THE NEXT THREE DAYS were more of the same: Chores, meals, sleep, repeat. Katie was no more forthcoming than she had been, and while Rob, Jesse, and Samantha were all friendly with him, he knew Katie still viewed him with suspicion and distrust. Which, as the days went on, Brendan was getting increasingly tired of. He wanted to work things out with her more than anything, but he wasn’t going to be able to do that if she never gave him a chance.
After dinner on the fourth day Brendan wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed, sleep for twelve hours, and wake up somewhere else. But Katie asked, with that look of cool challenge in her eyes, if he wanted to have a beer and watch the sunset with her. Brendan couldn’t say no.
For the first time since that brief conversation in the kitchen, the
