We both laughed, breaking more of the tension. Since we were kids Jack and I had operated on similar wavelengths.
Jack gently touched his palm to the side of his bruised face. “You sure developed that right hook over the years.”
I shrugged and kicked at a grease stain on the concrete with the toe of my boot. “Nothin’ much else to do in prison.” The ‘I’m sorry’ was on the tip of my tongue, and I bit it back.
Was I sorry that we’d fought like that? Yes. Did Jack deserve an apology? Fuck, no. He was my brother and I loved him, but apologizing at this point would be a betrayal of my feelings.
“James, you deserve an apology, and a thank you.”
I blinked. I was not expectinghimto apologize.
“You were right last night. You gave up your entire life for me… for Lindsey. And I never thanked you for it. I’ll never be able to make it up to you. I can’t go back in time and give you back those four years. I’m not great with emotions, but I need you to know that there was not a single morning when I woke up in my bed that I didn’t send you a silent thank you that I hadn’t woken up in a cell.”
“Th… thanks for saying that, man.”
“I mean it, brother,” Jack replied quietly as he grabbed my shoulder.
My mind began to float back through my sentence, and what it had felt like when I’d first been locked up. And then over to Avery, and everything that had happened since I’d been released. I’m not sure how long I was stuck, but I blinked a few times and looked across the room as Jack opened up the baggie to grab another one of Avery’s cookies.
“I know you didn’t make these heavenly things,” Jack mused around a mouthful. “Unless they teach Home Ec in prison, too.” He snorted at his own joke.
“Yeah, it’s right after bed check and before yard time.” I laughed and shook my head. “Avery made them.”
“He baked for you? You must begood.”
“Hardly. He made them forJR,notmeme.”
“What?”
I shook my head. “He still thinks I’m just a mechanic. He dropped those off to thank me,JR the mechanic,for fixing his car. He doesn’t know that I’m the one he’s been sending letters to all these years.”
“That’s fucking bonkers, but okay. What are you gonna do about the pig he’s married to?”
I stuffed the last piece of my treat into my mouth and chewed as I spoke. “They're not married. And his dad is the chief of police.”
Jack shook his head. “Man, you’ve got itbad.”
“Shut up. And yes, I do.”
The conversation lulled. After a moment, Jack thanked me for getting Jenna and Lindsey back home safely the night before.
“She asked me when I got home if I was cheating on her,” he grimaced.
I bared my teeth in a sympathetic wince. “Yikes. What did you tell her?”
“I told her that she had nothing to worry about and that she was the only woman for me, as always.”
“Think she believed you?”
“Yeah, I think so. She asked what happened to my face, and I told her that you had helped remind me whatwas important. She didn't ask any more questions, just informed me that she was pregnant again, and she hoped that, whatever lesson you needed to teach me, it would stick.”
I looked over at him and grinned. "Congratulations."
Jack snorted. “Yeah, I figured you already knew, and that probably had something to do with last night as well. Not that I don’t deserve a lot more for what I’ve put you through.”
“So, what now?”
“Well, now, we start looking for new jobs. I told my…” Jack paused, “...customerthat the cops were hot on us at the moment, and he needed to steer clear. And since that little arrangement was really the only thing keeping the lights on, this place is as good as dust.”
