Hidden Wishes Read online

  “Glad you asked. It was a banner meal in the annals of Higgs history,” I said, throwing myself in a chair.

  “Really?” She pushed her laptop away. “Spill.”

  I recounted the whole thing, and at the end, I couldn’t believe it. There were a couple of tears sliding down her face.

  “Are you crying?” I asked.

  She snatched a tissue from the box on the edge of her desk. “Yes. Leave me alone. I’ve never heard your dad go off for you. On you, yes. But in your defense like that? Never. You’ve never told me about it happening, anyway.”

  “It was pretty impressive.”

  “Yeah, so I’m crying.” She wiped her eyes again. “That’s so great, Bryant. I’m really pleased for you. Isn’t this what you hoped for?”

  “I just wanted them to not nag me to death, and to not be assholes about my choices. I never even considered something like this.” It still seemed surreal. “I wish you could have seen it, Tib.”

  “Me, too. I can’t be so hard on your dad anymore.”

  “That’s all it took?” I got up.

  “That’s all? This was pretty big!”

  “It was. I’m teasing. Listen, my personal life has intruded for long enough this week. I’m getting as bad as you,” I teased her a little more.

  “Well, it’s your turn,” Tibby shrugged, and pulled her laptop close again. “But yes, you should work. I’m bringing home all the bacon these days. And being serious for a minute, we do have court next week.”

  “So?”

  “I might have to go with you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because their lead guy is a complete ass, and I want to see you beat him down. Plus, he’s got a temper and it will piss him off to see me there.” She smiled.

  “Ah, he poked the shark, didn’t he?”

  “Friggen jerk. He did indeed. You don’t have to be polite.” She scowled at her screen.

  “Oh, good. I’ll just take my own personal crap out in court.”

  “You don’t think you can have your shit together by then?”

  “Girl, please. You have no stones you can cast in that department.” I raised my eyebrow at her. I’d put up with her life getting crazy a couple of times and always in good humor.

  Tibby laughed. “You’re right, but I’m always going to try.”

  I rolled my eyes as I left.

  She was right. It was a good thing to work with your best friend.

  I didn’t think about Declan O’Mara until the end of the week when my phone rang. I answered, “Bryant Higgs,” without taking my eyes off my paperwork in front of me.

  So irritating to still deal with paper when it was much easier to go digital for most of this.

  “Bike crasher Declan O’Mara here. Checking in as promised.”

  Oh, shit. He was calling to tell me that he’d discovered some major injury. The call to my dad was going to suck.

  “Hi, Declan. How are you doing?” That was a loaded question.

  “I wanted to let you know that I’m great.”

  “You are?” I asked, breathing a sigh of relief. I hoped I was quiet about it. “That’s great,” I said, feeling a little foolish. “I’m glad you didn’t get hurt because I was lost in space.”

  “I’m good. But since you’re still wallowing in guilt, let me help you deal with that. You can meet me for a beer tonight, and it’s all on your tab.”

  I stilled. Was this a date? It sure as hell sounded like a date. Was he interested? I hadn’t gotten that vibe when we bumped into each other, but… it sounded like he was interested now.

  It had been a while since I’d been out on a date with someone I didn’t know. Graham and I did date nights and—Graham! I was dati—no. I was not dating Graham. I wanted to, but he wanted time. And I hadn’t heard from him in a month, I corrected myself.

  It felt like this was a request for a date, but I could be wrong. Either way, he was nice. Nice to look at or he was trying to be nice and assuage my guilt.

  “Bryant?”

  “Sorry, Declan, I was looking at my schedule. Yeah, tonight’s good.”

  “You work on the weekends?” I could hear a hint of laughter in his tone.

  “Sometimes. I have a court date next week, and it’s a challenging one, so I am getting all my homework done,” I said.

  “That sounds like a good move, but since you already agreed to beers tonight, leave the homework at the office.”

  “Gladly,” I leaned back, stretching. “I’m tired of looking at it, anyway.”

  “How about The Rye around five?”

  “Sounds great,” I said. “Although that’s a bit more than beer,” I added, smiling. I loved The Rye.

  “Well, I’m thoughtful like that. I like people to have options. See you later,” Declan said.

  I hung up, and I could feel the smile on my face. While I had no expectations, he seemed like a good guy. If this was a date, then all the better, but again, I couldn’t tell. I hadn’t been paying attention after I’d run into him. Well, I had noticed how nice he looked in his workout gear… but the thought of lawsuits drove all that out of my head.

  “You’re a Higgs,” I said to myself.

  When Tibby stuck her head in, I was surprised to see that it was after four.

  “You want to come out with us tonight?”

  I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m going out for a beer.”

  Tibby’s eyes rose to nearly the ceiling. “Oh?”

  “Don’t say it like that, you old gossip. I just met someone earlier this week—”

  Tibby whooped. “You’re back, back in the saddle again,” she sang, inviting herself into my office.

  “It’s not like that! I ran into him out in front and knocked him off his bike.”

  “Oh, shit. Is this a settlement talk? Why didn’t you tell me about this?” She switched from cackling best friend to all law in less than a heartbeat.

