Will nodded like that was to be expected. “Texts?”
“Nothing.”
I felt him staring at the side of my face while I watched Little J playing with Eliza outside near the pond. “Jesse?”
“What?” I snapped. “She’s made it pretty clear where she stands. Even if we do pull this off, it still might not be enough.”
“I know,” he said calmly. “But I also know you.”
“Congratulations.”
He rolled his eyes. “Which means that I know you don’t chase things you don’t care about. What happened here, Jesse? The real story. Don’t try to feed me any of that bullshit about it being fake or manufactured for the press.”
My chest constricted. “It started out as a way to buy Alex and Nate some time after they got the news of Adeline’s divorce, but to be honest, right from the very beginning, I was using it as an excuse to spend some more time with her.”
“Right.”
“But none of that even matters now because she thinks she doesn’t belong.” I raked a hand through my hair and brought it to rest at my nape, squeezing hard. “According to her, our family will never accept her and my world will swallow her whole.”
“What doyouthink?”
“I think she’s wrong.”
“Then why are you standing here instead of telling her that?”
“I tried, but she wouldn’t believe me. There’s so much history, man. So much more than I thought, which is why we’re all working on this, but in the end, it’s going to be her choice to make and I just don’t know if it’s going to go my way.”
Will was quiet for a moment, watching me with that look on his face that told me he was about to say something annoyinglyinsightful. I braced for it, but when he finally said the words, they were so unexpected that I almost fell over.
“I’m proud of you, Jesse.”
My eyebrows shot up. Honestly, I couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d just told me he was taking up interpretive dance in his spare time. “What was that?”
“You heard me.”
“No, I heard words, but I don’t believe I got any of them right.”
His mouth twitched into a smile, but he didn’t back down. “I’m serious. Don’t take offense to a compliment.”
“I’m not taking offense,” I said. “I’m just deeply suspicious of your motives right now.”
“Do I need a motive to tell my brother that I’m proud of him?”
“Yes, you do. Because right now, this feels like a setup.”
“It’s not.”
“Are you sure?” I narrowed my eyes. “Historically, it’s unlikely that you’re actually feeling what you’re saying you are.”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying it. I never thought you’d settle down, man.”
“Fantastic.” I scoffed. “See, itwasa setup. Please continue to explain how emotionally unavailable I am. It’s great for my self-esteem.”
Will sighed. “It’s just that you don’t settle down, man. You don’t have it in you. You get bored. You move on. You don’t stay where you don’t want to be.”
“Why does that sound like a flaw when you say it?”
“It’s not,” he said. “It’s just who you are. Or at least, that’s who youwere, but now you’re here in England, despite everything else that’s going on, and it’s not because you have to be. It’s because you’re choosing to be.”