Chapter 21
Gregor
My fingers traced the wood as I admired the seagull with a ragged chunk of a flatbread sandwich clutched in its beak as it made for the sky, wings outstretched, that I’d just finished carving. One of the small pawns that would make up part of the wedding gift chess set, it was solid and sturdy, like the piece of driftwood I’d carved it from.
The pawns for the other side were all sandwiches with a hand wrapped around them, the whole concept of the set being gulls and subs, just as my patron had requested. He’d already signed off on all of the sketches, but it would nice to show him this piece, and the first submarine sandwich pawn, both ready to be stained and sealed.
“You will never believe this,”
Olly said as he stepped through the curtain into the back, a tiny grin on his face that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
It wasn’t the only change I’d noticed in my brother since Ever had tapped the brakes on their budding relationship in favor of trying to get his business back up off the ground. Gone was the bouncy, fun-loving attitude. In its place was a more subdued one. It wasn’t that he never smiled, he did, just not as wide and joyful as before.
“The seal is back on the boardwalk, and you remembered to take pictures for me this time?”
I asked, completely throwing him for a loop by bringing that up again.
“Well, yeah, actually, how did you know?”
I inclined my head toward the window, where the seal was sunning itself with an oyster held between its paws. I couldn’t tell if it had eaten it or was just taking a nap with his snack before he ate it later, but I’d taken several photos myself, so I had a photo reference for when I was ready to carve him.
“I hope that isn’t one of August’s oysters he’s holding, or you get to explain to my mate why he’s one short,”
I teased, hoping to get a bigger smile out of him.
“Oh hell no, uh-uh, I know the rule,”
Olly said, eyes widening, even as his lips tugged up a little more. “August has first dibs on all seafood and seafood related items up to and including dips, sauces and seasonings. I never knew hedgehogs loved seafood so much.”
“Mine does,”
I said, leaving it at that, since we still weren’t letting the cat out of the bag about the hoglets yet.
“Damn, I hate to see what happens when you’re expecting, they’ll be nothing in the fridge safe for me to touch.”
“Or you could, I don’t know, tap into some of those cooking lessons Mom and Nana gave you and start stocking the kitchenette downstairs so you can make whatever you want,”
I suggested.
“I suck at cooking anything that isn’t diner food.”
“No, you don’t,”
I said, staring him down until he squirmed. “You’re just better at diner food than anything else because that’s what you got used to cooking for your mom. We never ate like that at home and you know it, just like I know you know how to make anything you’re hungry for, so why aren’t you doing it?”
When he sighed and squirmed more, I almost got impatient, until I remembered that all growling or snarling would do was prompt him to snarl right back these days. It was another change I’d noticed, along with his new tendency to stomp back out to the showroom rather than tell me what he’d really come back here for if I pissed him off. I knew it wasn’t just the seal, he could have just texted me the pictures if that was the only thing he’d wanted to talk about. Instead of saying or doing anything, I just stared and waited him out.
“I always make too much, okay?”
he admitted. “Even when I cut the recipe down. I’d love to share the extra with Ever but he still isn’t speaking to me, so, yeah, what’s the point when I’m rarely in the mood to eat the same thing two days in a row?”
“You could freeze the extra like Nana does,”
I suggested and watched his lips compress into a tight line.
I suspected that not having Ever to share the food with was more of the reason behind him not cooking than him worrying about things going to waste.
“Yeah, I guess. It’s just sad to have to do that when it’s better fresh.”
“So, keep a few smaller containers on standby and cut the recipe you’re using down more than the way you already are. It might not result in a perfect portion, but it should be more manageable.”
He nodded at that. “I can try.”
“I know you can, and I know it sucks not being able to talk to Ever right now, but you have to look at things from his point of view,”
I said. “You’re mom has stirred up trouble for him every time you guys have gone out together. That gets old, Olly, especially when you won’t tell her to cut it the fuck out.”
“But I have! I even went over there and demanded to know if she’d been involved in the incident with the ants. I know you said to keep out of it, but I couldn’t leave it alone.”
“Yeah, and how did that turn out for you, since this is the first I’m hearing of it?”
“She just asked if I really thought she’d waste her time going through that much effort for me,”
Olly said, ducking his head. “Like I’d ever ask her to do anything like that for me. I’d never. Not even when Jason Black broke my heart and took Micha Cade to the spring dance after he asked me first.”
I couldn’t help the snarl that slipped out then, remembering the way Jason had made my little brother cry that night. He might not have asked for anything bad to happen to Jason, but shit happened in the middle of a hockey game, especially one without any refs around to affiliate. Not my proudest moment, but I hadn’t been the only one to check him hard enough to hurt, a few of our older brothers had taken great pleasure in leaving him bruised and unable to skate anymore after half a game.
“And you left it at that?”
I said, still bristling over the old memory.
“Didn’t see any reason not to,”
Olly said. “She’s right. When has she ever cared enough about me to go through any sort of effort, let alone one that would involve her getting a favor from a friend, or blackmailing one into doing something?”
“Never, but that doesn’t mean she’s telling the truth,”
I pointed out. “Just means she knows what to say to get you off her case when she doesn’t want to talk about something.”
“True, but what would even be the point? Ever’s my mate. Why would she want to keep me from being with my mate? Even if she isn’t behind the ants, she still doesn’t want us together and I don’t know why.”
“Did you try asking her?”
“No, I just left it alone ‘cause she got upset and started tearing up about how the only reason I’d come over there was to accuse her of things, that I didn’t even come by to watch movies or eat with her anymore.”
“And what did you have to say to that?”
