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Unable to look at the picture anymore, his eyes drifted down to the mantel. It didn’t help. There, lined up along the ledge, looking like a row of colorful, fragile little soldiers, was his mom’s collection of butterfly figurines. He walked across the room and ran his hand over a couple of the ceramic knick knacks.
God, he’d forgotten how much she’d loved butterflies. They were her “spirit animal” she’d said, and whenever anyone tried to point out that they weren’t an animal, she’d just shrug. They’d been on her shirts, her mugs…her mantelpiece. And here they still were, infusing the house with her spirit.
Fuck, was coming back here a mistake?
As if in answer to his unspoken question, he heard his little sister’s voice from the kitchen. “Donovan! Come on! It’ll get cold!”
He smiled as he turned to follow that call. Nah. Not a mistake. Definitely not.
“Holy crap. Married.That’s insane!”
Donovan nodded. He really had nothing to add to Troy’s comment. That pretty much said it all.
After they’d finished dinner and watched some TV with Mila, she’d headed off to bed, albeit reluctantly. That was when Troy had brought a couple of beers out onto the back porch and asked him what the hell he was really doing there.
Donovan stared out at the moonlight reflected on the crashing waves in the distance. When he was growing up, the three bedroom cottage had seemed so crowded to him.
Between his parents, him, Troy, and their two brothers Gavin and Jett, there hadn’t been an inch to spare. But his parents refused to even think about looking for another place because of the one feature that made the house utterly spectacular—the expansive wraparound deck that stretched across the back of the house, giving them a spectacular view of the ocean below, far down the hillside from where the cottage was perched.
None of the boys had really gotten it when they were kids. Rambunctious teenagers were not well known for their appreciation of gorgeous, peaceful scenery, after all. But now, as adults, it made sense. It had become a tradition between the brothers. Whichever combination of the four Valentine boys were together, they would sit out on the back deck and enjoy some beers. No matter how cold it was, they would just pull on parkas and gloves.
Out there, in the dark, watching the moonlit waves and filling their bellies with the familiar comfort of the beer, it seemed easier to talk about everything, no matter how deep and difficult.
Troy shook his head. “Can’t believe you never told me about this Vegas wedding thing, bro. It seems like kind of a big life event to keep to yourself.”
Donovan shrugged. “You were a kid.”
“Screw that, I was two years younger than you.”
“Yeah, like I said. A kid.”
Troy chuckled, and Donovan realized how much he’d missed his younger brother in the years he’d been living on the other side of the country.
In the silence that hung between them, Donovan asked the question he’d been building up to since he’d walked in the door. He’d just been waiting for the right time to ask it. Or maybe the courage. “So…how is she? How has she been?”
Troy shrugged. “Her shop’s doing fine. I mean, it must be kind of tough with her mother’s situation and everything…”
“Her mother’s situation?”
Troy shot him a puzzled glance. “Yeah. I mean, you do know that her mom hasn’t been able to leave the house in, like, three years, right?”
A heavy weight settled on Donovan’s chest. Shit, he hadn’t known that. He wondered what else he didn’t know. He sighed. “I knew it was getting worse. I knew she was having more bad days than good. I didn’t know it had gotten that bad.”
Troy nodded. The silence stretched between them, and then he said, “Lack of communication is the number one problem in most marriages, bro.”
Donovan laughed and slugged Troy’s shoulder. “Jackass.”
“Guilty. So, that’s what you’re back in town for? To get her to sign annulment papers?”
That stopped Donovan short. “Shit. I guess I didn’t think that far ahead. I just knew I needed to get it taken care of, so I jumped on a plane.”
Troy looked over at him, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Really? Because it seems like the kind of thing you could really handle over the phone. Or fax. Scanned documents. Emails.”
Donovan shook his head. “Nah. I had to come take care of it in person. My security clearance is on the line. I couldn’t leave that up in the air or trust it to phone calls.”
There was a long silence, and finally Troy said. “Huh. Is that what’s on the line? Your security clearance?”
“Yeah. I told you that. What are you talking about?”
