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I excuse myself and step onto the balcony, sliding the door shut behind me.
The cool night air kisses my cheeks, and the soothing scent of rosemary, thyme, and mint lingers in the air from the plant pots on a wooden shelving unit. I breathe in deeply, filling my lungs with the calming scent.
“That’s better,” I murmur to myself and sit down on a lounger.
Millions of stars wink at me from the velvety sky. Memories of stargazing with Aiden leak in unrestrained. Of hanging out in Grams’s backyard with him, both of us snuggled under a pile of blankets. He’d been telling me the story of Apollo or Athena or Demeter. I can’t remember which one.
The stories didn’t matter to me. I just loved spending this time with my brother, and I loved watching him come alive with each mythological tale he told.
The balcony door slides open behind me, and for a brief moment, the chatting and laughter from inside spills out.
I peer over my shoulder to see who’s joining me and try not to groan out loud.
Lucas.
8
Simone
I tear my gaze from Lucas and go back to staring at the stars. “I miss him.”
“Me, too.” Lucas lowers himself onto the other lounger, not needing me to clarify who I’m talking about.
We’re quiet for a few minutes, just staring at the stars. The cool mountain air ruffles my skirt and brushes my bare skin, yet I feel…I feel warm with him sitting so close.
That much between us hasn’t changed.
“I miss camping with him on the Wakefields’ property, near the stream, and watching the stars at night,” Lucas says. “He always told the best stories with Greek demigods living among us and battling creatures that mere mortals couldn’t see.”
I smile at the memory of Aiden telling me the same stories, but I’m not sure how much of the smile shows on my lips. The heartbreak at losing my brother weighs down the corners of my mouth. “Did he do that when you were in the Marines?”
“Sometimes, but not as much as when we were growing up. At that point, our priorities were different. It was more about staying alive.”
A familiar, blissful silence surrounds us, even though my heart thump-thump-thumps loudly at how close Lucas is. If he can hear my heartbeat, he doesn’t give any indication.
I shove aside all thoughts of what happened almost ten years ago. Of the poor judgment one man made when he got behind the steering wheel intoxicated. The single action that triggered a sequence of events. The loss of my daughter. The hysterectomy.
Instead, I’m the girl who listened to her twelve-year-old brother’s stories, the girl who admired Lucas, loved him, but hadn’t developed romantic feelings for him yet.
“What made you decide to be a physical therapist?” Not once while Lucas was studying kinesiology had he shown an interest in being a PT. I always figured since he was playing hockey at the time, he would go on to do something with that.
“I was shot in the shoulder during my last deployment and spent countless hours in PT before my shoulder was fully healed. During that time, I witnessed how my therapist and his hard-ass attitude refused to give up on any wounded vet. Even those who had given up on being ambulatory again. There were times when many of us wanted to throttle him.” Lucas laughs, the sound rich with affection. “But in the end, our grumpy asses had to agree he was right, even when we wanted him to be wrong. I realized I wanted to be just like him. Maybe not at first. Not while I was dealing with my battle with PTSD. But later, he and I talked a lot about his job and his training. I knew then that I was meant to be a physical therapist. Someone who makes a difference in a patient’s life.”
“You love doing it, don’t you? Being a PT?”
Lucas smiles. “Very much. What about you? I take it you still love living in Portland?”
I don’t look at him. I keep watching the stars. “I do.”
“You don’t miss Maple Ridge?”
I don’t answer right away. I could lie and tell him I hate being back, but Lucas knows me better than that. Growing up, I was never the girl who counted down the days until she could escape her small town.
“I miss Grams and I miss my friends.” I miss you and I miss Aiden. “And yes, there’s a part of me that misses living here.”
“Have you given any thought to moving back here?”
“Not really.”
