“I am, Branden. I’m proud.”
“Thanks.” He grabbed the doorknob, glanced at the door. “There is one favor I’d like to ask.”
My mood dimmed a tiny bit. Now this was a little more like the old Branden, the one I knew all too well. The one I didn’t like, even if I did love him. “What’s that?”
“I need a personal reference for the job. Can I use you?”
“A personal reference?” I repeated as I pondered his request. This was a touchy subject. If I told a potential employer the whole truth, he might not get a job.
“All you have to do is answer a couple of questions. Honestly. They know about my past. The program helped me get the interview.”
I tried to hide the huge sigh of relief that puffed out of me. “In that case, sure. I’ll do it.”
“Thanks.” He hugged me. It felt so strange. I couldn’t remember the last time he’d hugged me. Years and years. He twisted the knob. “I’ll let you know when I hear something.”
“Good luck.”
He stepped out, halted as if something or someone in the hallway had stopped him. He tossed a wave over his shoulder and headed down the hall.
That someone, who turned out to be Jill, stepped into my line of sight, giving me a curious look as she approached. When she cleared the doorway, she peered back out. “Who was that?”
“That was Branden. My brother. You’ve met him before.”
Her eyes widened. “That was your brother?” She poked her head out the door again. “I don’t remember him looking like that before.”
I waited until her head was safely inside before closing the front door. “Yes, well that’s because I don’t think he’s ever looked like that before,” I said as I returned to my cooling pasta.
“He had some problems, right?” she asked as she followed me. “You don’t talk about him much. But I remember you said something about him being in trouble.”
I sat at the breakfast bar and stabbed a noodle. “Alcohol. It was bad. At one point he was homeless.” I slid the pasta into my mouth, and it filled with delicious flavor. Cream. Garlic. A hint of bacon. Cheese. Ah, so much better than Ramen noodles.
“Wow. Looks like he’s turning his life around.” Using her fingers, Jill helped herself to one of my noodles, popped it into her mouth and made a funny face. “What is this stuff? It’s nasty.”
Nasty? Oh, how soon we forget. When Jill was going to school, she lived on food a lot nastier than this. I shrugged away her comment about my dinner. “It looks like my brother has finally gotten his crap together. He said it’s been a year since he’s had a drink.”
“Was it a surprise, him coming to see you?” Jill helped herself to a swallow of my cola too.
“Are you hungry? Thirsty? There’s a bottle of cola in the fridge. Help yourself.”
“Thanks.” Jill hopped up and headed for the refrigerator.
“While she filled a glass with ice and cola, I said, “I haven’t seen him in a couple of years. He’s applying for a job and wanted to ask me to be a personal reference.”
“You are going to help him, aren’t you?” Jill returned to her seat next to me, where my brother had been sitting.
“Yes.”
“I hope he gets the job.”
“Me too.”
She pointed at the plastic tray that was already about half-empty. “Are you really going to eat that crap?”
“It isn’t crap. It’s…” I studied it. “It’s… some kind of pasta meal with…some kind of meat.”
“Yum. Mystery meat.”
We shared a laugh at that one, an old joke. College cafeteria food.
“Anyway, I have some information for you. My guy was able to track down a woman in San Marino who claims to be the legal wife of Shane Trant.”
No surprise there. “Okay. Speaking of your guy--”
“At this point, that’s all I have. He is doing some more digging.”
I knew I should tell her that Shane himself had explained the whole situation. It would save her money, time, too. But I was too chicken to admit I’d talked to him. “Um, I don’t think I need to know any more. Really. You should just call him off now, save yourself the money.”
“You’re taking this well. Better than I would.” Jill tipped her head. “You’re really moving on, aren’t you?” When I didn’t respond, she gave me a nudge. “I’m proud of you. I figured by now you would crumble and go back to him.”
I had. I’d crumbled worse than a cookie crushed under a brick.
Jill’s smile widened. “You’re finally getting on with your life, putting that jerk behind you. You deserve so much better than him. There’s this guy at work who wants to meet you--”
Oh God. “Jill, no offense, but you’re a better lawyer than matchmaker.”
“But he’s a great guy. Insanely good looking. Smart. Funny. Super sweet.”
Crap. I had to tell her. She wasn’t going to stop trying to fix me up. “I saw him today. I saw Shane.” Inside, I cringed. I knew what was coming.
“Did you speak to him?”
“Actually…I did a lot more than that.”
Getting the gist of my hint, Jill thinned her lips and slanted squinty eyes at me. “You screwed him.”
“I…we…he asked me to marry him.”
“He did what?” Jill’s eyes widened to at least twice their normal size. “Please tell me you laughed in his face.” She lifted a hand. “No, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to know.” She gave me a pitty-filled look. “Dammit, you just can’t do it, can you? You can’t get that ass**le out of your life.”
I shook my head. “There’s something between us. It’s hard to explain.”
“I just hope you’ll be okay when he breaks your heart. Because he’s going to.” She heaved a big, exaggerated sigh. “I’ll be here. When it’s over. You can count on me.”
Just the way I wanted to go into a marriage, with my best friend already talking about when it would end.
I hadn’t even started planning the wedding.
The knock on the door had my best friend scowling. She clamped her lips tight and eyed the door.
I told her, “I’m not expecting Shane tonight.”
“Hmph.” She grumbled something else. I couldn’t make it out. That was probably a good thing.