In Good Company: Chapter 50

I’m never falling in love again.

I always thought people were dramatic when they complained about a broken heart. I’m a grown adult; I didn’t think anything had the capacity to make me not want to leave my bed or even eat a meal.

But then I fell in love with Lucy Rae Owens.

It’s been thirteen days since I watched her step onto that plane, taking my heart right along with her.

Thirteen mornings I’ve woken up and not wanted to get out of bed.

Thirteen nights I’ve lain awake talking myself out of calling her and reminding myself that if she wanted to talk to me, she would.

I fell in love with a woman who wasn’t ready to be loved, and I’m paying the price for it.

It doesn’t help that everything reminds me of her. I used to love the Hamptons and Pembroke. Being here for the summer was my escape. Now, being here without her is torture.

I barely want to step foot in Pembroke Grill, thinking of all the times we sat around a table with our friends.

Speaking of friends, I’ve rejected every invite to see them. I don’t want to have to explain Lucy’s sudden disappearance to anybody. Jude’s the only one who hasn’t let me avoid him. The fucker shows up every morning and forces me to get out of bed. He even makes me eat by hitting up different local spots and bringing breakfast in the morning. He doesn’t ask about Lucy, but he gives me updates about her dad, thanks to Charlotte.

I’m happy that they’re back at home and he seems to be recovering, but I can’t pretend I’m not devastated that she hasn’t reached out. Part of me was holding out hope that once her dad was out of the hospital, she’d call or text me.

She hasn’t.

And now, I’m just left in a house that reminds me of her.

I walk into Pembroke’s gentleman’s lounge, wishing I was anywhere but here. Even this club reminds me of Lucy. I don’t want to be here, but I’m also a curious man.

When Ollie reached out and told me he was in the Hamptons for the weekend and wanted to meet, my first thought was to tell him no. I’m already reminded of Lucy enough. I hate that even looking at my brother will remind me of her as well.

My eyes scan the dark room before I find my brother sitting in a back corner. He sits in a large leather armchair with an empty one right across from him.

I sigh, still far enough away that he hasn’t noticed me. If I turned around now and left the lounge, he’d never know.

I weigh my options for a moment and ultimately decide that I’m too curious to walk away before talking to him. We don’t have a close relationship. He never reaches out, and I can’t help but wonder if Lucy is the reason he did. It can’t be a coincidence.

I close the distance to Ollie before stopping right in front of him. His eyes go wide when he spots me.

He takes me by surprise by standing up and giving me what looks like a genuine smile. “Cal, good to see you.”

I try to wipe the surprise from my face at his friendly demeanor. “Ollie,” I respond, saying his name slowly.

Ollie points to the empty chair across from him. “Want to sit? I ordered you a bourbon, but I’m still waiting on it. Is that still your drink of choice?”

I watch him carefully as I take a seat, wondering what the hell is going on.

“That’s perfect,” I answer, keeping my voice even.

Ollie nods. “Cool,” he gets out before joining me in taking a seat. I don’t even know the last time we saw each other, but somehow in that time, he looks different. He’s dressed better, more maturely. And that annoying, overly cocky demeanor he normally has is nowhere to be found.

“Why did you want to meet today?” I ask, not wanting to beat around the bush. I’d much rather be at home throwing myself into work to avoid the gaping hole in my chest left by Lucy.

Ollie’s eyes go wide for a moment. He takes a sip of his drink, seemingly trying to buy himself time to get his thoughts together. “You’re getting right to the point, aren’t you?” he mutters under his breath.

I nod, my focus still on him as I try to figure out what he wants before he can even ask it.

Is he here because he somehow heard about me and Lucy? Surely not. I’d expect him to be more hostile if that was the reason for him setting up a meeting.

He could be here asking me for money, but it doesn’t feel like that either. If he needs money, he goes to Dad, not me. I don’t think he’s stupid enough to think I’d ever give him a loan.

For once, I can’t predict someone’s next move, even if it’s my brother.

“Listen, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about today,” Ollie begins, his tone becoming more uneasy.

I sigh. “If this is about Lucy, I don’t want to hear it,” I respond, cutting him off as he opens his mouth to say something else.

