I didn't get home until after seven o'clock that evening. We had a hectic time filming the six o'clock, and then I had to deal with my dog afterward.
Patrick had spent the day at the doggy day care, and I got into a conversation about him with the girls at the front desk. He was a massive harlequin Great Dane. He was over two hundred pounds, but he was a giant teddy bear. I brought him to the daycare about once a week, and they always doted over him. They told me he received the "doggy of the day" honor, and they wanted to take a picture of him for their bulletin board, so it was late by the time we did all that and made it home.
I had several texts and missed calls, including a few from my brother and one from Courtney. I decided to call Liam first. He picked up on the first ring.
"Hey brother," I said when I heard him answer.
"What's up? I tried to call twice. Where've you been?"
"At work," I said. "What's up with you?"
"Did you get my messages?"
"No," I said. "We were busy at the station, and I've been on the road since I left there. What's going on?"
"I want you to come with me to see this building I want to buy for Taylor. Mom and Dad saw it earlier today, and they said I should go for it."
"For what?" I asked, feeling distracted by Patrick who was going crazy next to his bag of food in anticipation of his evening meal.
"For Taylor to open a store," Liam said as if that were obvious, which it was.
His girlfriend was a suit-maker who owned a posh men's clothing store in Beverly Hills. She and Liam had been talking about getting married, and I knew he wanted to help her open a business here in Memphis. I was just tired and distracted.
"Darcy owns it," he added. "And she's willing to speed up the buying process so I can sign the papers before Taylor comes in next week. Mom and Dad said I should do it, but I want to get your opinion."
"Why are you in such a hurry if Darcy owns it?" I asked.
"Because I want to give Taylor the keys when I give her the ring. Will you please just come look at it with me? Please? I really want to tell her one way or the other."
"Tonight?"
"Yes. I told Darcy if I decide to move forward with it, we can meet with her lawyer tomorrow."
"Well, it seems like you've already made up your mind."
"Kinda, I really like it, but I want your opinion," he said.
"What if I say it's terrible? Would it make a difference?"
"Yes," he said. He was silent on the other end, and I knew he meant it.
My precious baby brother sincerely wanted my opinion. How could I refuse?
"I'm starving," I said.
"I haven't eaten either. We'll pick up something while we're out."
I looked at Patrick who was staring straight at his bag of food. I started to tell Liam I was taking him with us, but he was worn out from playing all day, so I knew he'd pass out in his kennel.
"Are you picking me up, or what?" I asked.
"Yep. I'll be there in ten minutes."
I hung up the phone with my brother, and fed Patrick before letting him outside. I was starving, so I ate a handful of peanuts before using the restroom and taking five minutes to straighten up my hair and face. I called Courtney once that was all said and done and I was waiting for my brother.
"What in the world?" was how she answered the phone.
I let out a laugh. "What's that mean?" I asked.
"I talked to Isaac," she said.
"And?"
"And, you met him and talked to him today, and you never mentioned that you were my cousin! What's wrong with you?"
I smiled at her for calling me that. "I'm sorry," I said. "He was only at the station for a few minutes, and Cindy was all over him, like I told you."
"He doesn't give a crud about anyone named Cindy," she said. "I told him I caught the last part of the interview and asked him if he met my cousin while he was there, and he had no idea who I was talking about! He was shocked when I said your name. He acted like y'all were buddy-buddy. Why didn't you tell him?"
"Because, like I said, he was only there for a minute. I barely talked to him."
"He didn't act like that. He acted like you guys really hit it off."
"No, he didn't," I said, knowing she was stretching the truth.
"Well, he did seem shocked when I said your name. He said you didn't even mention knowing me. Isn't he sweet? Isn't he cute?"
"I guess…" I said in a questioning tone.
"Well, I told him we were all going out for dinner sometime, and he said he wants to. And I told him you give haircuts out of your house and that you said you would hook him up with one if he needed it while he's in Memphis."
"He's not a haircut every four weeks kind of guy," I said. "His hair's too long for that."
"He said he needs one now," she said.
"You're lying."
"No, I'm not. I told him you said you would do it, and he asked when you could get him in."
"I hope you didn't tell him you're trying to hook us up," I said. "He got enough of that already today."
"I didn't," she said. "I wouldn't do that. I was smooth about mentioning you. But I could tell he was intrigued just by how he reacted when I said your name."
My heart sped up at all this talk of Isaac being intrigued by me. I wasn't used to caring how guys felt about me, and I felt shy and speechless. I stared out of my window into my backyard at Patrick, who was trotting around like a graceful, long-legged horse.
"Do you care if I give him your number?" Courtney asked. "You know, about the haircut?"
"Don't go asking him if he wants my number," I said. "If he brings it up to you, then you can—"
"I already gave it to him," she said.
I laughed. "Then why'd you ask if it was okay?"
"I was just making sure."
"I really hope you didn't tell him you wanted us to go out."
"I didn’t. I promise. I just said he could call you for a haircut."
I was still on the phone with Courtney a minute later when Liam pulled up, so I let her go in a hurry so I could kennel Patrick and meet my brother in the driveway.
We drove to the building in question, which was an old, run-down dry cleaners. Darcy had given Liam the key to it, so we went inside. It was in disrepair—extremely dusty and a little smelly, but underneath all of the dirt and grime, I could imagine a brilliant store for Taylor.
