“Yes.”Renn laughed, knowing his older half-brother was trying to make a point.
“Renn, is there a chance you do want this, and you’re just scared?You don’t have to answer that, but as an outsider looking in, I’d say you’ve had an intense year.”
Renn nodded and watched as several families loaded onto a boat.The dads were helping the kids tighten their life vests and the moms were snapping pictures.
“Were you guys like that?”Renn asked.
“Like what?”
“Summer family vacations, fun activities, lots of pictures?”
“Ya, I’d say we had that quintessential, privileged, and sheltered childhood in a small town.But it all came crashing down when Mom and Dad died.”
“Fate can be a real piece of work.”
“The thing I wonder now is, were there always cracks that we didn’t see, or did they develop over time?”
“You mean because our dad had an affair with my mom?”
“That and I used to think my mom was going to divorce our dad.But now I wonder if maybe my dad asked for the divorce.”
“How do you know they were getting a divorce?”
“The paperwork was recovered in the car crash, with their bodies.But Levi and Dalton were young, and I didn’t think they needed to know once they were gone.Of course, like all dirty secrets, it came out to bite me, and I told my brothers when Dalton moved home, after being gone for fifteen years.”
“I think you’re right—in the end it doesn’t matter, and just because they had paperwork drawn up it doesn’t mean they would have gone through with it.”
“We’ll never know, maybe Dad finally told my mom about you, and he was trying to do the right thing.I guess I’d like to think it wouldn’t have ruined their marriage, just as much as you’d probably like to think he was going to be with you and your mom.Maybe we should both just assume the best outcome from our own points of view.”
Renn nodded.“When people asked my mom about why she never married, she used to say because her one true love died.”
“Damn.”
“Ya.Aren’t we a barrel of fun.”
Wes laughed.
“You know the woman who runs the coffee shop refers to you as the grump, Levi is the player, and Dalton’s Prince Charming.”
Wes burst out laughing and Renn couldn’t help but join in.
“So, what’s that make you?”
“I’m not sure I want to know.”
“May is good people, but she’s taken.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not interested in risking falling on her bad side.Did you know she names drinks after people too?”
“Ya, it’s a great way to find out who the idiots in this town are.”
Wes’s radio went off with a call about a traffic accident.
“I better get back to work.I can give you a ride back to the inn?”
“Nah, I think I’ll walk a bit.”
“Okay, see you later at Gran’s for dinner?”
