Tobias could hear the music from the Blue Suede Shoe in the background, even though his ears were still ringing from the classic rock tunes he’d been blasting in his truck. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Why? I know you like her. I can tell.”

“What I feel doesn’t matter.” He tossed his keys on the counter. “It’s over between us—if there was ever anything to begin with.”

“That’s just it. She wouldn’t have made the attempt to hang out with you tonight if she didn’t want to be with you. It took guts to walk across that bar and approach you.”

“It didn’t mean anything. She was just being nice.”

“And you had to be rude?”

“I wasn’t rude! I didn’t want to be standing there when she asked why Atticus is in a wheelchair.”

Silence.

“So that’s it,” Maddox said at length.

Tobias clenched a fist in his hair. “Yeah, that’s it.”

“You haven’t told her.”

“Of course I haven’t told her! Would you? How do you tell someone about something like that?”

“You mean, how do you tell someone you want to think well of you.”

“Of course that’s what I mean.”

He heard his brother take a deep breath and then release it.

“Tobias, if you’re hoping this thing between you and Harper will turn into something, you’re going to have to come clean eventually.”

He turned on the TV and propped his feet on the coffee table. Fortunately, all had been quiet when he passed Uriah’s house. He was in no mood to deal with Carl, afraid of what he might do if he was provoked. “What are you talking about? You told me not to get my hopes up, remember?”

“I know, but…I like her. So does Jada.”

“How does that change anything? She’s leaving after Christmas.”

“Then what does it matter if she finds out?”

“I don’t want her to know if she doesn’t have to.”

“I think you might be selling her short.”

“In what way?”

“I believe she likes you more than you realize.”

Tobias pressed three fingers to his forehead. “Harper’s too good for me. You told me that yourself.”

“No, I didn’t. I said I didn’t want you to get hurt. But now…”

“Believe me, you were right the first time.”

“Either way, sometimes you have to take a risk.”