fingers. “I think he expected me to propose before we shacked up.”
The air in the room felt thicker and nonexistent at the same time. A knot formed in Lucas’s stomach as if he’d just swallowed the paperweight on his desk back in Richmond. In the office where he should be right now. Where he’d be if his brother hadn’t screwed up his life and turned him into an unfocused idiot.
“So you’re going to—”
“Yeah. But I wanted to tell you first.”
“Why?” Lucas fought to keep his voice even. Unable to sit, he began pacing the small space. “You want my permission? My advice on how to do it?” Slamming his palms on the desk, he asked, “What the fuck do you want from me?”
Joe didn’t flinch. He just looked up from the ring box. “I don’t expect anything from you. But I figured I owe you the respect of letting you know before I did it. That’s all.”
Lucas had known this was for real. That Beth and Joe loved each other. That she loved his brother in a way she’d never loved him. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he’d wanted them to fail. He’d wanted this to be temporary, for Beth and Joe to break up.
What a selfish son of a bitch he’d turned out to be. He cared about these two people. How could he want them to suffer? To sooth his fragile ego or appease some arrogant need for revenge? What the hell kind of person would think like that?
“I guess that’s it.” Joe slipped the box back into his pocket. “Maybe I’ll wait awhile. Give it more time.”
“Don’t do that,” Lucas said.
“What?”
“If you want to wait to make sure you two are ready, then do it. But if you’re waiting for me, don’t bother.”
“I see,” Joe said, his shoulders dropping.
“No, I don’t mean it that way.” Lucas paced the room twice more, then sat down. “I’m not really mad at you. Hell, I’m not even sure if I’m mad.” He left the chair again. “Change that. I’m mad. But some days it’s with you and Beth, and some days it’s with this damn island, but most days I’m pissed at myself.”
Joe rose from his chair and grabbed a couple bar rags off the shelf by the door. “I can’t change what went down. I wouldn’t if I could, though I do wish it had happened differently.”
Off course he wouldn’t. He’d come out the winner once again.
Instead of voicing the callous thought, Lucas nodded and remained silent. Joe was trying to be considerate. Maybe if he’d done that two months ago …
“I’d better get out there. You want to take my Jeep?” Joe asked, holding out his keys. “I can ride home with Beth. I meant to offer last night.”
That’s when Lucas remembered Sid was waiting for him. “No, Sid’s taking me home.”
Joe put the keys back in his pocket. “Right.” He started to leave the office, then turned back. “About Sid.”
Lucas tensed. “What about her?”
“Just … be careful.”
“Why? Are you claiming her too?”
Joe leaned against the door frame. “I’ll give you a pass on that one. For now.”
He’d been out of line and he knew it. Damn temper. “Then why do I need to be careful around Sid?” Lucas asked, trying to change the tone between them. “Is she as violent as she seems?”
“No,” Joe said, without hesitation. “She’s not nearly as tough as she acts, but if you tell her I said that, I’ll kick your ass.”
Lucas couldn’t help but smile as Joe walked away, marveling at the power Sid Navarro seemed to wield over everyone on the island.
Why’d you take me up on the ride this time?” Sid asked. They’d driven less than half a mile in silence. After his talk with Joe, Lucas was hoping the silence would hold.
“Honestly?”
Sid looked over. “Why would I ask a question and then want you to lie?”
“Right.” This woman was entirely too literal. “I’m tired.”
Her eyes returned to the road and she nodded. “I can relate. I’ve helped out on weekends but that was nothing compared to the last two days. How the fuck do your parents do this?”
Lucas didn’t consider himself a prude, but the vulgar language from the delicate looking, if not sounding, package to his left took him off balance.
“Do you always talk like that?”
“Like what?”
“Dropping the F-bomb like that?”
The truck sped up and then zipped around a tourist on a bicycle. “Why? Do I offend your delicate sensibilities?”
Was she ever not defensive? “I’m not offended. Just curious.” Soaring oaks flowed past his window, their heavy limbs trailing the roof of the truck cab. He’d missed those old trees, though he hadn’t realized it until just now.
Sid was quiet for nearly a minute, then she said, “I grew up with men. I work with men. I guess I talk like a man.” The statements were made with no apology or regret, but he noticed her white-knuckled grip on the wheel. She wasn’t comfortable with this line of questioning, but she wasn’t fighting him either.
“Do you want to talk like a man? And for the record, not every man talks like that.”
“You saying you don’t curse?”
“I curse. But you can’t throw profanity around a courtroom so you learn to keep it in check.” His first year out of law school, Lucas had made the mistake of dropping a four-letter word in court and nearly found himself in judges’ chambers. He never did it again.
Sid’s grip on the wheel loosened. “That makes sense.” She fell silent again and Lucas returned to watching the old oaks mingle with a cedar here and there.
“No,” she said, sometime later.
“No, what?”
Caramel eyes darted his way, then back to the road. “I don’t want to talk like a man.”
He didn’t know what to say to that so he changed the subject. “Where can I get good, homemade sweets around here?”
If the change of topic threw her off, Sid didn’t show it. “I know just the place.” The wheel jerked left, sending the truck in a tight U-turn in the middle of the street.
Lucas braced one arm on the door and another on the ceiling above him. “What the hell are you doing?” Besides trying to kill him. Maybe this is what Joe was talking about.
“Getting you sweets.”
“This road makes a circle around the damn island. Why the fuck couldn’t we go around?”
Sid tsked. “Such ugly language.”
“I’m less restrained when I’m about to be thrown out of a moving vehicle.”
“If I wanted you out of the truck, I’d have shoved your door open before making the turn.”
Jokes. Now she decided to be funny.