22. Zane
22
ZANE
H alf an hour later, Zane and the boys walked through the town as snow flurries danced and drifted peacefully onto the already snowy park.
Since Becca had revealed her incredible discovery, Zane had been working his way through disbelief and into acceptance and amazement.
But now all he felt was guilt. How had Becca picked up on Nick’s visual impairment in a few weeks, when Zane had lived with the boy since he was born?
He glanced over at him. Nick was looking awfully glum for a kid who had just been let off the hook. The teachers and principal had actually apologized to him. Zane had certainly never seen anything like that back in his days there.
“You okay?” he asked.
“I still cheated,” Nick said quietly.
Zane felt a rush of surprise. But if he’d learned one thing from Becca, it was to ask his son more questions.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“I cheated on the eye test,” Nick said miserably.
“Oh,” Zane said, surprised. “I don’t think you can really cheat on an eye test. You just had a better idea of what to expect, because of what Cal said. Even now, I bet you can read that sign way over there, right? That’s because you know it’s a pizza shop, so you’re expecting it to say pizza. That’s not cheating. That’s just using your noodle.”
That earned him a smile, but there was still sadness behind it.
“I’m sorry you’ve had to rely on your brother’s eyes so much,” Zane told him honestly. “Hopefully, Doc Robertson can make you some glasses that help you see better on your own.”
Nick nodded, but still didn’t say anything. That was so unlike his usually chatty son that Zane felt a wave of worry.
“Is something else bothering you?” Zane asked him.
“Do I have to wear glasses?” Nick asked.
“The glasses will help you see so much better,” Zane said. “Won’t that be great?”
“But we can’t play which-twin anymore,” Nick said.
Zane did his best not to smile. The boys had been playing which-twin ever since they were really little—trying to fool the family by swapping places.
Fortunately for the family, there was no way that anyone was ever fooled. The boys’ personalities were just too different. And they tended to giggle a lot when they were playing .
But Zane understood that it wasn’t really just about the game. The boys liked being twins. When they were little, he had always made a point of putting them in different clothing, even when they were so little he was almost dazed from lack of sleep. But as soon as they were old enough, they started wearing matching clothes fairly often, and they loved telling new people that they were twins.
If Nick had glasses, he would look different from his brother.
“You two will always be twins,” Zane told him firmly. “And when you’re older, maybe you’ll be able to wear contact lenses if you want.”
“Plus, when you have your glasses we’ll be eye twins ,” Cal told him excitedly. “We’ll see everything the same way.”
Zane’s heart ached with pride at the boy’s enthusiasm, which earned a genuine smile from Nick.
They turned onto Moose Avenue and approached his brother’s office. He breathed a sigh of relief when they reached the glass door and saw that no patients were inside.
“Hey, guys,” West said, getting up from his desk when Zane pushed the door open.
“Were you getting ready to go home?” Zane asked him.
The nurse wasn’t there, and West’s tiny daughter, Elizabeth, was sitting on the floor working on a puzzle, her cute little mouth frowning, ponytails swinging as she cocked her head to consider another puzzle piece. Zane figured West was probably just finishing up his notes from the day.
“Doesn’t matter,” West told him. “What’s up?”
The boys immediately sank to the floor to play with their cousin, and Zane smiled when he saw that they really were helping her, not just taking over.
“It’s Nick,” Zane said. “We think he needs an eye test and probably glasses.”
“Really?” West asked frowning. “Didn’t he have a test in school?”
“He did,” Zane said, gazing over at the boys. “But he went right after his brother. And they noticed at school that he has a hard time if he’s not close to the board.”
“That schoolteacher of yours, huh?” West said with a half-smile. “She’s a firecracker.”
Zane glanced up at his brother in surprise. West had always been super smart and intuitive. None of them were surprised when he became a doctor. But, like Zane, he was a single dad and seemed content in his decision to stay that way. Zane wouldn’t have expected him to easily believe that he and Becca were together.
“She’s not mine ,” Zane said, shrugging. “But yes, she figured it out after the other teacher accused Nick of cheating.”
West narrowed his eyes for a moment and then his usual gentle expression slid back into place.
