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He still wore an exquisite suit. His expression still was unreadable. But instead of feeling irritated by his presence, it made me sad.
It had barely been five days since we’d moved out. My heart hurt as much as it had when we’d cranked the van and driven out of the garage. More, if I was honest with myself.
Eric dropped to his knees and threw his arms around Millie. Muffy jumped and licked. The two dogs squealed and whimpered, peppering my brother with kisses.
They’d missed him as much as he had them.
Had I been wrong? Not to fight harder? I thought I was protecting us both, but maybe I’d only hurt us worse.
“Can I give them the treats?”
At the word treats, the dogs attacked Eric all over again with licks. He giggled and squealed along with them.
I gave him the bag.
Lincoln snapped and they immediately sat. Hadn’t seen that in a while.
Eric broke off a piece and fed it to Millie, then broke off another for Muffy. He continued on until both treats were gone.
“We’ve missed you, Lincoln.”
My heart twisted. Eric wasn’t angry. He didn’t have any resentment. Pure honesty.
“We’ve missed you too.”
As he said the words, all of that intensity was focused on me. I couldn’t handle it.
I glanced behind him. “This looks good. It’s really coming along.”
He nodded approvingly. I had a suspicion this work was happening at warp speed thanks to him.
“If I were arrested, would you send me letters in jail?”
I laughed in confusion. “What?”
“I would,” Eric volunteered.
Lincoln waited for my answer.
“Did something happen?” Worry darted through me.
“No.” He continued to hold the leash, looking much more natural with them than he had not so long ago. “Before, you said you wouldn’t. I-I wondered if that had changed.”
“You still don’t say hello.”
“I thought we’d established that wasn’t such a terrible thing.”
It wasn’t. It was an amazing thing. Except I didn’t get his versions anymore.
“We should get go—”
“I remembered something my mother said to me not that long before she died.” He shoved a hand in his pocket. “A couple of things actually.”
He lowered his voice. “How angry are you at me?”
My heart rate picked up pace. “I was so angry,” I whispered. “Now it just hurts.”
He glanced down at Eric, who was playing with the dogs, as if he were uncertain about having this conversation in front of him.
