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“Yeah, I gotta work tomorrow. I changed a shift with someone who needed the day off.”
Sutton nodded, and I knew I’d let him down.
“Thanks for comin’, Brian,” Jasper said. “You know we love havin’ ya.”
I did know it. I thanked him too, then went to my truck and headed home.
My house was dark, all the blinds closed. For some reason, it seemed quieter than it had when I left. It had felt like that more lately, which was confusing, considering I’d lived by myself since Sutton moved out at eighteen. Nothing had changed recently.
I’d spent my whole life alone in the ways that mattered, and I couldn’t see that changing.
CHAPTER TWO
Charles
“Please don’t tell me you’re really going to try and hit on my husband’s cousin’s boyfriend’s straight uncle,” Emerson said a few days later when I was helping him build a new shed on his farm. Ten years ago, Emerson and farm were two words I never thought I’d hear together. We’d met in New York City, where we’d both lived. We were similar workaholics trying to play the rat-race game. I’d connected with Em right off the bat, though. He’d reminded me of my brother, Paul. We’d been friends for years, or as much as Emerson used to let anyone close to him, but then his boyfriend had been murdered and he’d been charged.
Emerson was innocent. There had been no doubt in my mind, but everyone else had turned on him except me. He’d moved to Ryland to get away from it all, and then he met Sam, who’d changed his life. I would be grateful to Sam for loving my best friend until I took my last breath. Recently, they’d discovered who had really killed Em’s ex. Clearing his name was the icing on the cake.
“I’m taking your non-answer as yes,” Em added. “Do you know what you’re doing? If you piss off my husband—”
The rest of his sentence was cut off by my laughter.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. You’re just cute. I never thought I’d see the day where I got to call you cute while you’re talking about your husband. When I came here and caught you playing in the mud with him, I knew everything was going to change.”
“Don’t call me cute.” Emerson glowered, shaking his brown, shaggy hair out of his face.
“Adorable?”
“Why are you here?”
I chuckled again. “You invited me to put me to work.”
“No, I meant in Ryland.”
Good question. The truth was, I couldn’t say exactly why I was here. I had everything I could want in the city. My parents were there, my career had been there, though I’d quit the firm before coming here. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t told Emerson that yet. But seeing Emerson so happy, seeing the changes in him, had done something to me. My life in the city suddenly felt so…unimportant. I’d had a career, yes. I’d dated, and I had my parents, but I hadn’t built anything other than my work. In the past, I’d been in deep like but never love. My life had just started to feel empty. I didn’t expect to find those things in Ryland, but I did need a break to decide what I wanted out of my life. If it was the grind of being a lawyer in New York City or if there was more.
“Not sure,” I answered honestly. “I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”
“I’m sure you will.”
“And back to your first question: no, I’m not going to hit on Brian. He’s smoking hot, but he said he’s straight, so I accept that. However, I do plan to befriend him. I’m just not sure how. Any pointers?”
“Friendship is supposed to happen organically. There’s something wrong with you.”
“Not all friendships do. Stop being a stick-in-the-mud and help a guy out.”
Emerson wiped the sweat off his forehead with his arm. “I have no idea how to be Brian’s friend. I’m not the easiest guy to get along with. I don’t care about anyone but you and my husband.”
He was a liar. Emerson had a big heart. Still, I joked, “Yes, you suck, but you’re much better now!”
“This is going to be a long summer.” Emerson shook his head. “I don’t know any more about Brian than you—he’s quiet, keeps to himself, doesn’t have many friends, has never been married. He raised Sutton from a young age, after his family died.”
Shit. That had to have been a lot to take on. Brian didn’t seem the raising-a-kid type.
“He works at a factory and plays the guitar. I only know that because Sam said sometimes Sutton and Jasper go play with him.”
The guitar was something. I loved music and had started playing the piano when I was young.
“Why are you so intent on being friends with him?”
How did I tell him that it was because Brian reminded me of him and of Paul, the brother I’d loved so much. Of their sadness and loneliness, only Brian wore his like skin and Paul had hidden it. That I didn’t want anyone to feel alone the way Emerson used to. The way my brother had. And if I could spend this summer figuring out how to make Brian’s world a bit brighter, then I guessed I just answered his other question and knew why I was here. What I said, though, was, “Eh. Something to do. Plus, he’s really hot.”
