‘That I shouldn’t have made such a fool of myself last night. That I’m drinking too much.’
‘I don’t need to say it. You obviously know that already.’
‘So get off my back.’ Ben opened the fridge and pulled out a box of leftover pizza, which he dropped on the table. He took out a slice and bit into it.
Justin shook his head. ‘It’s that bad, is it?’
‘Like you’ve never had a hangover.’ Ben grimaced and tossed the half-eaten slice back into the pizza box.
Justin had just about had enough. ‘Stop it.’
The tone of his voice made Ben pause.
‘Little brother, this has gone far enough. You’re not just making a fool of yourself, all this drinking is affecting your work. When did you last do a decent workout? You’re not fit. Your hands shake. Your concentration is off. What the hell is happening? You weren’t like this a few weeks ago.’
‘A few weeks ago, she hadn’t come back into our lives. And my twin brother wasn’t gallivanting around with some woman.’
‘I guessed this was about our mother. But what has Anna ever done to you?’
‘It’s not her. It’s you.’
Justin blinked in surprise. ‘What have I done?’
‘You’re all I’ve got. You have been since we were seventeen. And now …’
‘Now what?’
‘Now I seem to be the last person you think about. First there’s that vet—’
‘Anna? Come on, Ben. I’ve been on one date with her. You’re usually the one busy with the girls. And you’re more than happy to go drinking down the pub. Too happy, if you ask me.’
Ben didn’t bite. Or shrug the whole thing off, as Justin had hoped. He was too fixated on his grievances, real or otherwise.
‘And then you’re starting to patch things up with our mother. After what she did to us.’
‘She is still our mother. And, yes, I would like to reconnect with her. She might not have been the best mother in the world, but she didn’t do anything unforgivable.’
‘Not to you. But she lied to me for seventeen years.’
‘About a few minutes of time. That’s all.’
‘But those few minutes were enough to change my whole life. Things could have been so different for me.’
‘Is your life so terrible now that you want to change everything?’
‘Well, for a start, I wouldn’t have spent my whole life in the shadow of my perfect big brother. Who now wants to play happy families again with our mother and is so busy with his new woman that he won’t even have a beer with me.’
‘Ben …’ Justin put a hand on his brother’s shoulder, but Ben shrugged it off and stepped away. That hurt. ‘Fine. But you’re sounding like that teenager again. You remember him? The kid I left home to protect? The kid I looked after and trained and helped find a job and a decent life?’
Ben didn’t reply.
‘I’m going for a run. When I get back, we’ve got work. We have a firebreak to clear south of town. You’d better be up for it.’
Justin left the kitchen and paused just long enough to change into his running gear before he set out, the steady pounding of his feet a salve to his anger and hurt.
***
When Justin returned from his run, Ben was fully kitted out, had the back of the truck open and was checking their gear. Justin headed for the shower. By the time he was ready, so was the truck. He got behind the wheel without a word and drove out of town with Ben equally silent beside him. It didn’t take long to reach their destination. The property owner was waiting for them, three of his men by his side. They had brought a small tractor with a dozer blade attached. That would help a lot.
