Chapter Thirty-Two
Tanner’s phone beeped right as he and Logan walked through the front door of Gray’s house. He pulled it out of his pocket as they followed their older brother to his expansive, state-of-the-art kitchen, where the huge glass doors were flung open, the late-morning sun blasting through.
He checked the screen. Just a junk email. Tanner swallowed down his disappointment.
“Coffee?” Gray asked.
“Give me a vatful,” Logan said. “This guy had me up at the ass crack of dawn.”
“It was the other way around, dumbass.” Tanner lifted an eyebrow, his gaze still stuck on his phone screen. He watched as it slowly faded to black.
“Two coffees coming up. Cam’s on the phone in the backyard,” Gray said, sliding a pod into the flap at the front of his expensive coffee machine.
“Where’s Maddie?” Tanner asked, looking around for her.
“She’s gone out.” The corner of Gray’s lip twitched. “Said this was ‘brother business’ and she wasn’t getting involved.” He held the coffee out to Tanner.
“We’re all checked in for our flight,” Cam said to Logan as he walked into the kitchen. “I got a car meeting us at the other end. We need to leave for the airport by two.”
“Thanks, bro.” Logan nodded. “I owe you one.”
“What’s for brunch?” Cam asked as he pulled out one of the stools set around the huge breakfast bar. “I’m starving.”
“Chilli’s in the oven,” Gray said, passing him and Logan both a coffee, then pouring himself one. “Now we just need to pull Tanner’s head out of his ass and we can eat.”
“You guys are obsessed with my ass,” Tanner muttered, shaking his head.
“I’m obsessed with you not making a huge mistake,” Gray told him. “So come on, talk. What’s going on with you and Van Butler?”
Tanner sighed, leaning his elbows on the counter and resting his head in his hands. Just hearing her name felt like a stab in the heart. “I’m in love with her.”
“So why are you sitting here while she’s across town and neither of you are talking to each other?” Gray asked, his brow furrowing.
“That was her decision.” Tanner looked up, his eyes catching Gray’s. “For some damn stupid reason she thinks I’m better off without her. Thinks all the things her mom has done are a bad reflection of her.” He shook his head. “It’s not the first time she’s walked away from us for what she says is my own good.” Tanner’s jaw felt so damn tight. “She did it ten years ago before I went to Duke.”
“You two were a thing ten years ago?” Cam asked. “Why didn’t I know this?” He glanced at his twin. “Did you know this?”
“Yep.” Logan nodded. “I know the whole sorry story.”
“What story?” Gray asked. “Anybody want to fill me in?”
Tanner sighed and took another sip of coffee. It did nothing to elevate his mood. “I was in love with her ten years ago. We kind of hooked up at the Senior Prom.”
“I thought you went to prom with Chrissie Fairfax,” Gray said.
“I did. But if you remember, we shared a car with Van and her date, who was my friend, Brad. But he was an asshole and the two of them had an argument and he left along with our ride, so she was on her own.” Tanner blew out a mouthful of air. “And then Chrissie got pissed with me because I asked if Van could catch a ride home with us and her dad.” Tanner shook his head. “So in the end Van and I were left with each other and… well… the rest was history.”
Gray laughed. “Ah, the drama of high school prom. So what happened next?”
Tanner blew out a mouthful of air. “The usual. We dated. We made out. And we both had already gotten accepted to Duke. It was all ahead of us, and we were so damn excited. Then later in the summer, out of nowhere, she came and told me we were over, and she wasn’t going to Duke anymore.”
“So why’d she break up with you?” Gray asked.
“She said she was thinking about it and she didn’t want to settle down. Didn’t want to make the same mistakes her mom had made. That she was going to stay in Hartson’s Creek and get a job, think about what she wanted to do next.”
“Shit, that must have been a kick in the balls.” Cam sighed.
“You could say that.” Tanner swallowed hard, remembering the way he’d begged her to change her mind. But she was adamant. She didn’t want to talk to him, and refused to take his calls. And when he’d turned up at the drive-in, she’d not been anywhere in sight.