  “No, it’s no big deal. I asked him to let me know that he was all right, because I thought the same thing you did,” I grinned at her, “And he told me he was fine, but that I could take him out for a beer for his trouble.”

  She crossed her arms, looking at me. “Is this a date? Did you really score a date from an accident?”

  I was glad in that moment she’d come in. “I don’t know. I didn’t get that vibe from him, but…” I shrugged. “It feels like a date, even if I’m not sure about him. I feel like a kid!” I threw up my hands. “I’ve been part of a couple for so long, I don’t know whether to scratch my watch or wind my ass!”

  Tibby laughed. “Well, if he’s interested, he’ll let you know. If not, write it off as a business expense.”

  “You are colder than I am,” I stared at her. “How did I miss this when I first asked you to go into business?”

  “Blind, like most guys there,” she shrugged again. “Underestimating women? Who cares? That’s not the point right now. The point is, this could be a date, so you’d better hop to it and pull your shit together.”

  “What’s wrong with my shit?” I looked down at myself.

  “God, men.” She rolled her eyes. “Go brush your hair, brush your teeth, and make sure you don’t stink. It may not be anything, but that’s what you do when it might.”

  I stopped myself when I remembered that I’d seen her do this countless times. “There’s a reason this isn’t a guy thing,” I said, taking a lofty tone.

  “It should be. It’s common courtesy. You don’t go into court with bad breath. You should go into any meeting the same way.”

  “I can’t believe I’m being lectured by you,” I grumbled, getting up to go to the bathroom between our offices.

  “You’re lucky to have me. Hey, what’s this guy’s name? What’s he do?”

  “Why?”

  “Because that’s what you do, Bryant. You get some info on your friend when they go out with strange people so that if you don’t show up on Monday, I have a place to send the police.”

/>   “Are you serious?”

  She stepped into the bathroom behind me. “Yes. One hundred percent.”

  I stared at her, but she wasn’t budging. “Fine. His name is Declan O’Mara, and I have no idea what he does. He rides a bike for fun,” I added.

  “That’s it? That’s all you got?”

  “I didn’t realize I was supposed to compile a report.” I glared.

  “All right, if that’s the best you can do. Text me when you get home tonight.”

  “Again, are you for real?”

  “I’m your friend.” She disappeared back onto her side.

  I stared at myself in the mirror. This could be a lot of fuss over nothing.

  After a few moments where I peered at my hair in the mirror, Tibby yelled at me again.

  “Lock up?”

  “You’re leaving already?” I called out.

  “Yep.”

  “Slacker.”

  “Call me and tell me everything. Late tomorrow morning and don’t forget to text me tonight!” she added.

  “Yes, Mom,” I yelled toward her office.

  I could hear our staff laughing. They all loved working for us—said it was like working for a brother and sister.

  Which was true. Add onto that a good benefits package, and we treated them like part of the family—we didn’t have much turnover.

  When I finished up, and closed up my office, I headed out to see that our paralegals were leaving.

  Darcy, who’d been with us since we’d opened, smiled. “You look good, Bryant.”

  “Well, good. Have I been looking less than good?”

  She exchanged a glance with Tina, our office manager. “You haven’t been yourself lately,” she said.

  Tina nodded.

  “That was diplomatic. But true,” I sighed. “Sorry if I’ve been a pain. My head has been up my own ass for too long. However, it’s free and clear now, so no more of not-me anymore.”

  “That’s a good thing. It’s fine, by the way. Everyone has those months that are terrible,” Tina said.

  “Have a good weekend,” Darcy said.

  “You, too, ladies,” I smiled.

  They left, and I did a walk-through and then locked up.

  As the door clicked shut behind me, I found that I was a little nervous.

  That I hoped it was a date, and I was scared as hell that it would be. Or that it wouldn’t be.

  There was no happy medium. As I headed for The Rye Bar, I thought I could solve everything if I just went home and crawled into bed.

  Which made me laugh at my own foolishness. It would be what it would be.

  But I still hoped it was a date.

  10

  By some miracle, I was able to find parking, and got in the door just after five. I scanned the bar which wasn’t very big, and saw Declan sitting in one of the leather chairs over by the window. He stood when he saw me.

  “Hey,” I said as I approached.

  He held out his hand. “You can see for yourself,” he said as we shook, “That I’m still in one piece and upright.”

  He was dressed in business casual, with dark khaki pants and a button-up shirt in light blue that made his eyes look even icier. They glowed like beacons.

  “That makes my lawyer heart beat a little easier,” I said, sitting down across from him.

  “Hey! You were supposed to leave the homework at the office,” he laughed.

  “Trust me, I did.”

  “I hope so. I took the liberty of ordering you a Manhattan, but you are under no obligation to drink it,” he gestured to one of the drinks on the small table.

  “Oh, great! Thanks, I love these,” I said.

  “You’ve been here?” He picked up his drink and sat back in the chair.

  “Yeah, I have a friend who loves this kind of place,” I replied, thinking of Xavier.

  “These are some of my favorites,” he said as he sipped his drink.

  I took a drink, and I felt it wash down my throat and into my stomach, where it started to warm me immediately. The Rye was famous for barrel aging their Manhattans. I’d brought Xavier here before and he nearly fell over at how good they were.

