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“You’re saying you want emotional support?”
Is that what she was saying? She honestly didn’t know. Having Jake around as a part-time dad would be awkward and painful. Maybe it would be better if he simply went away. She was convinced he still saw her as a version of her teenage self. He didn’t understand or want to admit how much she had changed. “I only meant that it’s eighteen years of hard work.”
“Longer for some families whose kids never move out.”
“I suppose so. Either way, I need you to know that you’re off the hook. Your life doesn’t accommodate fatherhood. Let’s think about it. Maybe we can come up with a solution that suits us both.”
“And Emma.”
“Of course.”
He moved toward the sidewalk. When a streetlight illuminated his features, she saw that Jake looked tired, sad. Maybe even uncertain. She had never seen him so vulnerable. Her heart squeezed. “You’re good with her,” Nikki said. “Truly, you are. She’s lucky to have your brains and your fearlessness.”
“You’re wrong about one thing, Nik.”
“Oh?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked at one of the small rocks Emma loved to collect. “I’m not fearless at all right now. Falling Brook. My father. My brothers. You. I feel like I’m stumbling around in a fog. I’m not even sure if I should have come back.”
This time, her heart hurt when it pinched. “I’m glad you came, Jake. Really glad.”
Jake always slept with the drapes open in a hotel room. In big cities, he liked seeing the array of colored lights on decked-out skyscrapers. Here in Falling Brook, the lights were fewer and less impressive, but they still lit the night with a comforting glow.
He was lying on his back with his hands behind his head. It was three in the morning. He’d barely slept. A few days ago, when he was flying across the ocean, he’d worried about reuniting with his twin. But the thing with Joshua had gone well.
The two brothers had fallen into their old relationship without drama.
Jake still had to face his mother and Oliver. Those reunions weren’t something to dread, not really. The harder encounter had been finding out that he and Nikki had created a child, a daughter.
Suddenly, unable to be still a moment longer, he rolled out of bed, threw on some clothes and went down to the twenty-four-hour fitness center. On the treadmill, he set a punishing pace. If he ran hard enough and long enough, maybe he could outrun the demons at his heels.
At last, exhaustion claimed him. Back in his room, he showered and tumbled into bed, comatose almost instantly. When the alarm went off at eight, he opened his eyes and groaned. Insomnia had rarely been a problem in his adult life, except for the occasional bout of jet lag. Clearly, being back in Falling Brook was bad for his health.
He sat up on the side of the bed and reached for his phone. If peace and closure were his aims, he needed to work his list. Oliver was Jake’s next priority. After thinking for a moment, he sent a text asking if his younger sibling could meet him at the Drayhill Quarry at ten thirty. It was a spot where the three Lowell brothers had often hiked and played around.
On one memorable hot summer day, they had even taken a dip despite the warning signs posted everywhere. Their mother had found out and grounded them for a month. After that, they still returned now and again to the abandoned quarry, but not to swim.
What appealed most was the isolation. At the quarry, they were free to be on their own. No parents breathing down their necks. No teachers demanding excellence.
But that was a long time ago.
Jake dragged his attention back to the present. While he was brushing his teeth, the text ding came through. Oliver would be there.
Jake was nervous. Once upon a time, the three brothers had been tight. But Jake had let his father’s actions drive him away. He’d lost Nikki, his brothers, everything. Now a chance for reconciliation beckoned. Jake knew he didn’t deserve anyone’s forgiveness—least of all, his baby brother’s.
After a few sprinkles of rain overnight, the mild weather had continued today. A weak sun shone down, making the morning slightly more cheerful. The drive out to the quarry was familiar but different. The old rutted road was worse now. Jake’s fancy rental car took a beating. He parked by the gated fence and waited.
Soon, Oliver showed up in a late-model sedan. When the other man climbed out, Jake felt a wave of emotion he rarely allowed himself to acknowledge. This was his sibling, the man who was part of him. His blood and kin.
The two men embraced without speaking. Jake’s eyes were damp when he pulled back. “Good to see you, Ol.”
Oliver’s brilliant blue eyes twinkled with happiness. “Took you long enough to contact me. I started to think you hadn’t really come home at all.”
“Sorry about that. I had to deal with some urgent business first.”
“Yeah. Joshua told me. You have a baby. Right?”
“Well, Emma is four. But yes.”
