He stared at me a beat longer, and then he surged forward. He wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me so tight I couldn’t breathe.
“Holy shit,” he muttered in my ear. “Itisyou!”
I froze as his scent hit me. It smelled like our childhood with a hint of masculine soap I didn’t recognize.
When I didn’t respond, or even breathe for that matter, his arms loosened. His body tensed, and he carefully dropped his arms. I braced my weak knees as he stepped back, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck. His hair was shorter, too. Cropped close to his head instead of falling over his ears and forehead. “I just…I’d heard you were in town, but I didn’t know you’d show up here.”
Even his voice was different. Deeper. More gravelly. Like he’d abused it over the years.
When I finally caught my breath, I stammered, “You heard I was here?”
Ash looked at me like it was a ridiculous question; the familiar expression made some of the nervous tension lessen.
“Skye, you’re pretty much the talk of the town. Even the guys at the shop can’t quit bringing up you and the documentary.”
I knew people were talking, despite my effort to keep it on the down-low, but it was always stunning how fast and wide news spread.
“The…shop?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I work at Ember Hollow Truck and Tire.”
“You’re a mechanic?” I was having a hard time wrapping my mind around this man being my little brother.
Ash smiled, and there he was. There was something about a smile that made someone appear younger, and I caught a glimpse of the boy I’d left behind.
“We have a lot to talk about.” He threw a thumb over his shoulder. “Do you want to come in?”
I glanced into the house. It was dark inside, though it was in the middle of the day. Fear crawled up my spine. I picked at the side of my nail.
My eyes met Ash’s. “Um…” I hesitated. “Is—is he in there?”
Heat rushed to my face. I couldn’t even bring myself to say his name.
Something shifted in Ash’s demeanor. A dark, stony expression that I definitely did not recognize flickered over his features. “No. He doesn’t live here anymore.”
I frowned. “He doesn’t?”
There was a beat of silence where he didn’t move, and then he shook his head. “No.”
He didn’t elaborate. Every fiber of my curious heart wanted to ask why. And I would ask it, but not right now.
“Oh,” was all I said in answer. Leaving the questions to linger in silence awhile longer.
Ash gave me another smile, but it was cautious this time. “Do you want to come in?”
I glanced back into the house. Knowing that our father wasn’t here made me feel like I could breathe. I nodded. “Okay.”
Going inside the house felt like walking into the past. The back of my neck prickled as I stepped through the front door and into the living room.
It looked different now, though. The old, plaid furniture had been replaced with a simple brown matching sofa and chair. What had once been carpet was now a gray laminate. The walls were painted, too. They’d been a dark blue when I was little, and the soft cream color brightened the space despite the lack of light.
I followed my brother into the kitchen. There was a small round table in the corner. The cabinets had been painted white instead of the dark grain wood they had been growing up.
It was so different, but also the same in many ways.
I swallowed down the memories that choked me as Ash, my little brother, pulled out one of the two chairs at the table.
