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“Dwight?” I hear and both Red and I whirl around at the mention of his old name.
The man standing a few feet to our left is almost the spitting image of Red. A few inches taller, hair longer and shaggier and his eyes are blue, but they could pass for twin. This must be …
“Gil?” Red’s tone is one of disbelief.
“Yeah! God, Dwight!” He rushes over and pulls Red into his arms, hugging him tightly. Red looks at me with wide eyes, tears brimming in their depths. I let his hand go and step back, allowing him to wrap his arms around his brother.
It’s funny that Red was just talking about calling his brother and we run into him in the airport. An airport we weren’t even supposed to land at. What are the odds?
Gil pulls back and holds Red at arm’s length. “You look good, Dwight.”
Red’s face flushes and he shakes his head. “Red, please. Or Caleb now. I changed my name.”
Smiling, Gil looks him up and down. “Caleb fits. It’s a good name. You prefer Red still, huh?”
“Yeah. Everyone calls me Red.”
“Red it is.” He’s still smiling and looking at my boy, eyes dancing with excitement. Then they move over to me. “I’m Gilbert. Or Gil. I hate my name too.” His cheeks turn pink as he holds his hand out to me.
I shake it and smile back at him. “Quin. We can help you change it if you want.”
Gil lets out a laugh and shakes his head before letting my hand go and stepping back, looking at Red. “What are you doing here? Last I heard from Mom and Dad, you were in Ontario.”
“I was,” Red says, moving back over to me and taking my hand. “I moved out here a few months ago to be with Quin.” Red looks up at me and grins and I return it. Maybe he’ll tell his brother what happened to him and maybe he won’t. But I like hearing that he came out here for me, even if it was just for help initially. “Do you have time or are you getting on a flight? We can get lunch if you have some time?” Red poses it as a question and looks up at me, asking permission with his eyes. After nodding at him, Red smiles and looks back at his brother.
“Flight got cancelled because of a storm. I was going to the ticket counter to book another flight. Give me a minute to take care of that and yeah, we can go to lunch. Lunch would be great.” With one more smile, he turns and hurries over to the ticket counter.
I drag Red back so we’re no longer blocking the walkway. When we’re sitting in chairs by the gate, Red grips my hand and puts it against his chest. “Quin. My brother is here.”
“He is,” I respond with a smile.
“Daddy. He’s happy to see me. Did you see how he hugged me?”
“I did, baby.”
Red looks at me with watery eyes, his happiness apparent and radiating off him. I love seeing my boy like this.
A few minutes later, Gil walks back over to us, looking shy and unsure. “Another flight to Vancouver won’t go out until later tonight. So I have time for lunch.”
“Good. Let’s go,” Red says, grabbing both our hands and heading out.
A taxi is waiting outside and we have them take us to a restaurant inside of the hotel Red and I stayed at all those months ago.
It doesn’t take us long to get seated and put our orders in. “You look good, Gil. I’m surprised to see you here. I planned on calling you tomorrow,” Red says, voice soft.
“Yeah? Well, this is better. Look,” Gil takes a deep breath, pushing his hair back from his face. “I know we’ve had our issues, but I’ve been doing a lot of thinking these past few years. It wasn’t because of us. It was because of Mom and Dad.”
“I agree,” Red answers quickly. “We had some times where we really got along. We’re adults now. I figured, I don’t know, maybe we could try to work on a relationship? Maybe?” Red squeezes my hand and I give him one in return, letting him know I’m here for him.
“Definitely, yeah! Of course, I want that!” Gil says excitedly, a smile stretched across his face.
When Red described his brother, I always imagined him being the opposite of Red: stoic, hard, boring, and stuffy. But what I’m seeing from Gil is how similar to Red he is. His smile looks like it belongs on his face. His shaggy hair gives me the impression he doesn’t take himself too seriously, but I can tell he knows how to clean up. His blue eyes sparkle with happiness, the same happiness that’s reflected in my boys’ eyes. In short, Gil is nothing like I imagined and I think his appearance is different than what Red is used to as well.
“Why are you here, Gil? Not that I’m upset about seeing you, but I thought you were still living in BC.”
Gil tucks a lock of hair behind his ear and leans on the table. “I’ve just finished my service in the military. Mom and Dad were trying to get me to come back to be closer to them, to work for Dad, but I’ve told them no. I refuse to go back there to live. They haven’t spoken to me in about three months.” Gil shrugs, his smile still easy going. Guess he doesn’t care about not speaking to them either. “Came out for a job interview that went pretty well. What about you? How did you two meet?”
Red and I exchange a glance and he blurts out, “Blind date.”
