Always My Girl (The Shaughnessy Brothers) (23 page)

“I don’t know, Bobby!” she shouted. “But that doesn’t mean I want you to go to the shop and pick a fight with him!”

He huffed with frustration. “Fine. I won’t fight with him. I promise. I’ll drop the car off, give him the keys, and leave.”

“You promise? Really?”

“Unlike some people, I’m not looking to make you upset on purpose, Anna. I may be a jerk a lot of the time but not to you.”

She rolled her eyes. “You did not just say that.”

He chuckled. “Okay, fine. I’m a jerk to you too, but this time I promise not to be. It’s part of my whole makeover.” He smiled. “You inspired me.”

“And why are you suddenly giving yourself a makeover?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been here my whole life, kiddo. It’s the same thing day in, day out. I’m just ready for something new. Nothing’s happening for me here. You said the same thing about yourself when you left the pub.”

“How do you know something’s going to happen for you in South Carolina?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t. But I’m willing to give it a shot.” He pulled her in and kissed her. “Come on. Give me the keys and I’ll take care of this car thing right now.”

“How will you get home after you leave the shop?”

“I’ll give my partner a call.”

“Wait…you have a partner? Since when?”

“Since about a month ago.” He made a face. “There have been some changes in the precinct and I feel like I’ve taken about ten steps backward.”

“Ah…so there’s more to this makeover story than meets the eye.”

“Sort of. Anyway, I’ll get a ride. I don’t want you to worry about it.”

Slowly, Anna went and got both sets of car keys and handed them to Bobby. “I’ll walk out with you and clear all my stuff out.” Together they walked outside, and within five minutes, she had her few meager belongings in a pile on the grass.

“You sure about this?” Bobby asked.

“It’s the last tie to him,” she said and cursed the fact that she was close to tears.

Bobby pulled her in for one last hug before getting in the car and driving away.

* * *

“What the hell do you mean?” Quinn angrily tossed a rag aside as he approached Bobby Hannigan.

“I thought I was pretty clear, dude. Anna doesn’t want the car, so I’m bringing it back for her.”

Everything inside of Quinn went cold.

Then he looked at Bobby’s smug face and that instantly changed. “You talked her into this, didn’t you?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, Shaughnessy, but it was her choice. She even tried talking to the dealership first about paying the car off, but they wouldn’t let her do it.” He glared at Quinn. “I’m sure you had something to do with it.”

“Hell yeah I did!” Quinn snapped. “The car was a gift to make her life easier! If she knew she could just swoop in and take over the payments she would have done it sooner.” He cursed. “She needs a car, Bobby. You know it and I know it. Just…convince her to keep it. I’ll transfer the payments over to her if she really feels so strongly about it.”

Bobby shook his head. “She already has another car and she doesn’t want any reminders of you. For once, do the right thing and just let her have her way.”

Even though Quinn knew Bobby was right, it still irritated the hell out of him. “You’re loving this, aren’t you?” he finally asked.

Bobby laughed darkly. “Believe it or not, I’m not. You think I enjoy seeing my sister this upset? I really thought this was going to be the one time you proved me wrong.” He shook his head. “I thought for her…”

Quinn looked away.

Bobby shoved him on the shoulder to get Quinn to face him. “Hey, I’m not here to gloat and it doesn’t do shit for me to be proven right. I would have put up with your sorry ass forever if it made Anna happy.”

“Yeah…well…now you won’t have to.”

“You just don’t get it, do you?” Bobby said in disgust. “All these years and you haven’t figured it out.” When Quinn just stared at him, he continued. “Ever since she started crushing on you in the seventh grade, I’ve wanted to kick your ass. At first, it was just on principle. My sister liked you, and you didn’t like her in return. Then the older we got, and the more she refused to move on, I started to resent you. By now I should hate you, but all I can do is pity you. You’re the one who’s going to miss out on an amazing life, because there’s no one better than my sister.”

Quinn couldn’t have uttered a word even if he’d wanted to—his throat was so tight he almost couldn’t breathe.

Bobby tossed the keys at him, which he readily caught.

“Most guys would kill for what you had,” Bobby said, almost with a hint of sadness. “And they wouldn’t have been stupid enough to let it slip away.”