“Let’s have Nick do a quick test here,” he said. “You know I can’t actually give him glasses, but you can go see Doc Robertson, over on Red Oak.”
“I’ve got an appointment there tonight,” Zane admitted. “But I didn’t want to wait if you were here. I was sort of hoping you could help out.”
He hated to say it, but he would rather have this news come from family.
“Of course,” West told him. “Nick, can you come up here a moment?”
Zane sat back and tried to relax as West showed Nick where to stand and brought out a chart. He was grateful when West gave Nick only the most positive feedback for his answers.
“Great job,” West told his nephew when he was finished.
“Do I need glasses?” Nick asked right away.
“You will absolutely get to have a pair of glasses,” his uncle told him in a positive way. “And you know what? You’re going to love them. Once you get used to your glasses, you’ll feel like you have a new superpower.”
Nick grinned at that, and scrambled back over to play with his brother and little cousin.
“Thanks,” Zane told West.
“He definitely needs corrective lenses,” West said. “I think you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is for him to behave at school if he can see the board. He’s probably been feeling pretty bored and frustrated.”
Somehow, instead of feeling sad for Nick, his brother’s point of view helped Zane feel nothing but relief.
“She saved him,” Zane said, shaking his head, his eyes on his beautiful boy.
“You know,” West said thoughtfully, sitting back in his chair, “people like you and me might decide we aren’t going to mess around with women anymore after we’ve been hurt once.”
Zane shot his brother a glance.
“But,” West, went on, “sometimes a miracle is delivered right to our doorstep. And if we’re lucky enough for that to happen, well, only a fool wouldn’t let her inside.”
“Well, I don’t think my miracle’s at my doorstep anymore,” Zane admitted. “Not after the way I talked to her when I thought Nick was cheating on his test.”
“Maybe Nick isn’t the only one who isn’t seeing clearly here,” West said with a wry smile.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zane asked.
But his phone started buzzing, telling him it was time to get over to the eye doctor for their appointment.
“Come on, boys,” he said. “Let’s go see Doc Robertson.”
“I can’t wait to see you with your new glasses, Nick,” West said cheerfully. “And I really can’t wait for you to see me!”
Nick looked up at his uncle uncertainly. But when he saw that West’s smile was genuine, his own face lit up too.
An hour later they were leaving Doc Robertson’s with the promise that Nick would have a brand-new pair of eyeglasses ready for him tomorrow after school.
Both boys were cheerful after trying on lots of frames and being fussed over by the doctor and his assistant. She had told the boys that since they were identical twins, they could try on twice as many frames at a time to find a good pair for Nick.
“I’m going to do better in school, Dad,” Nick said with a touch of his regular confidence on the way back to the car.
“Yes,” Zane told him. “You probably are. But I still want you both to remember something. I care that you’re respectful to your teachers and that you try your best?—”
“ But you love us no matter what ,” they both yelled at once.
“Okay, I’ve probably been saying that a lot this week,” Zane admitted.
“It’s okay, Dad,” Cal told him, patting his arm. “We like it.”
“Now we can tell Miss Hawthorne she was right,” Nick said excitedly.
“She’s like Encyclopedia Brown,” Cal said reverently.
Zane smiled at the reference to the series of books the boys had loved about a kid detective.
“Are you going to call her right now?” Nick asked.
“Well, she’s not working right now,” Zane said carefully. “But we’ll tell her tomorrow. I think I’ll write an email to the principal.”
“Don’t get her in trouble,” Cal said worriedly.
“No,” Zane said. “I want to write something nice to make sure they know what a good job she’s doing.”
“Wow,” Nick said. “That’s a good idea.”
“And then she’ll definitely fall in love with you,” Cal said happily.
“That’s not how it works,” Zane said. “And besides, I really messed up with her.”
“ Everyone makes mistakes ,” Nick said firmly. “ It’s what you do afterward that matters. ”
Zane gazed down at his son in wonder.
“That’s what she said,” Nick said, shrugging. “She probably meant it for grownups, too.”
She sure was right about one thing, Zane thought to himself as the boys piled into the car. Nick is a really smart kid.