AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sorry for being a bad brother. And a bad son. But it’s a bit too late for that one, I guess.”
“You came back this time,” Luke said, and this time it wasn’t a question; it was an affirmation. They still stood apart, both of them with their hands in their pockets, their posture eerily similar. But the ice between them had melted. The air of desperation had faded and Sawyer could breathe again.
“Well,” said Luke, looking like he was on unsteady ground as well. “Apology accepted.”
“Really? Just like that?”
“I don’t think you realize how miserable you look, Sawyer.”
“I feel pretty miserable. I think I was miserable for a pretty long time. I just didn’t realize it.”
Luke scuffed his boot against the asphalt. “You weren’t wrong either. In some of the stuff you said, at least. You had every right to leave, and I could have too. I wasn’t chained down.”
He looked like he was swallowing rocks as he struggled to find the right words, the words to patch all of this over and make it whole again. Just seeing that helped Sawyer understand that he was trying more than anything.
“It’s all right,” Sawyer said. “We’re both idiots and need to learn how to talk better.”
“Well, I’m going to go to therapy,” Luke said, looking downright terrified as he said it out loud. Sawyer worked very hard to keep anything but a positive expression from coming onto his face.
“That’s great, Luke. Really.”
Luke grimaced, still looking unsure, so Sawyer jumped in.
“I could probably find someone for you,” he said. “Someone good. Ask around for some recommendations or something. A couple of the team members see therapists.”
Luke shuffled his feet again, clearly embarrassed but, surprisingly, not immediately refusing the offer.
“Thanks,” he said instead, surprising Sawyer even further. “I appreciate it, but I can’t exactly go to Houston and back all the time.”
“They do video calls these days,” Sawyer offered, desperate to not shatter the fragile truce between them. Desperate for Luke to be happy, forbothof them to be happy. Luke nodded again, this time looking a little less terrified.
“It wouldn’t be so bad, you know. Being remote,” Luke said.
“Cool, I’ll start asking around.”
There was another beat of quiet between them, but it was getting less and less awkward every time it happened. They would both have to work at this to move forward.
“What now?” Luke said, still sounding unsure, like it wasn’t just Sawyer who was surprised by how well this conversation had turned out.
“I’m thinking I’m going to hand in my resignation. Move back here. Seems to be the right thing to do.”
Reality seemed to snap back into place for both of them because Luke made a face like Sawyer had officially lost his mind. Meanwhile, Sawyer felt a weight off his chest now that he’d said it out loud and it wasn’t just floating around like an amorphous possibility. Yes. He would quit and move back here, backhome.That felt right.
“What?” said Sawyer.
“Wasn’t expectingthat. Are you okay? Like really, because this is some midlife crisis sort of stuff and if we’re on the whole talking-about-our-feelings train and, you know, you need to talk about some stuff, we candothat. You don’t have to throw away your whole career in some sort of penance.”
“It’s not really throwing it away,” Sawyer said, smothering a smile at his brother’s concern. If he started grinning, Luke would just think he was making fun of him. He shrugged, not sure how to phrase it but trusting Luke to understand like he had so far.
“I don’t want it anymore, not like I used to. Not when being back here was making me happy in a way that I don’t think I have been in a really, really long time.”
“If you say money can’t actually buy you happiness, Iwillpunch you in the throat,” said Luke dryly.
Sawyer laughed, still more of that icy barrier between them melting away to a point where they weretalkingfor the first time since they were kids. Not negotiating. Not fighting. Not playing nice. Just talking.
“I could use my money to buy the ranch from you, though,” he said, throwing the words out and watching Luke carefully for his reaction. There wasn’t much of one, not one that Sawyer could see. Luke kind of just went very still, blinking at him like some sort of nocturnal creature crawling out into the daylight.
“What do you reckon?” Sawyer prodded when the silence had dragged on a little too long. “Would you be willing to sell it to me? And no negotiations either. I’ll pay the asking price. It’s what it’s worth. It’s what you deserve. You and Sandy.”