When Quinn was alone in the shop, he looked at the keys in his hands and closed his fist around them. He’d gotten all of his clothes back, Anna had quit the softball team, and now she’d given back the car. Short of hiding in the bushes with a pair of binoculars, he had no excuse to see her. And what was worse, no one would talk to him about her, either. It was almost as if they were all trying to make him crazy.

He’d seen Aidan and Zoe several times over the last few weeks, but no matter how many hints he’d dropped, neither of them had talked about her. Even after Bobby’s little speech, Quinn was no closer to knowing how Anna really was other than her not wanting the damn car.

He’d respected her wishes and kept his distance—everyone thought he was doing it of his own free will, but he wasn’t. No one could possibly understand how hard it was to stay away.

Just as no one could possibly understand how much he really did love her.

Could barely breathe without her.

Hadn’t slept in weeks because of her.

Tossing the keys on his workbench, he stalked across the garage and out the door, locking up behind him. He needed to get out and clear his head. He needed to get out and find something to do that wouldn’t have him thinking of Anna. Aching for Anna.

He cursed. There was no such thing and he knew it.

He could drive from one coast to the other and back again and nothing was going to be better. Nothing was going to be right. Unfortunately, he knew he had to keep moving forward. The pain he felt was self-inflicted and he had to learn to live with it.

He drove through town in his truck. It was a quiet Tuesday afternoon. No traffic. No distractions until…

He’d have known that blond hair anywhere.

Sitting at a table of one of the café’s that had outdoor seating, he saw Anna. Carefully, he pulled over and just…watched. He knew it was wrong and creepy, but it had been so long since he’d seen her that he couldn’t stop himself.

She was sitting alone, talking on her phone. Even from this distance, he could see she was sad. She was laughing at something, but Quinn knew her well enough to know her heart wasn’t in it. He knew her body well enough to know that her fidgeting was because she wasn’t comfortable. The constant toying with her hair was because its length was annoying her. When her shoulders sagged, he wanted nothing more than to jump out of the truck and go over and hold her.

Quinn watched as she put her phone down on the table and looked around. He hoped she didn’t see him. Then she stood and smiled at someone…a guy. What the hell? She was sitting there waiting for a guy? Like a date? He’s sitting there like some lovesick puppy and all the while she’d been waiting for her new boyfriend?

Unable to watch anymore, Quinn pulled back onto the main road and drove away.

* * *

“Congratulations,” Anna said with a bright smile. “You’ve bought yourself a house!”

She had been saying that phrase a lot lately and found that it was fun to see the smiles on her clients’ faces. Anna had been on a bit of a selling streak. In the last month, she’d sold four houses on top of closing on Hugh’s property. She still didn’t love real estate, but right now it was being very good to her. Sitting at the café table, enjoying the sunlight, she collected all the paperwork and put it in her folder.

Dan Michaels leaned back in the chair and smiled back at her. “It certainly looks that way.” He paused. “I can’t thank you enough, Anna. You really listened and found me my perfect house. How about we go out and celebrate?”

Celebrate? Hell, it had been weeks since Anna had wanted to celebrate anything. It was one thing to not see Quinn when he was traveling or when they were each away at college, but this? This variation they had going on, where they were deliberately not seeing each other, was slowly killing her.

Her smile fell slightly but she forced herself to keep her tone light. “I wish I could but I’m supposed to meet up with some friends after work for drinks.”

“Anyone I know?”

She should have said no, but her mouth got away from her. “Aidan Shaughnessy and his wife, Zoe.”

“Oh, wow. I haven’t seen Aidan in years. I heard he’s got a construction company now.”

Anna nodded. “He’s the best in the area.”

“I considered calling him if I didn’t find what I was looking for and seeing if he could custom build something for me. Looks like I won’t have to now.”

“I’m really glad you like the house, Dan. It’s beautiful.”

“Listen,” he began as he leaned forward, “I know this sounds forward but…would you mind if I tagged along? I really would like to see Aidan, and even though I don’t need a house built, I do have some business projects in the works that might be of interest to him.”

