Nicole sighed. As much as she didn’t like Erica Jameson, she also hated to think that her engagement to Red might have been a contributing factor to a son not speaking to his mother. “I’m sure it will blow over in time,” she said. “People just need a little distance to come at it from a new perspective.”
“Red’s not known for changing his mind once it’s made up.”
“I think he’s got more compromise in him than you might give him credit for,” Nicole replied.
“Well, it’s obvious he’s got a great woman by his side. That makes me feel a little better.”
“Thanks.”
He rapped the counter with his knuckles. “I’m tired, I think I’m going to turn in. But maybe you could talk to Red at some point and remind him that there are people who care about him—people that have the same blood that run through his veins—and that those people miss him dearly.”
Nicole nodded uncertainly. She realized that she’d just been tasked yet again with trying to make Red reconsider a decision he’d made. And once again, she’d engaged in a conversation with someone whom Red was feuding with, and whom he probably didn’t want to hear much about.
Jeb disappeared back to his guest room and Nicole slowly made her way upstairs to the master bedroom.
Red was in bed reading a book when she entered.
He looked up from it and forced a smile. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey.” She sat down on the edge of her side of the bed.
“I’m sorry I made a scene. That wasn’t right,” he said softly.
“I know you were in a tough position trying to defend your choices to your brother.”
“The guy is just blind when it comes to my mother. He won’t admit that she’s completely psychotic and destructive.”
Nicole turned and looked at him. “Are you going to at least talk to him before he leaves tomorrow?”
Red shook his head and picked his book up again. “I don’t know. Right now I definitely can’t do it.”
Nicole was torn. Now she was questioning what his reaction would be when she told him about her and Jeb’s conversation. But she didn’t want to make the same mistake as she had in Germany, when she’d kept her conversation with Kane Wright to herself.
“After you came upstairs, your brother came back to the kitchen and apologized to me,” she said, finally.
Red glanced sideways at her. “He did?”
“Yeah.” She looked at him, her hands clutching each other nervously. “Please don’t be angry with me.”
Red took a long, slow breath. “What did you say to him?”
“Just that I understood it was hard.”
Red’s expression darkened. “What does that mean?”
“Come on, Red. What am I supposed to do, tell your brother to fuck off when he apologizes to me?”
“I never said that.” He put the book aside and looked her straight in the eye. “At the same time, it feels like no matter what I do, you’re always second guessing me. I trust you, I listen to you—and the next thing I know you spin me in circles.”
“How do I spin you in circles, Red?”
“In Germany, you told me to make a deal, then you told me not to, and then on the flight home you said maybe I should make the deal again. And now you’re telling me to go make up with Jeb. Tomorrow you’ll probably tell me that Jeb’s an asshole and I should never speak to him again.”
“Come on. That’s not fair to me. What am I supposed to do?”
“I don’t know, Nicole. Why don’t you tell me what else you and Jeb talked about behind my back?”
“I knew you’d do this,” she whispered. “I knew it.”
“What did you know?” he demanded.
She looked at his red face, his bulging eyes. She was so tired of defending herself against whatever new mistake she’d made. “I can’t do this right now.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I just can’t. Please stop talking.”
Red stared at her. “Nicole, are you breaking up with me?”
“I need some time. Just…just leave me alone.” She got up and ran out of the bedroom and downstairs. She wanted to leave, but it was late and she didn’t want to make a bigger deal of things than she already had.
Instead she went to one of the guest rooms at the far end of the house, and lay in the cold, uninviting bed. She turned on her phone and saw she had missed calls—a bunch of them. A couple of calls were from her parents and one or two calls from Danielle.
Nicole knew she couldn’t tell her mom and dad any of this, they would just tell her that Red was a terrible person and how she needed to get away from him.
She dialed Danielle, waiting for her friend to pick up.
“Look who it is,” Danielle piped at the other end of the line. “I thought you’d forgotten all about me.”
Nicole smiled at the sound of a friendly voice. “Sorry about that. I know I’ve been a shitty friend.”
“Hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay Nicole?”
“Yeah. Sort of.”
“Tell me what’s going on. Tell me right now.”