Well, that’s disappointing.
I chuckled.
Funny.
And then he wrote back.
Did you find the muffin girl again?
Yeah.
Another text slid over. Was he interested?
And?
Complicated.
He answered immediately.
Aren’t they always? Just keep it light. You're on vacation, not auditioning for a Hallmark movie.
I stared at that last text, something sour coiling in my stomach.
Just keep it light.
That was always Dustin’s solution: to float above everything. Deflect, joke, drink, ghost. Repeat. I used to envy it, the way he slipped out of problems like water off a raincoat. But now, reading those six words, it hit me harder than expected.
He was our parents’ son.
Maybe not in the way I was, the loyal one, the fixer, the sober chauffeur on nights when one too many drinks went down, but in the way that let him vanish when things got heavy. Emotionally allergic. Always skipping town right when things began to matter.
I tapped a reply but never sent it.
Because what was I even hoping to get from him? Understanding? Advice?
The vibration of my phone in my hand shifted—a different rhythm.
Work email.
Then another.
Then four more.
I groaned and slid onto the edge of the bed in my room at the lodge, thumb scrolling through subject lines like a slow descent into madness.
URGENT: Pending Review Before COB
Re: Notice of Discovery – Jensen Review Needed
Hi Ben,
Need Final Redline Before Friday’s Hearing Deadline Moved – Updated Motion Template Required.
The last one had a bright red exclamation mark next to it.
Of course it did.
I rubbed my temple and opened the first thread. My inbox had gone from manageable to a flaming pile of legal nightmares overnight. Somehow, despite clearly marking myout of office, the entire firm seemed to interpret it aswe’re just going to bother him slightly less often than usual.
