Chapter 7

seven

DYLAN

I dropped my glasses onto the coffee table in Alex’s office and rubbed my eyes with weary hands. I had no idea what the time was and I was beyond caring. For three days, I’d worked beside Alex, testing, eliminating, and retesting different parts of the program. Delving into the software was like walking inside a giant maze, but this one was trickier than most.

“I made hot apple cider.”

“You must have read my mind,” I told Alex as I stood and stretched.

“It was more like I looked at the time. It’s after midnight.”

“The bewitching hour.” I took the cup and sniffed. “It smells delicious.”

“The owner of the general store makes his own recipe.” The warmth in Alex’s eyes turned to concern. “I appreciate you working day and night to help me, but you need to stop if you get tired.”

“We won’t find the problem unless we check everything.” I sat back down on the sofa. “Your fields are correct and the input data isn’t corrupted. The issue has to be in the way the different parts of the program interact with each other.”

“We can look at that in the morning.”

I covered an enormous yawn with my hand. “I have to go home this weekend. I’m hoping we’ll find the bug before then.”

“So am I.” Alex sat beside me. “By home, do you mean Boulder?”

“I do. My brother, Luke, is getting married next week. Our youngest brother, Steve, has organized a bachelor party for this Saturday. I have no idea what we’re doing, but it won’t be too crazy.” The apple cider slid down my throat like nectar. I took another sip, savoring the fruity sweetness.

“Do you like doing crazy things?”

“It depends on your definition of crazy.”

Alex’s eyebrows rose.

“I know,” I sighed. “If I have to ask you to define ‘crazy,’ then there can’t be one spontaneous bone in my body.”

“Who told you that?”

“No one. It’s obvious. I like plans and lists and triple-checking everything. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for crazy.”

“You’d be surprised. Is the rest of your family like you?”

“We’re all different.” I thought about my lovable, slightly eccentric mother, and my father who’d sleep under the stars for six months of the year if Mom let him. “Growing up with an Italian-American Mom and a die-hard cowboy for a Dad made our life interesting.”

“How interesting?”

“You’ll be bored to tears. ”

Alex stretched out his legs. It looked like he was making himself comfortable for a long story. “Try me.”

Just thinking about my mom and dad made me smile. “Mom’s idea of heaven is being in the kitchen, cooking ten different dishes and dispensing advice for lifelong happiness. My dad’s life ebbs and flows with the seasons. He was the foreman on a ranch before they moved into Boulder. Now he spends most days in the garden. When he isn’t there, he’s driving Mom insane with ideas about what he wants to do around the house.”

“Sounds like an interesting life. What about your brothers?”

“My brother, Luke, thrives on structure.” I held my hands four inches apart. “His wedding planner is this thick. It lists everything he needs to do in one-hour blocks. Steve’s more relaxed.”

“Are you the middle son?”

“Eldest. Luke’s twenty-eight and Steve’s twenty-six. What about your family?”

Alex’s gaze dropped to his cider. “I grew up in Milwaukee with my mom. I don’t have any brothers or sisters.”

“Where does your dad live?”

The overhead light cast shadows over the hard planes of Alex’s face. “I don’t know. I was sixteen when I last saw him.”

“That must have been hard.” When Alex didn’t reply, I touched his hand. Bad move. A spark of electricity shot between us, making me pull back fast. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. My brothers tell me I’ll get into trouble if I keep touching people when I speak to them. But Mom says my Italian genes will always override common sense. ”

I looked at the confusion on Alex’s face and groaned. “That was too much information. Forget if I said or did anything that was inappropriate. What were you like as a teenager?”

“It wasn’t too much information,” Alex said slowly. “And I’m not worried about you touching my hand. I might even have…” He stopped talking and cleared his throat. “It doesn’t matter. Where were we?”

I frowned. “I asked what you were like when you were a teenager.”

“I was determined.” Alex lifted his gaze and looked at me. “Mom had three jobs, and it still wasn’t enough to pay the bills. I wanted more than that. I was lucky.”

He looked away, but not before I saw the sadness in his eyes.

Alex placed his cup on the table. “We should probably call it a night. Are you happy to start work at eight o’clock tomorrow morning?”

“That’s fine.”

Alex moved around the office, closing folders and placing them back on the shelves.

My family had never had a lot of money, but we’d always had each other. Even when my dad’s accident forced him to retire early from the ranch, we made the best of what we had and looked after each other. I couldn’t imagine not having their support.

I watched Alex for a few more seconds before picking up our cups. “I’ll take these through to the kitchen.”

“Thanks. Good night.”

I hesitated in the doorway. If I didn’t say what I was thinking, I might never get the chance again.

Alex must have sensed that I had something on my mind. He stopped what he was doing and looked at me with a question in his eyes.

“I just wanted to say that you should be proud of what you’ve achieved. Ryan told me about your career. A lot of people can only dream about the success you’ve had.”

Alex shrugged and turned off his computer. “Success doesn’t make you happy.”

“But it can change your life for the better if you want it to. Good night.”

“Good night, Dylan.”

His softly spoken reply made me sigh. Alex had done so much with his life—I only hoped that one day he could appreciate just how far he’d come.