One of the best things about it was that it was right next door to an amazing theater—one of Memphis's finest. The Blackbird was an old opera house that had been restored a couple of years back, and I had to think that real estate nearby was a smart investment, even if it took some work to get the building up to par.
Our grandparents owned and operated one of the largest motorcycle companies in the nation, but Liam's trust had not kicked in yet, so we talked about financing and investment, and he said our parents and grandparents were helping him out. I told him the truth, which was that he should talk to Darcy's lawyer and sign the papers with no hesitation whatsoever. It didn't take much imagination to picture the place cleaned up and in working order again, and I knew his girlfriend (soon to be fiancé) would absolutely fall in love with it.
We stayed there for about thirty minutes, touring the place and talking about what repairs needed to happen and how much of it we could theoretically do ourselves.
We were both starving when we left, so we went to a restaurant that was within walking distance. Neither of us had tried it before, but I searched it on my phone and found that it had good reviews. It was a quaint café, and seeing as how it was eight o'clock on a Tuesday night, it was relatively empty.
Liam and I sat at a small table near the window. We were in the process of devouring some seafood fritters we had ordered for an appetizer when someone walked by on the sidewalk, catching my attention. I had been laughing at something my brother said, but my smile faded when I realized that the person walking by was Isaac Charles.
Seeing him took me so off-guard that I tilted my head, staring at him and wondering if I was imagining things. He stopped walking and stared straight at me like he was equally confused. I smiled a little and lifted my hand, giving him a small, slightly awkward wave. He lifted his hand and did the same thing before glancing across the table at Liam and then back at me.
"Who is that?" Liam asked.
"Isaac," I said, without taking my eyes off of the man on the sidewalk.
I put up my palms in a questioning gesture and mouthed the words, "What are you doing here?" in an over-exaggerated way so he could easily read my lips. I even pointed to the ground when I said the word 'here' just to make sure he understood what I was saying.
Isaac stiffly turned and pointed at the building on the adjacent corner, which was a hotel. It was a nice place, and it made sense that he'd be staying there, so by the time he looked at me again, I winked and gave him a thumb's up, assuring him that I understood. He gave me a little smile, hesitating for a second like maybe he was confused or wanted to say something more.
He glanced at Liam again, and Liam smiled and waved. My brother was tall, dark, and handsome, and my stomach tied in knots as I realized that Isaac Charles assumed all the wrong things about him and me. I watched as Isaac waved back at him. He didn't seem overly jealous or upset, but there was some slight underlying confusion and maybe a little irritation that I couldn't help but notice.
I could have done a lot of things at that point. I could have said, "He's my brother," in that same lip-reading way I had used before. Heck, I could have motioned him in and introduced them for that matter.
I didn’t do either of those things, however.
I was tempted to, but I didn’t.
Instead, I smiled and waved as if it had been really nice to casually run into him. He waved back, and I watched as he turned and kept walking. The temperature had dropped since the sun went down, and he was now wearing a light jacket over his T-shirt. I watched him walk away, wondering why I couldn’t stop myself from getting nervous in his presence.
"Who was that?" Liam asked.
"Isaac," I said.
"You said that already, but who is he?"
"Courtney's friend. Courtney's guy. That guy who designed her building. Her architect. I only know him because he came to the station for an interview today. He talked to Cindy. She asked him for his number and stuff. He'll probably call her."
Liam stared at me for a few seconds after I finally quit rambling. "Why are you so nervous?" he asked, looking amused.
"I'm not."
He leaned over and peeked under the table at my feet, which had begun to shake and wiggle without me even realizing it.
I tried to stop as soon as I realized what Liam was looking at. "What? I'm cold." I said. "I'm not nervous."
"Is that the guy Courtney was talking about setting you up with when we were at Shug's the other night?"
"I don't know," I said with a shrug.
"You don't know?" Liam asked, grinning at me as he raised one eyebrow.
"He's just a guy," I said. "I met him today when he came to the station to do an interview."
Our server came to the table, carrying our plates and saving me from embarrassing myself any further. It had been a long, full day, and I was too tired and delirious to keep my thoughts straight and stop myself from rambling. I had ordered chicken and pasta, and I gazed at it before smiling at our server.
"Thank you," I said.
"My pleasure," he said. "Can I bring y'all anything else?"
"I'll take some ketchup," Liam said, since he ordered sliders and fries.
Our server nodded as he took off. "I'll be right back with that."
I grabbed a french fry off of Liam's plate and popped it into my mouth.
"That dude looks like Nick Carson," Liam said.
"Who, him?" I asked glancing at the server's back, even though I knew that wasn't who Liam was talking about.
"That guy who was standing outside," he said. "The architect."
"You think?" I asked, scrunching up my face like I didn't see it even though clearly I did.
Nick was a guy we knew from way back.
He had gone to our high school and to our family's church before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. As far as I knew, he hadn't made it in film, but he had definitely done some modeling. I was aware of this because I followed him on Instagram, and he was constantly posting pictures.
The truth was, Isaac Charles bore a striking resemblance to Nick. I had already thought of that earlier. They were both blessed with good hair and those splendid cheekbones—too handsome for their own good.
"I thought he was Nick when he first walked up," Liam said.
"Huh, that's funny. I kinda see it a little." I nodded, faking nonchalance as I chewed my food.