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“We were scared, and I reacted with anger and frustration, and you tried to fix it with hope. Neither of us was wrong. I’m sorry it took me so long to forgive you.”
“Shit,” Shane muttered. “You don’t need to apologize.”
“Well, neither do you.” He set down the plate and grabbed his brother in a quick hug. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’ll miss you, too.” Shane’s arms pulled him tighter for a brief moment. “But I have a feeling you’ll be back more often now.”
Alex laughed. “Maybe.”
Sophie en
tered again a few moments later, bringing in a big vase of flowers to set on the table. “I still can’t believe how much work you boys got done in less than three weeks. The house looks great.”
It did look great. They’d cleaned out the whole place, boxing up all the documents she wanted to keep and moving them upstairs. Then they’d moved her real bedroom furniture downstairs to the den, so she didn’t have to use the stairs at all unless she wanted to. The house was set up for one-level living, the ramp was installed, the kitchen cleaned and the carpets all replaced with hardwood. He and Shane had worked their asses off. Alex had loved it.
The kitten loved it, too. She careened around the corner and slid across the wood. Alex watched her roll into the baseboard and tried not to frown. Sophie missed the kitten. So did he. But they’d both be traveling a lot now. Pastel was better off here, oddly enough.
Alex shook his head and finished the last place setting. He’d still be gone to distant places too often to have a pet. But maybe, just maybe...not too often to have a woman to love.
“How long until dinner?” he asked Shane.
“Another hour.”
“Great. I wanted to fit in another lesson with Sophie before dark. She’s getting pretty solid on the bike.”
“Can she ride in that dress?”
“If she wants to. She’s damn amazing.”
Shane shook his head again, as if he were exasperated by the stars in Alex’s eyes. Alex wasn’t bothered by them himself. He couldn’t see the stars, after all. All he could see was Sophie as she wandered into the dining room again.
“Ready for a lesson?” he asked.
For a moment, her face turned wicked and her lips parted, but then she paused and glanced at Shane and decided to play it straight. “Sure!” she finally chirped. Alex grinned as her cheeks turned pink. “I’ll just grab my jacket.”
She raced from the house, leaving Shane and Alex alone with just the faint sound of Merry singing in the kitchen.
“I guess you’re a good teacher,” Shane drawled.
“Ha. Maybe. Hey, do you remember when Dad taught us how to use the lawn mower?”
Shane frowned.
“The riding mower.”
“Oh.” His face cleared and he nodded. “I think I do. That old John Deere mower.”
“I thought of that a few weeks ago, right before the dedication. He was a good teacher. Patient. That’s what I was going to talk about at the ceremony. The summer he died, he taught me how to use the mower, and I can still feel it. The engine roaring, the sun hot on my arms, and him telling me what a natural I was.”
“Maybe that’s why you loved bikes so much. You brought your first one home at fourteen. Scared the hell out of me.”
“Hmm.” Alex frowned down at his hands, so big and blunt like his dad’s. He could remember those big hands closing over his little ones on the mower, keeping the wheel steady. “You think?” The smell of gas and the deafening engine and the sun on his face...
Sophie’s knock interrupted his thoughts. “Are you coming?” she called from the doorway. His frown disappeared at the sight of her wearing black jeans beneath her dress. She didn’t trust herself not to tip the bike over.
“Show me what you’ve got,” he said as he stepped outside and gestured toward his bike.
She looked nervous, the way she always did as she approached the motorcycle, but she swung a leg over, tucked her skirt under her thighs and set her foot to the shift.