His mouth snaps shut, and his eyebrows rise to his hairline. “Lucy?” he asks, his voice full of disbelief. He stares at me, completely dumbfounded, making it clear that whatever he came to talk about, it wasn’t her.

I pinch the bridge of my nose between my pointer finger and thumb. I’m so exhausted that I spoke before I should’ve. I reacted instead of waiting for him to tell me the reason for wanting a meeting.

And now I have to pay the price.

“Are you talking about Lucy Owens?” Ollie pushes.

I gladly accept the bourbon from our server, buying myself a little time to gather my thoughts as I suck down a large drink of the amber liquid. With a sigh, I set the bourbon down on the little table between our chairs and nod.

“Yes. The only Lucy we know.”

Ollie slowly nods as he tries to understand where this is going. “Why would I be here to talk to you about Lucy?”

“Because I ran into her at the start of the summer. Did you know she was working as a private chef here in the Hamptons?”

Ollie raises his eyebrows. “I knew she enjoyed cooking, but no, I had no idea she was working here. Why would I want to talk to you about that, though?” he adds at the last minute.

I wave at Ryker and a man I don’t recognize as they walk into the lounge. I half expect to see Camille walk in after them since it seems that this summer, everywhere Ryker is, Camille is close behind. But no one else walks in, and I return to looking at my brother.

“I hired Lucy as my private chef and then fell in love with her,” I blurt, not wanting to drag this out. I don’t really care about his opinion of my feelings for Lucy.

Ollie chokes, pulling his crystal tumbler away from his lips as a coughing fit takes over his entire body.

I shrug, taking another sip of my drink while he collects himself. Even saying her name out loud cuts right through me.

“I’m sorry, I’m trying to play catch-up here. Lucy worked for you? And you fell in love with her? You’re talking about my Lucy?”

I scoff at the way he says my. “Please. She’s not yours and never was. She’s mine. But yes, we’re talking about the same Lucy.”

Ollie blinks a few times. He slowly begins to nod and I can almost see the wheels turning in his head. “Um, okay,” he begins. He clears his throat, clearly still not recovered from choking on his own drink. “Well, I didn’t know what to expect from seeing you today, but hearing you fell in love with my ex-girlfriend was not something I could’ve ever expected.”

Jealousy runs through me at him being able to call her his ex-girlfriend. It’s unreasonable, but I’m jealous that he ever got the title of being her boyfriend.

It’s not a title I ever had, despite how madly in love with her I am.

Right now, it’s not even a title I think I’ll ever have. Although, I’m so in love with her at this point that I’d be happy with foregoing boyfriend and going straight to husband if she’d let me.

I shake my head for a moment, trying to dull the ache in my heart of letting my mind wander to fantasies of being anything to her but temporary.

“I’d rather pretend you were never her boyfriend, to be honest,” I mutter. “You never deserved her. And before you get mad at me for falling for someone from your past, just save your breath. I don’t give a damn if you don’t like that I fell in love with her.”

Ollie raises his hands defensively. “Look, I was young and a terrible boyfriend to her. There were absolutely things I could’ve done differently, but my feelings for her were never what they should’ve been. Who you love is none of my business, Cal.”

His words take me by surprise. I was ready for a fight, or at least for him to make some kind of snide comment.

“How is she?” he asks. There doesn’t seem to be any hint of anger in his tone. His question seems genuine. Before I can answer him, he clears his throat before speaking again. “Fuck, I just realized what this month means for her. Is she doing okay?”

My eyebrows furrow together on my forehead. I try to hide my confusion at his question, but I can’t. “What are you talking about?” The question leaves my mouth before I can think better of it.

Ollie frowns a little as he stares at me, his eyes searching my face. “What do you mean? I can’t remember off the top of my head how many years it’d be, but I know this month is the anniversary of her twin brothers’ death.”

Pain slices through me at his words. For a moment, I can’t even think straight. It hurts too bad to know that she experienced a loss of that magnitude and I had no idea. She never once told me about them passing.

She never even told me she ever had brothers.

There was so much more I still wanted to learn about her, but I hadn’t expected her to have something like this in her past. She holds herself with so much strength, I never would’ve guessed if Ollie hadn’t told me.

