Even when my phone isn’t in urine, I’m not a great phone answerer. Most people love their phone like a baby, but I would have left mine on the church stairs.
“There’s a first time for everything.”
Jamie decides how to proceed for a second. “I know something.”
“That must feel extraordinary,” I reply, and continue scrolling through the photos I’ve just taken. “You’d better let your employer know. They’ll be so glad they took a chance on you.” I grin as his sigh partially deafens me.
“How’s the progress on site?”
I’m not his employee. “I bet you feel like I once did. Those summers I watched you and Tom mowing all the neighbors lawns, raking in the cash.”
“We sweated for that. We worked like mules. Be glad you sat inside in the air-conditioning.”
“I wanted to do what you guys did, but I had to watch from the window. Just l
ike you’re doing, right now.” I don’t hold much hope that he’ll understand what I’m telling him, or why it feels so important that I see this through. “The renovation is fine. Tom and I are making sure of it.”
“I know that you know. About Tom and Megan.”
“Oh, that. Sure.” I click and drop a file. “We’re buds. He tells me stuff.”
That’s a bit of a stretch. I’m permanently screwing things up around here.
“Sure,” Jamie says, dripping sarcasm. “But here’s the thing. You’re leaving him alone.”
“What do you—”
“Cut the shit. When he’s in the same room you’re a drooling mess. Like, for years, and it’s painfully obvious. That’s why he tried to not tell you.” Jamie confirms what I had just started to hope was a pathetic misunderstanding on my part. “He’s embarrassed to be around you. He’s never going to reciprocate.”
Only Jamie could make a word like reciprocate sound like he’s holding a turd with a pair of salad tongs.
“‘Drooling mess’ is a bit of an exaggeration. But yeah, he’s gorgeous. My eyes like gorgeous things. I’m a photographer.” I hate hearing my own voice being so flippant. Diminishing Tom down to a face and body feels wrong. “Don’t you go for beautiful women?”
“I go for women in my league,” Jamie says forcefully, “and I don’t go for childhood friends.” He laughs a little. “I can’t believe we actually have to have this conversation. You and him? Never happening.” A pause. “So you’ve decided you’re a photographer again?”
I’m not touching that one. “He told me it was completely over with her. He seems surprisingly okay about it.”
“He’s devastated. Did you know that?”
My stomach twists up. I didn’t exactly try to listen before I began tearing the world apart with my bare hands.
Jamie continues. “He’s been trying to find a time to meet up with her to talk it through and get back together. But you wouldn’t know that, ’cause he’s not your bud, and you never stop thinking about yourself.”
“You are weirdly possessive over your childhood friend. Something you need to tell me?” The thought has crossed my mind once or twice.
Jamie doesn’t take the bait. “That guy has had my back probably a thousand times by now. Now it’s my turn. I want to make sure he gets the future he deserves.”
“You should be a motivational speaker, Jamie. I’m inspired. He’s already got his business. His dream. He got it.”
“That’s only phase one. Tom wants the real deal. A house, a picket fence, a wedding. Taking triplets to Disney or some shit like that. Haven’t you ever noticed his obsession with taking care of things and fixing them? We’re not getting younger. Darce, he’s a husband and a dad.”
Goddamn it, I hate when my brother is right. I don’t say anything.
Jamie senses I’ve understood what he’s saying, and his next harsh sentence is spoken with unbearable kindness. “That’s what he wants. To be the dad he never had. He wants a wife and to make sure his mom is sorted out. Not a one-night stand with the queen of one-nights.”
“Maybe I want . . .” I trail off. I never thought about it before. Those sorts of things are for Megan-type girls.
“Not with him you don’t. Megan hasn’t given the ring back. He doesn’t want it back. Connect the dots, Darcy.”