Chapter Thirty-Eight Luke
Thirty-Eight
Luke
Luke matched his pace to Finn’s as they walked the shoreline path the next afternoon, morning mist still clinging to the water.
His brother—brother, the word still felt foreign—moved like someone trying not to look hungover, but Luke caught the slight tremor in his hands when he thought no one was looking.
Behind them, Solace Springs was beginning its lunchtime rush.
In a few days, Sophie would finally open her bookshop.
She’d guarded the downstairs like a state secret when they’d finally emerged from her bed, insisting she wanted him to see it properly when it was finished.
The thought of her fussing over book displays and arguing with herself about optimal lighting made something warm unfurl in his chest.
The kid—Christ, calling a grown man “kid,” but that was what he was, wasn’t he?
His little brother who, it turned out, had military training that could probably put Luke on his ass.
He needed time to dry out properly. Last thing Luke wanted was to rush him into a day of heavy conversations and family history when the man was still shaking off whatever he’d been drinking on that island.
“You mentioned the army?” Luke asked, filling the silence.
“Four years. Infantry.” Finn’s voice was rough from too many cigarettes and not enough sleep. “Got out last year. Figured I’d have my shit together by now, you know? Instead, I’m breaking into museums and living on an island like some kind of hermit.”
Luke grunted. He understood the appeal of isolation better than most.
“Drinking, too. About that…” Finn started, then stopped, jaw working as he smoothed his messy tangle of brown curls down.
“Started after my discharge. Got bad when my mom passed. Real bad when I found that photo of my biological mom and the belt in the attic.” He glanced at Luke.
“Still want some of the strong stuff. Right now, even. Hands are shaking and everything. That means I’m an alcoholic, right? What the hell do I do?”
“We’ll figure it out,” Luke said, surprising himself with how easily the words came. Before all this, he’d have told Finn to figure it out himself. But Sophie had been right about something—some people were worth the risk. Even the messy, complicated ones.
“Acting like a real big brother there,” Finn said with an awkward smile. Then he frowned. “Not that we know that for sure. So what’s the plan? How’d we get it confirmed?”
Luke had been thinking about that all night. “You sure look like my brother. But we should go see her. Our mother. I’m just working up the courage to call her using the number Mabel gave me.”
“Yeah.” Finn was quiet, looking pensive. Luke could see it would be a lot for the kid. Was a lot for him, the thought of seeing his ma after so many years.
“What’s she like?” Finn asked.
Luke considered the question, trying to find words for a woman who’d been more ghost than memory for most of his life. “She was…gentle back then. Quiet. Had these hands that could calm any scared animal, fix anything broken.” His throat tightened. “Until she couldn’t fix herself.”
“Why d’you think she left?”
“I got told it was guilt. Shame. She couldn’t live with what she’d done, couldn’t look at Pa or me without seeing her mistakes.
” Luke picked up a smooth stone, turned it over in his palm.
“I spent over twenty years hating her for it. Now I realize she was just suffocating and had to get away before it killed her.”
They reached the old pier where Luke used to fish as a kid. He pointed to the end. “My grandpa on my dad’s side used to…”
Then he paused as he saw Sophie in jeans and a soft pink sweater, balancing three cups of coffee in a coffee holder.
“Hey,” she said, voice uncertain. “I brought coffee.” She held out a cup to Finn. “And it’s strong. Figured it looked like one of those mornings.”
Finn hesitated, then took it. Their hands brushed. And Luke watched the unlikeliest thing unfold—his past and his future, standing there sharing coffee.
He reached out and laced his fingers with Sophie’s. She didn’t flinch.
Then he looked at them both, taking it all in.
His brother, who’d finally come back.
And Sophie, who’d somehow made all of this bearable.
And maybe, very soon, his mother would be with them, too.
Finally, Luke Rhodes felt the hole in his chest repair itself.