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“We win ’em over every time, don’t we, big brother?”
“Batting a thousand.” I thrust a plate into his stomach, and he let out an exaggeratedoomph. I glanced around to find no one was paying us any attention anymore. “What’s up?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
“Can’t a guy call his brother up for dinner with no reason?”
“Anytime.” I passed him a glass. “But I don’t think you did.”
“I might not go back to Wyoming.”
The fork in my hand clattered into the sink. All eyes snapped over to us. I smiled sheepishly and made an “oops” face.
“You’re coming back to New York?”
He bent, busying himself loading a serving platter into the dishwasher. “Maybe.”
“Want to tell me why? I thought you loved your job.”
He straightened himself. “I did.”
Talking over dishes was easier than over drinks or at dinner. There was something to keep busy with. And my brother was avoiding me like mad, moving and rearranging dishes until the machine was fit to be photographed for a dishwasher ad.
“And now?”
He leveled me with a lethal look. “I don’t know, okay?”
“Okay,” I said calmly as I handed him the last plate.
“That’s it? You’re not going to grill me?”
“I figure you’ll talk about it when you want to.” I wiped my hands on a dishtowel and offered it to Holt.
“I don’t want to,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Want to stay with me until you decide what you’re going to do?”
“Yeah. I love Dad, but sometimes I feel like I’m cramping his style.”
I snorted. “What?”
“He’s a man about town. I just want to hang sometimes, but he’s always doing something.”
“He loves having you back.”
Holt dropped his chin to his chest. “I know.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t mean that to make you feel guilty.”
“He feels like I left him when I moved out west.”
I squeezed until he looked at me. “No. If he had his way, we’d all live at home. But he’s happy when we’re happy.”
“Yeah, but—”
“If he ever hears you say that, it would kill him. You did what you needed to, andthat’sthe most important thing to him.”
Holt flashed a sly grin. “The old man is kinda fun to go out with.”
“I’m not telling him you said that, either.” I pulled him in for a bro hug. “But heiskinda fun to go out with.”
