Chapter 15 #3
“I’ve been hearing that my whole life. My own aunt mistook me for him the other day.” He took a drink of his coffee, his eyes on the door. “You know he’s already on the phone with Grant, telling him I’m eating breakfast with you.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Not for the reasons you think it might.”
“Good thing you already talked to Grant, huh?”
“Yeah, very good thing.”
“I don’t want to be the cause of trouble in your family.”
“Don’t worry about that. Grant is happy with Stephanie, and this has nothing to do with him. You two are ancient history. If you’d just broken up with him, that would be different, but it’s been over between you guys for a couple of years.”
As their breakfast arrived, Abby couldn’t help but worry about causing trouble between brothers who’d always been close.
“So you already knew he was seeing her and didn’t tell me?” Mac asked Grant. He held the phone in the crook of his neck as he painted the trim in the gift shop.
“I talked to him yesterday, and he mentioned they’d been hanging out. I didn’t realize I was required to inform you of this development.”
“Very funny. They looked awfully cozy. That doesn’t bother you?”
“What do you want me to say? I’m engaged to Stephanie. Why would it bother me?”
“Still… I think it would bug me if one of you guys dated my ex.”
“After the way I treated her, Abby certainly deserves to be happy, and if Adam makes her happy, well… Who am I to get in the middle of that?”
“You’re very evolved about all of this.”
“Don’t make a big thing out of it. Leave him alone.”
“You’re ruining all my fun.”
Grant let out a huff of laughter. “You’re worse than Mom. You’ve turned into a regular Gansett Island gossipmonger.”
“That hurts me, Grant. Deeply.”
“The truth always hurts.”
“You sound a little better today,” Mac said, feeling as if he was tiptoeing into a minefield.
“I’ve been sleeping. That makes everything better.”
“You know I’m here if you need me, bro. I went through the same thing you did out there—”
“No, you didn’t.”
Grant’s sharp retort caught Mac by surprise.
“I’m sorry,” Grant said, instantly contrite. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just…”
Mac put down his paintbrush and switched the phone to his other hand. “What, Grant? Say it. Put it out there and get it off your chest. Let us help.”
“I…”
Mac waited breathlessly, praying that his brother would finally unburden himself.
“I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
Blowing out a deep breath, Mac said, “When you’re ready, you know where I am.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Are you coming to Luke’s tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll see you there.”
Mac ended the call, upset and dismayed that his brother was in pain and there was nothing he could do about it.
“What’s up?” Luke asked from the other end of the store where he was screwing the plug covers back on now that the paint on the walls was dry.
“Damned if I know. How is it we went through the same thing, and he’s so screwed up over it?”
“Something else happened to him. Something so traumatic he can’t talk about it.”
“If he doesn’t talk about it, how will he get past it?”
“Give him some time. Keep doing what you’re doing. Let him know you’re there for him. That’s all you can do.”
“It makes me crazy to know he’s so upset but keeping it all inside.”
“It’ll come out eventually. When he’s ready.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
“Hey, so listen. I’m going to be off-island a couple of days next week. Is that okay?”
“When are you going to stop asking us for time off?” They’d made Luke a partner in their business more than a year ago.
“Old habits die hard,” Luke said with a chuckle.
“I hope you’re going somewhere fun before the madness begins with the season.”
“Not fun, exactly, but a step in the right direction. Syd’s having a reversal of her tubal ligation.”
Mac grimaced. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, you jackass, that we might be able to have kids of our own. If it works.”
“Hey, that’s cool. Kind of a big step for her, huh?”
“A very big step. It took me a while to convince her that what happened to her kids couldn’t possibly happen again.” Sydney lost her first husband and young children to a drunk driver. “She’s worried she’ll be a crazy overprotective mother who never lets the poor kid out of her sight.”
“You couldn’t blame her for that.”
“No, but I told her I’d be there to keep her from going too far overboard. Of course that’s if it even happens. There’s a chance the surgery won’t work, and even if it does, she may not conceive.”
“I’ll be hoping it goes your way. We all will.”
“Thanks. Like I told her, if it doesn’t, we’ll adopt. There’re other options, and we’re keeping them all open.”
“Good plan. Let me know how it works out, okay?”
“I will. We’re keeping it kind of quiet. Syd doesn’t want everyone asking questions.”
“No one will hear it from me.”
Luke crooked a skeptical eyebrow.
“What? I said I won’t say anything, and I won’t.”
Laughing at Mac’s indignation, Luke went back to work.
Mac thought about Grant for a long time, wondering what had his brother so upset and wishing there was something he could do about it.