My heart aches for her and what she’s been through. It kills me that she didn’t trust me enough to tell me about that part of her life.

And it hurts even more to know Ollie knows, and that she trusted him enough to open up about them but never once mentioned their death to me.

“You didn’t know?” Ollie annoyingly pushes. He sounds genuinely shocked that I had no idea. I’m still too stunned by what he revealed to even pretend to have known.

I grunt and shake my head. “No,” I admit, my voice hoarse. “She never…” My words drift off as sadness seeps through my veins and takes over me.

Ollie, to his credit, doesn’t gloat or revel in knowing something I don’t. Maybe he has matured. His features might actually pull into a look of remorse as his eyes watch me carefully. “For what it’s worth, I found out one day in college because of Sophia. Lucy had told Sophia, and Sophia brought it up one day. We were all eating lunch, and Sophia accidentally let it slip. Lucy told me more after.”

I meet my brother’s eyes. His words bring a small amount of relief, but it still hurts that he knew and I didn’t.

“I wasn’t trying to start anything by asking. I just wanted to know how she was doing. I didn’t treat her right, and we weren’t meant to be, but I’ll always hope she’s doing okay. I’m sorry to have mentioned it to you.”

I down the rest of my bourbon, needing the drink just to get a hold of myself. It makes a loud clinking noise as I set it back down on the table between us. “It’s fine. I actually believe you.” A sad laugh leaves me because this isn’t the direction I expected the conversation with Ollie to go. “It might not matter, anyway. I told her I was falling for her, and she told me I was a distraction. She went back to Virginia to be there for her parents, and I really don’t think she has any intention of coming back.”

“Don’t you have a private jet? Why don’t you go there?”

I sigh, wishing it were that simple. “I told her I’d go with her. I begged to go with her, really. She told me she didn’t want me to.”

Ollie laughs. “Of course she did. She doesn’t know how to ask for help. Put yourself in her shoes, Cal. Her older brothers died when she was just a teenager. The weight of the world was put on her shoulders after. She’s all her parents have now, and I think she takes that to heart. But if you love her, just go to her and show her that she doesn’t have to carry the weight alone anymore.”

My throat feels clogged as I look at my brother and really see him. We’ve never been close, largely thanks to the over-a-decade age gap between us and him being insufferable in his younger years, but now as I stare into his eyes, I realize that maybe things can change between us.

Maybe he’s right.

Maybe it’s time I go get my girl.

No one’s ever shown up for her before, and it’s about damn time someone did.

“I’ve got to get to Virginia,” I mutter, the words barely coming out above a whisper.

Ollie nods. “Yes, you do.”

I hurry and push myself out of my chair. I can’t believe I’ve gone two weeks sulking here and feeling bad for myself when I could’ve been in Virginia, proving to her that it’s okay to need someone else.

Now, I don’t want to waste another second.

“Wait, is there something you needed?” I ask, wondering if I should hug my brother. I’ve never once thought of giving him a hug, not since he was a child. But something was different today, and now I feel like I should at least thank him for talking sense into me.

Ollie smiles. He stands up and lifts a shoulder in a shrug. “We’ll have to do a rain check until you’re back, but I wanted to meet to ask you to be my best man at my wedding. Sophia and I are engaged, and I know things haven’t always been great between us, but I want you standing up there with me…if you will.”

“That’s amazing. Congrats, Ollie.” I wrap my arms around him and give him a hug. It’s awkward, and we’re both a little stiff, but a genuine smile graces my lips at the possibility that things might get better between us. “I’d love to,” I add, surprising myself by meaning the words.

Ollie points to the exit. “I’m relieved to hear you say that. Now, leave. I’ve never seen you talk about a woman like you do Lucy. Go get her.”

I nod, not needing any more prompting to go after the woman I love.

It’s clear there’s still a lot I can learn about Lucy. There’s so much I hope she opens up to me about. I still need to earn her trust, but I can’t do that from here in the Hamptons. I want to prove to her it’s okay to lean on someone and that even when things are hard, she has me.

I’ll spend forever proving to her she doesn’t have to handle things alone anymore.

And I’m ready for that forever to start right now.