Make that more matchmaking. She’d called twice to not so casually mention that he seemed to be having a nice time at the last two weddings. The less he said, the more she pressed. It would seem that she had made it her mission to see her eldest son settled into a relationship. One that preferably led to marriage.
He’d tried to tell her that he was happier this way, but she was his mother, and she tapped into the small part of him that wasn’t so sure that this was true. And damn it if she wasn’t determined to make it all better, the way she’d always done, even when he was younger. Only now the wounds couldn’t be bandaged or forgotten about with an ice-cream cone. Now the only way to ensure he never felt that sort of pain again was to stay clear of it.
The game was on the television, a hot plate of lasagna ready to be enjoyed, and a six-pack of cold beers on the bottom shelf of the fridge. Sure, they were the only thing in the fridge, but he hardly had time to grocery shop between work and all these weddings.
A knock on the door interrupted him as he was grabbing a plastic fork from the stash he kept from the delivery bags he’d collected since his return.
“It’s open!” he called, knowing that it would be his brother, who lived one floor up in this old mill at the edge of downtown that had been converted into apartments years ago.
“Smells good in here,” Justin remarked, sniffing the air.
Doug laughed. “If Mom could hear you, she’d be dropping off casseroles for a month.”
“Would that be so bad?” Justin opened the freezer, which, opposite of the fridge, was packed with frozen entrees, and then closed it, opting for a beer instead. “I was going to see if you wanted to grab a drink in town.” He cracked the top of his can, taking a long sip.
“Another night,” Doug promised. He’d gotten used to staying in and relaxing with the television for company, but having his brother nearby was a good change of pace. He pulled over two unpacked boxes that were currently being used as a makeshift coffee table and motioned to the couch. “Make yourself at home.”
“I’m not staying long. Some of the guys are at Harrison’s, watching the game together.”
Doug nodded. Since coming back to town, he hadn’t gotten out much, not that he had anything against the guys he’d once called friends in school. Or at least, acquaintances. Truth was he kept to himself back then even more than Justin did. But whereas Justin’s excuse was that he was quiet and reserved, Doug’s excuse was that he saw high school as a steppingstone for college and then law school, not as an experience to enjoy in the moment.
Tonight, he was drained. Tired from two weekends in a row of socializing, fielding probing questions from nosy former neighbors who wanted to know if he met anyone special yet. Tired from spending his days establishing his new practice, dealing with the stress of the calls he took from the few clients he’d taken on. It was enough to turn the most romantic guy into a realist, not that he’d ever been romantic.
Or so Lisa had said when she’d ended things.
“You thinking of Lisa?” Justin pointed to the spot between his eyebrows. “You get this little pinch there every time her name gets mentioned.”
Doug raised his hand to his forehead. Caught. “Nothing to think about. We dated. I proposed. She called it off.”
“You seemed pretty caught up in conversation with Gabby Conway last night,” Justin said, smirking.
Now Doug scowled as he popped the top on his can of beer. “And you’re starting to sound like Mom.” A thought stopped him mid-sip. “Tell me she’s not going to try to pair us up.”
“Are you kidding? She pulled me aside when the dancing started to ask me what I’d overheard at the table.”
“Here I thought she was trying to push me onto some of the other single women at the table.”
“Oh, I think that was just her way of feeling out how much you preferred Gabby.” Justin’s grin was broad and gloating. He was enjoying this entirely too much.
“Gabby and I are just old friends,” Doug said, and then paused, realizing that he wasn’t so sure this was true.
Sure enough, Justin said, “Since when? You two were at each other’s necks back in school.”
“Only because we were always after the same things,” Doug said. They hadn’t been friends, but they hadn’t been enemies either. If anything, it was because of Gabby that he’d felt compelled to push himself harder, strive further, be the best that he could be.
“It was more of a healthy competition we had going,” Doug summarized. Yes, that was all it was.
“She’s still pretty,” Justin said, and as there was no arguing with that, Doug could only nod. With her long auburn hair and sharp green eyes, there was no trying to deny the fact that Gabby was a beauty.
“Yep, always was.” His mouth thinned. Enough talk about Gabby Conway, or his love life, and definitely not in the same breath. “You sure you don’t want to stay?”
Justin set down his beer and shook his head. “You sure you don’t want to come?”
If heading out with his brother meant more questions about the state of his personal life, he’d rather sit out. Besides, Kyle Harrison was married to Gabby’s sister Brooke, and even though he had handed the bar off to his brother recently, he still probably frequented it on nights like this.
“Early morning tomorrow. Prenuptial papers. Usually a draining experience, sometimes ugly.”
“Next time then.” Justin backed up
