They’d made contact. Yeah, Carrie was half yelling at the time, but Austin still considered it progress of sorts.
“That went well.” Spence shut the door to the makeshift office and joined his brother in watching Carrie practically run from the lot.
“It’s a start.”
“Were we listening to the same conversation?”
Austin tore his gaze away from her ass and tugged his gloves back on. He’d waited months to see her again. He could hold out a few more days to touch her. “She thinks I don’t appreciate the things she cares about.”
“Whatever that means.”
Spence could identify plant species, had handpicked every choice in their hothouses and on the sales floor, and could classify every tree on the three hundred acres they owned along with their father. But women? Not his area of expertise.
Since the brothers lived together on the top two floors of the farmhouse in Holloway whose bottom floor served as the business office for Thomas Nurseries, Austin had a front-row seat to the parade of women Spence slept with then showed the door. The guy didn’t do commitment. He barely did overnights.
Austin tried to explain his position anyway. “Carrie is big on the boyfriend support thing.”
“Aren’t all women?”
The man had a point. “I guess that’s why you run away from them so fast.”
A sea of red crept up Spence’s neck to his cheeks. “When did we start talking about my love life?”
That topic needed months of dissecting and a therapist. Austin wasn’t touching it. “My point is I know Carrie’s issues and can handle them.”
Spence snorted as he dropped down on the step to the office. “Since she’s living here and you’re living two hours away, you might want to work on the way you handle things.”
“And since one of us actually needs to work so we can sell trees and make money, can you hand me that?” Austin pointed to the pocket knife on the ground next to Spence’s foot.
“I have a job. Landscaping, running a family business.” He kicked the closed knife in Austin’s direction. “Any of this sound familiar?”
“Mitch is handling everything back home with the business while I take care of my problem with his sister here.”
“And you think I don’t get women.” Spence muttered something about idiots.
“Meaning?”
“If she calls the cops on you for stalking, you’re on your own.” Spence jumped to his feet and reached for the nearest tree. “I don’t have extra money for bail, so don’t ask.”
“I’m not stalking.”
“You crossed state lines to hunt her down then set up shop outside of her window.” Spence shook his head. “What would you call it?”
Austin had to admit pieces sounded bad when Spence laid them out like that. “She’s hiding. If she were really over me, she wouldn’t do everything she could to keep from seeing me. She’d meet me head-on.”
“Your logic is nuts.”
No, he’d worked it all out in his head and it made sense. “Her pride is in the way. Once I get around that we’re good.”
“Now you sound like an egotistical prick.”
Austin’s confidence took a kick but he didn’t even flinch. “I’m being realistic.”
“If that were true I’d be at home right now.”
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