Her immediate thought was to tell him no, but how could she deny Aidan a potential opportunity for his business? So with her smile—stiff though it may be—still in place, she agreed.

“I do need to run by the office and get these processed. Why don’t you follow me and we’ll go from there?”

Dan readily agreed and Anna was thankful to have a few minutes to herself. Back at the office, Dan sat and made some calls while she finished with the paperwork. When she couldn’t delay any longer, she went into the ladies room and freshened up and then walked out to tell him she was ready.

Twenty minutes later, they pulled into the pub’s parking lot—separately—and Anna was relieved to spot Aidan’s truck already there. For some reason, she was uncomfortable with the entire situation. She didn’t really want to be out, and she certainly didn’t want to be out with Dan, but Zoe had been after her pretty much since the breakup to leave the house and engage in life again.

So here she was. Engaging in life.

And hating it.

Dan walked over and met her as she was climbing from the car. “I don’t think I’ve been here in years,” he said with an easy grin, taking her hand to help her. “I actually came here for my twenty-first birthday and had my first official, legal drink.” He chuckled. “A bunch of us came here and drank until they threw us out. It was a great little bar.”

Anna chuckled. “Well, brace yourself. It hasn’t changed much.”

Together they walked in and she stiffened slightly when Dan’s hand rested on the small of her back as they made their way through the crowd toward where Aidan and Zoe were sitting in a booth.

“Hey!” Zoe said. “Glad you made it.” She looked past Anna and her eyes landed briefly on Dan before zeroing back on Anna as if to say, “WTF?”

“Oh, sorry,” Anna said as she stepped away slightly from Dan. “This is Dan Michaels. We went to school together and he just signed a contract on a new house on the beach.”

“Dan, how are you?” Aidan asked, standing up and shaking his hand. “You used to play ball with my younger brother, right?”

Anna could tell Aidan was deliberately trying not to say Quinn’s name, and as much as she appreciated it, she just wished everyone would act normal.

Or just let her go home where she could curl up in a ball and be by herself.

“I did, way back when,” Dan replied. “It’s good to see you.” He reached over and shook Zoe’s hand, and then they all took their seats in the booth.

“So…I take it Anna sold you the house,” Zoe said, grinning.

Dan nodded. “It was the very first one she showed me over a month ago. I kind of dragged my feet a bit—I had several business trips to take that sidetracked me—but luckily the house was still available when I was ready for it.”

“It’s a beautiful house,” Anna said and then launched into all the amenities. “You would go crazy for all the finishes, Zoe. It was all done over just before the house went on the market. And the view is breathtaking.”

Dan turned to her and smiled. “It certainly is.”

Zoe arched a brow at Anna who, in turn, blushed. “So,” she said brightly, “have you ordered yet? Are we just doing drinks? Or food? Or…”

Zoe shook her head. “We just got here about five minutes before you did, so we figured we’d wait and see what you were in the mood for.”

Aidan motioned to the waitress and once they all gave their drink orders, Dan immediately began talking business with Aidan. Anna was grateful for the reprieve, but she desperately wanted to talk to Zoe—alone. Unfortunately, they were on the inside of the booth and sort of trapped in their spots. So she went for small talk—the beach, the weather, shopping.

“I was talking to Aubrey last night and she really wants to come for a couple of days and visit.”

“Is Hugh going out of town again?”

Zoe nodded. “Although I kind of think Aubrey orchestrated this one.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Nah. It’s nothing bad. She really wants to do a little shopping for the nursery and wants to get a feel for things before she and Hugh go together.”

“Okay. As long as they’re fine and happy and still in love.”

“Almost sickeningly so,” Zoe laughed.

“So when is she coming?”

“I was thinking maybe we’d hit the outlets next weekend if…” Zoe began and then her eyes drifted to the door of the pub and she stopped.

“If…what?” Anna asked and then followed Zoe’s gaze.

Quinn
.

It was the first time in weeks that she’d seen him, and her heart seemed to kick her in the chest right before stopping altogether.

He looked good. Really good. He must have gotten out of the shop early because he’d obviously showered and shaved, and he had on clean clothes. She watched as he shook hands and greeted a couple of people, and then she felt as if she were going to be sick.