  Tibby had to drive us home that night, too, I thought.

  I was glad she’d badgered me for info tonight, I realized. Now it was time to get a little more.

  “Since I was so busy running into you, I didn’t ask what you do,” I said. I kept it casual. I could feel the work side of me gear up for interrogation, and I didn’t want to do that.

  He grinned. “I’m a water consultant.”

  “A what?”

  “A water consultant.”

  “What does that entail?”

  DC was always interesting in the many kinds of jobs that brought people here. It was one of the reasons I loved living here. I was glad that Tibby hadn’t wanted to move after she got married. I would die here.

  “It’s a good job for a public service and engineering double major. That was the important point as far as my mother was concerned,” he said, still smiling. “You know, put that degree we paid so much for to use, and all that.”

  I laughed with him. I would have gotten the same response had I gone into any other field than pre-law.

  Declan continued, “We look at how to make water more readily available to communities. Not just water, but how to get rid of waste, and all the aspects of water needed for daily life.”

  “That sounds interesting.” I’m not sure whether it is or not, but he’s so passionate about it, I find myself interested.

  “It is. DC is an old city and figuring out how to upgrade and maintain the water systems here is always a challenge. I’ve been doing some travel in Europe this year for better ideas. People still have to live, and God knows they’d whine and carry on if too much of life gets disrupted,” he rolled his eyes. “So I—” then he stopped. “I’m sorry. I get a little carried away.”

  “You love your job. That’s not a bad thing,” I said.

  “I really do. I do a lot of work around here on my bike, too, which is good. Except when people run right into me,” he grinned.

  “Well, you’re getting a good drink out of it at least,” I said. “Speaking of which, next round is on me. So how long have you been in DC?”

  “I just relocated here about four months ago. You?”

  “I’ve been here my whole life.”

  We talked a little like I remembered you do when you’re getting to know someone. I still couldn’t tell if this was a date, so after trying to analyze it for the first ten minutes, I gave up.

  We’d been there for about an hour when Declan said, “You hungry?”

  “What, now you want dinner too?” I asked.

  Oh, shit. That was definitely date-like.

  He clutched his knee. “Yes. It dulls the pain,” and made a face.

  “If that will help you on your journey of healing,” I said.

  We ordered, and before I knew it, it was after ten.

  Declan was the first to openly glance at his watch. “I’m not totally sure that I’m fully healed, although I suppose I can admit I’m on a healing path. But if I don’t get to bed, I’ll relapse, so I’m going to head out.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to see that,” I said, feeling shy.

  I wasn’t sure how to end the evening. I hated this, hated it. Not only the lack of which way to go, or what to do, but the complete lack of control.

  “Then you’d better check in with me,” Declan said. “I have a ride scheduled tomorrow, but I’m free for dinner tomorrow night.” He raised his eyebrows. “On me, this time.”

  I’d picked up the tab after the first round.

  “Okay, that sounds good,” I said.

  “Give me your cell number,” he said, pulling out his phone.

  We exchanged numbers, and then he met my eyes. “So it’s a date, then.”

  I opened my mouth, and for a moment, nothing came out. The attraction I’d felt when I first saw hi
m, and then when I saw him tonight rushed in and hit me with the force of a freight train. His eyes were like lasers. They glowed even in this semi-dark bar.

  I could feel my entire body respond, and it took me another minute to speak. “Looks that way. I can’t let you collapse,” I added.

  “No, you cannot. Say seven?”

  “Sounds good,” I managed. His eyes were boring into me, and I could feel all the hormones that had fallen off my radar over the past couple of months come screaming to life. Holy shit, this guy was like live electricity. I’d looked at him while we’d been talking, and nothing like this hit me before.

  I wondered if he’d just decided to put his interest out there. If so, I was glad. Every part of me was glad.

  He stood and held out a hand. I stood and took it, and the jolt of electricity I’d felt looking into his eyes intensified.

  I’d never felt anything like it before. My God.

  “Thanks for dinner tonight,” he said.

  Did he sound breathless? God, I hoped so. I hoped I wasn’t the only one.

  “It was my pleasure.”

  “That makes two of us,” he said, and his fingers gripped my hand longer than a normal handshake.

  “Well, good night,” he said, finally letting go of my hand. He took a step, and then stopped, looking back at me. “I’m glad you bumped into me.” With a smile, he turned away, and headed out of the bar.

  I sat back down, shaken at the strength of my response to him.

  This was not the response of someone pining for their lost love, and thinking of Graham, I immediately felt guilty.

  The drive home seemed to take longer than normal.

  Maybe it was just me.

  When I got home to the dark house, I didn’t feel like doing anything. I texted Tibby.

  I’m home, Mom. Everything’s fine.

  Thank you. You never know. Tibby sounded like me.

  Well now you know I’m safe.

  Call me tomorrow.

  Will do.

  I went to bed. I didn’t like the mixed up way I felt, in spite of the intense attraction I felt for Declan. Right now, I was too tired to examine it or beat myself up further. Time for that tomorrow.

  When I got up, the sun was shining, and I stretched in bed, feeling good.