Crashing into Fate (Maple Grove #25) - Lynn Hagen Page 0,1

made “family” plans that never included Arlan.

Like going out to dinner or the movies. Charles tried to invite Arlan at the last second, but Arlan always turned him down knowing how his sister-in-law felt.

She’d never said how she truly felt. God forbid. Chloe liked to hide behind her fake smiles and even faker concern.

Arlan wasn’t an idiot and knew when someone didn’t want him around.

Charles pressed his hands on his hips and sighed. “At least stay tonight and we’ll look at this with fresh eyes in the morning. I’ll even help you find a job and an apartment.”

Arlan didn’t want to go back to their house. Chloe had seen Arlan walking out with his backpack, and the ice queen had actually smiled.

No thanks. Arlan would rather live under a bridge. He was done being indebted to her, even though she hadn’t been the one to ask Arlan to stay.

It had been only three weeks since Arlan had lost his apartment, but living with her had felt more like three years.

“I still have my savings.” Arlan hadn’t wanted to touch a dime of his five hundred dollars. He’d been trying to look for work, but that was hard to do when his sister-in-law used him as a live-in babysitter.

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m going to get a room in town,” Arlan said.

“That’ll eat through your money,” Charles argued. “Why are you being so damn stubborn?”

“Why?” Arlan curled his lips in. How he wished he could just blurt out the reason, but this was Charles’s wife, who he adored, and Arlan didn’t want to put a wedge between them. “Dad taught us to stand on our own two feet.”

“He also taught us that needing help isn’t a sign of weakness.”

Oh my god. They could go back and forth all night, but he was exhausted and still had a ways to go before he reached Maple Inn. Charles was right, though. If he didn’t find a job, and soon, his savings would be depleted.

“Fine. You wanna help?” Arlan asked.

“You know I do.”

“Then give me a ride to the motel.” He glared at his brother, daring Charles to argue.

“You’re too damn stubborn,” Charles grumbled as he waved at his truck. “Hop in.”

Arlan was relieved he wouldn’t have to walk and was also glad that he wouldn’t have to deal with Chloe on a daily basis. A guy had only so much restraint before he blew his lid, and that was the real reason why he’d left.

He’d gotten too close to cussing her out when he overheard her on the phone talking about him. She hadn’t used his name, but who else was a deadbeat with no prospects for his future?

Arlan wasn’t too proud to take his brother’s help, but as long as Charles was married to that fake bitch, Arlan would find other accommodations.

“I want you to call me daily,” Charles said after they’d climbed into the truck. “And if you’re running low on cash, you better let me know.”

How had such a nice person with a big heart ended up with someone who only thought about herself? That was a mystery Arlan might never solve, and he was done trying to figure it out.

“Promise me.” In the dark interior of the truck, Arlan could see the hard set of his brother’s jaw.

“I promise.” Only to get Charles off his case. His brother worked two jobs in order to afford his wife’s lifestyle, and Arlan didn’t want to be a burden.

If their parents didn’t live halfway across the country, Arlan would have moved back in with them. But he’d fallen in love with Maple Grove and didn’t want to leave the quaint little town.

He’d just suffered a setback and would bounce back as soon as he found work. Now that he was no longer Chloe’s live-in nanny, Arlan could pound the pavement tomorrow.

“You know I love you, right?”

The question caught Arlan off guard. Charles wasn’t the “feeling” type of person, a guy who spoke about his emotions, so the question touched him and was what Arlan needed to hear. “I love you, too.”

“Don’t you ever think you’re a burden.”

Not to Charles. The guy’s wife was another story. “Okay.”

“So you’ll come back?”

“No.” Only if Charles got a divorce. That sounded harsh, but she had made him feel lower than a turd.

“I had to try.” Charles pulled into the lot of Maple Inn.

The lights in the front office were on, though they were dim. How long had Arlan been walking? When he left the house it