“I-I mean, she was right, I had gone over there to accuse here and I hadn’t been over since I’d moved out, which was probably kind of shitty of me, so I made supper, and we ate it on the couch in the living room while we binged Hell on Wheels.”
“Olly! That is not okay, she manipulated you, again, dammit.”
He sighed, his shoulder’s slumping, but when he swiped at his eyes, I set the seagull aside so I could hug him.
“I-I know,”
he muttered. “But she’s my mom.”
“Who doesn’t deserve you.”
He sighed again and clung to me like when we were kids, so I hugged him tighter.
“I know you love her, but she has to love you back and not for the things she can get you to do for and with her.”
“Yeah. That’s kinda why I didn’t tell you about going over there,”
he admitted. “After I left, I just stood there on the sidewalk for a moment, looking at the sky and wondering what the hell had made me stick around in the first place. I don’t even like Hell on Wheels.”
“My point exactly.”
“I’d have rather been home with you and August watching Sugar Rush and Chopped Sweets.”
“August found another one this morning, he had it on in the kitchen while we were having breakfast. It’s called Sweet Genius and he absolutely wants us to binge it together when we’re done with Sugar Rush.”
“Sweet, I’ll be ready,”
Olly said, stepping back a little to look up at me. “And if you want, I can always try my hand at making supper so you can get more drawing and carving in.”
That hopeful look on his face was impossible to miss. “Anytime you want, little brother, you have it.”
“Yay,”
Olly explained, face lighting up a little. “And I promise, I will not skimp on the seafood.”
We both laughed at that, recalling the way August had dumped the contents of a Zesty Panda container onto a platter, just to search for more of the shrimp and scallops that were supposed to be in the dish, proclaiming it woefully lacking in meat. He was right, my portion hadn’t contained a lot, either. In response, I’d picked up a couple Asian cookbooks, so I could make the dishes we loved while adding as much seafood as we wanted to them.
“I’m glad the seal is back, I was hoping for a chance to see him in person,”
I admitted, changing the subject away from anything to do with his mom, now that I had him smiling again. “But something tells me that wasn’t what you came back here for.”
“No, but I did get pictures. I didn’t realize he’d moved far enough back that you could see him, too,”
Olly said.
“So, what’s up? What is this thing I won’t believe?”
“Oh, yeah, shit, I just sold all the manta rays.”
Now I was the one who needed to pause, because we’d just moved those mantas into the window last night before locking up.
“There were like, ten of them,”
I muttered, then paused to check the note on the inventory sheet Olly had not only comprised but updated for me on a weekly basis so I no longer needed to go out into the showroom and look around to see what I needed to work on next. “Yeah, it says here ten.”
“And all ten just walked out the door in two carefully packaged and padded boxes,”
Olly explained. “I made sure to give Ms. Adel a 10% discount, too, since she came in with the card and coupon Mr. Alverez gave her after he finished the renovations on her beachfront studio. She just finished turning the old bait shop into her art studio and guess what, she teaches workshops there, too. Watercolors, oils, tempura and acrylics. I was thinking of maybe taking a couple to see if I could unlock my own artistic side.”
“Then you should go for it,”
I encouraged. “And if you do, let me know if you need to leave early or come in late so I can cover for you.”
“You’re too busy to cover for me.”
“Bullshit. It’s my shop and I’m the boss, right?”
“Yeah, but you’ve got August and a ton of work to do on the commission for the wedding.”
“Which is next year and I’ve already shown Mr. Alverez the sketches for the chessboard and the table centerpieces and he’s signed off on everything.”
“Whoa, seriously?”
“Yup, so look into those workshops and let me know when they’ll be so we can make sure you’re out of here on time,”
I insisted.
“Thanks, Gregor.”
“Anytime, you know that, right?”
I said, cocking my head as I studied him. “Finding my mate doesn’t mean I don’t have time for my family, especially not my kid brother.”
“I haven’t been a kid in years,”
he muttered, swatting at my hands and scooting left when I went to ruffle his hair.”
“True, but you’ll always be my kid brother.”
He squared his shoulders at that, grinned and nodded. “Love you, bro.”
Narrowing my eyes, I immediately started to remind him how much I hated being called bro, only he just giggled and rushed to cut me off.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, don’t call you bro and get back to work,”
he said, waving before he hurried back to the front, leaving me to mark the manta rays off the inventory.
I had several other, larger manta pieces in mind, once the perfect driftwood presented itself and revealed that a manta was what it wanted to be.
I knew Olly would keep Ms.
Adel in mind for them when I did have them ready.
He really looked after our customers and kept a database of who was looking for something in particular, so he could contact them once I’d created something he thought they might like.
He was rarely wrong about it, too, which I knew was why we had so much repeat business.
He was a whiz at keeping the customers happy and coming back for more, but he was also amazing with social media, always posting the new creations when they went onto the storeroom floor as well as getting shots of happy people posing with their purchases before he wrapped them.
We’d gone from a handful of likes and follows, to three hundred followers who commented frequently.
Not bad for a beachside shop in a little fishing village.
Just the other night I’d finally given him the go ahead to start setting up the online marketplace for direct sales, but only after he’d promised to keep on top of everything to do with the shipping process, including all of the packaging materials and the scale we’d need so we’d know what to charge.
Knowing Olly, we’d be swimming in foam and bubble wrap before he got a proper shipping room set up, but at least he’d brought the idea to me in time for me to add one to the renovation project.
Outside, basking in the sun, the seal remained, napping on its back with its little oyster clutched to its chest, reminding me of the way I held August when we floated in the pool, lazily spinning in circles together.
It was a kind of joy I still couldn’t put into words, though I had drawn up a few sketches that would eventually become a plaque for our wall.
The first of many memories I hoped to carve to commemorate our life together.