Starless Nights (Hale Brothers Series Book 2) by Kathryn Andrews

wasn’t.
    “Oh. Well it’s nice that you got to spend some time with her.”
    “I did. She was a wonderful woman. She taught me how to sew and we spent hours and hours together looking at fabrics and patterns.”
    “That’s cool, I guess. What did you make? Like blankets and pillows or stuff?”
    She sighs, “No, clothes.” Her hands slide down my chest and she lightly grabs onto my waist. Having her hands on me, almost makes me incoherent.
    “For who?”
    “Me. I outgrew all of mine and we couldn’t afford any more. My grandmother always loved sewing but her hands became too shaky over the years and eventually she had to give it up. I was lucky because she had kept everything and had an entire room filled with beautiful leftover fabrics.”
    She couldn’t afford any more? I don’t know what to say so I don’t say anything. It’s strange because in so many ways, I know this girl, everything about her, but then she says stuff like this and I wonder, how well do I know her now?
    “Beau, why are you not talking to me? You have to know how much this hurts my feelings.”
    Her words shake me from the ‘what ifs’ running through my head, reality slams into me, and I recoil from her. I instantly let her go, push her off of me, and look down at her face.
    She flinches at the change in my body language and the expression on my face.
    “Hurt your feelings? Leila, you were the one who cut me off and told me that you were going to forget me. I will never forget that and you will never know what you did to me .”
    “I’m sorry, I thought it was for the best.”
    “For the best! Best for who? No, you aren’t sorry or you wouldn’t have done it. Did you honestly think after everything that happened, you could move back here and I would welcome you with open arms? No way. You and I are no more and you made sure of that.”
    She was already pale before but the little color she did have drains away. She looks a little confused, but then a piece of her hair falls over her face and her eyes once again fill with tears.
    Just seeing her like this is breaking my heart and I need to get out of this room and away from her.
    “Listen, I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmother and for your loss. We may not be friends anymore but that doesn’t mean that I don’t still care about you.”
    “So, that’s it, we aren’t friends anymore?”
    “No.” I wanted it to sound more firm, but it came out almost like a whisper instead.
    She flinches and takes another step back from me as more tears roll down her face. By the way she just pulled away and folds into herself, I know that I made her day worse and now I feel like the worst person in the world. I shouldn’t though; she’s the one that sealed our fate, not me.
    “Okay Beau.” Defeated, the only word to describe the way she sounds.
     

     

     
     
    THE DOORMAN CHECKS his list, sees that I’m on it for Ali, and lets me pass. I pound on the elevator button to her floor willing it to move faster.
    It finally dings open, I sprint down the hallway to her apartment, and bang on the door.
    Ali opens it. Shock and alarm are on her face.
    “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” I yell at her.
    “Tell you what?” she sees how upset I am.
    “That Beau is already here.” I push past her and walk into the living room, throwing myself on the couch.
    “No he isn’t.” She says as she follows behind me.
    “Oh, wow, so you really didn’t know? Well, he is! He came into the café this morning and I felt ambushed. I wasn’t ready to see him and I certainly wasn’t ready to talk to him after all of this time.”
    “I didn’t know he was here and how does he know where you work?” Ali doesn’t sit. She just stares down at me.
    “He didn’t. It was completely random and right after I opened the door.”
    “At five in the morning?”
    “Yep, and he looked terrible too.” Worry lines slowly seep into Ali’s face.
    “Explain that to me,” she says, as she