“Oh?” I had no idea what they were talking about.
Bryce chewed his salad.
Instead of saying anything more, I stood and collected the empty salad plates and then brought the meat, potatoes, and green beans to the table. I also set a plate of bread next to Dale and Donny. They both grabbed a slice. Anything to fill up their little bellies.
“Can we talk about this later?” Bryce asked softly.
“Sure,” Talon said. “After dinner.”
I brought the food over. Talon served the boys first and then passed the dishes around. Bryce took very little, which surprised me. He was nearly as big as Joe, the tallest and most muscular of my brothers, at six feet four.
Something was bothering him, clearly.
I held back a huff. Of course something was bothering him. He’d been through hell just like the rest of us. His father was as crazy as Ruby’s. As crazy as Ryan’s mother.
Rather than face the consequences of what he’d done, Bryce’s father had offed himself, right in front of Joe.
Would things around here ever get back to normal?
I was content most days, helping Jade and taking care of Dale and Donny. Cooking for my brother and his family who had been through so much.
At least my brothers were more than content. Despite everything we’d gone through recently, they’d all fallen in love and found their soul mates. They were deliriously happy.
And I was happy for them.
Truly I was.
I just didn’t see that in the cards for myself—at least not anytime soon.
The boys gobbled up their food and were excused. Then Talon, Bryce, and I finished up in silence.
Really uncomfortable and awkward silence.
Whatever Bryce had come to see Talon about, he didn’t want to discuss it in front of me.
Made sense. Bryce and I had no connection.
No connection other than a short kiss that I yearned to continue.
But as I looked at him chewing his food in silence, I saw no yearning in his eyes.
Chapter Four
Bryce
Marjorie had cleared the table and went to check on Jade.
Talon turned to me. “Let’s go down into the family room for a drink.”
A drink. Sounded great. But not in the family room. Not where anyone could hear me. “Do you mind if we use your office?”
“No,” he said. “Why?”
“P
rivacy.”
“No one’s around but— Oh.”