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He drew in a deep breath then released it. “Yeah?”
I raised my chin for his kiss. “Yeah.”
We were still sitting there when Gus pulled up with Alex.
Gus hadn’t changed much in all the years I’d known him. Like Vander, he wore glasses now, and the lines around his mouth had deepened in the past few years. His hair was a little thinner on top, but he was still a handsome man, with a killer smile, complete with a deep dimple on one side.
He walked up the driveway with a hand on Alex’s shoulder and I flashed back to the delivery room, and the relief I felt upon seeing him angling his massive shoulders through the delivery room door. I remembered the moment Alex was laid on Amber’s chest, how Gus hovered over them both, one large hand covering Amber’s head, the other laid protectively over Alex’s little bum.
A gentle giant, really, he’d always doted on my sister, until a few years ago. Thinking back, their troubles began before his accident. I remembered he was sad, then irritable, then increasingly distant.
Polite, but distant.
That was not the Gus that plowed up the driveway. This Gus appeared focussed and intense.
“You been working out, Gussie?”
He winced. “Rubes, please. I’m not a grandmother.”
I laughed at our old joke.
Alex came barreling through raising his hand for a high five on his way into the house. I stood and kissed Gus’s cheek. “How are you, Gus?”
Pain flashed in his eyes before he pulled the shutters back down. “I’m good, Ruby. How are you doing? Lots of changes for you. Good ones?”
“I’m right here,” Vander interrupted drily.
Gus grinned and stuck out his hand. “Hey, man. Good to see you. Alex had a blast yesterday.”
“He made it to the top a few times,” Vander added. “I was proud of him.”
“Yeah, he’s a good kid. Lots of energy, he just needs to channel it. Reminds me of his Aunt Ruby. He said he wants me to try rock climbing with him.”
“We can go one night, and I’ll belay you, if you want to give it a try.”
“I might take you up on that. The gym is boring as all hell.”
“What gym do you go to?”
Gus mentioned a popular gym close by, then added, “It’s nothing more than a meat market.”
“I found a great place. It’s actually a boxing club, but they take on a limited number of monthly memberships. I’ll ask if you can come and check it out. It’s not as readily available all hours of the day like your gym, but there’s never a wait for machines and it is decidedly not a meat market.”
“That sounds good, actually.”
“I know the guy who runs it, Dean. He’s a great guy. He used to be a boxer years ago and his heart is still very much in it.”
“Just let me know when and I’ll be there.” He smiled at me. “I’m going to go see Yiayia, take the heat for not being here for a while.”
“You going to be coming regularly now?” I asked softly.
Gus turned his head and looked across the street for a minute. “You know what, Ruby? I think I am.” He turned back, offered me a tight-lipped smile and a nod, then went inside.
We could hear Yiayia’s exuberant greeting from outside.
“She misses him,” I said softly.
“She misses Amber,” he replied. “She wants to see her happy, again. I’m assuming they were happy at some point?”
