Page 66 of Peaks and Promises

It didn’t take long to get settled at my parents’ place. They’d raised a big family in that house, so they had several extra bedrooms. Nate took one with two sets of bunk beds. Summer took my sister Annika’s old room, and I brought my things to the bedroom at the end of the hall—the one my brother Josiah and I had shared.

Being in my childhood home was surreal, but even more mind-boggling was the way I’d been welcomed back. At least Zachary had wanted to hit me. That tracked. I almost wished he would have. It was what I really deserved.

But Summer and Nate had a safe place to stay, and that was priceless. I’d live with the weight of my guilt. It was worth it.

Besides, I had four more brothers to contend with. One of them might hit me.

Dad offered to take us to see the house he and Josiah were remodeling. It was in a quiet neighborhood, not far from the river. Small—only two bedrooms—but we could make do. It still needed some work, but like Dad had said, it wouldn’t take long to finish. And that time would give us an opportunity to figure out furniture—whether it was stuff from Summer’s old apartment or things we picked up locally.

I made it clear we were not living there for free. He needed to charge me market value. He hadn’t really replied. Just grunted something noncommittal and walked away.

Right as we were getting ready to leave, my phone buzzed with a text. It wasn’t a number I recognized.

It’s Z. Timberbeast at 7.

I read his text with resignation. He must have gotten my number from Mom. And I knew exactly what it meant. Zachary wasn’t inviting me to have a casual beer with him. To catch up and talk about old times.

No. They were all going to be there, and it was time for a reckoning.

I have to admit, I thought about lying. Fabricating a story that left out at least the worst of the details.

But I couldn’t. I was home, and it was time to come clean.

When we got back to my parents’ house, I took the two of them out to the shop. There were things they needed to know. So I told them the truth. All of it.

Then I got ready to face my brothers and tell them the truth, too.

Shortly before seven, I left Summer and Nate at my folks’ place and headed for the Timberbeast.

Walking in the door was anticlimactic. The music didn’t stop with a record scratch, and the only people who took any notice of me were the five other Havens sitting around two tables pushed together. An empty chair and a beer waited for me.

Garrett and Zachary didn’t react, but I’d already seen them. The others gaped at me, like they’d been sure it was all a big joke and I wasn’t going to show.

It shouldn’t have surprised me that they were all adults. Of course they were. But the last time I’d seen them, we’d all been in our late teens or early twenties. A lot had changed.

Josiah looked like a younger version of our dad, with a beard and thick arms crossed over his wide chest. His stoic expression was hard to read. Garrett wore street clothes, but his posture gave him an air of authority. He’d hugged me earlier, but he wasn’t smiling.

Zachary was. He smirked like my return was amusing. Theo watched me approach with wariness, his gaze flicking up and down. Luke raised his eyebrows and his mouth opened.

“Are we sure this is him?” Luke asked.

“It’s him,” Garrett said and tapped the side of his jaw. “He still has the scar.”

Tilting my face, I let them see the jagged line beneath my stubble.

“Oh, shit, you’re right,” Luke said. “Dude, you got jacked.”

“Yeah, I almost didn’t recognize you,” Theo said.

I walked around to the other side of the table, pulled out the empty chair, and sat. “It’s me.”

Josiah’s expression didn’t change, and although he didn’t raise his voice, his tone brooked no argument. “Skip the small talk. Why did you leave, and where the fuck have you been all these years?”

I nodded slowly, not surprised Josiah would get straight to the point. “I wish I could tell you I’ve been off doing something heroic. That I joined the military and was sent overseas on top secret missions. Or that I was out saving orphans or something. But that’s not what happened.”

I took a drink of the beer they’d ordered for me, giving me a second to decide where to begin.

“I don’t know what Dad told you about why I left.”