He jostles a shoulder, finished with his examination. “When did it happen?”
“You know, you make it sound like I was just incapable of being married.”
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it. I should have asked what he did instead. I’m assuming something pretty bad, considering you came back.” He pauses, rolling his lips. “Is he alive?”
My laugh comes tearing up my throat. “I didn’t kill him, Ash. Just beat him up a little.”
“So, he did do something, then. What was it?”
“Can we at least go inside and sit down first or something? You could buy me lunch, even. Welcome me home with a nice meal, considering I was just in a plane for ages.”
Ash reaches for a discarded baseball cap on the ground and slaps it on, squishing his messy blond hair. The dirt and dust on it fly off at the movement, and I bite back another laugh.
“He didn’t hurt you, did he?” he asks, not letting it go yet.
I sigh, shaking my head. “No. Not physically.”
His exhale comes out hard and fast. “Alright. Then yeah, we can get lunch.”
“I’ve got Dad’s truck, so I’ll drive.”
“You’ve already been home?”
“I figured I’d rip that Band-Aid off before doing anything else.”
Ash makes no move to put the bike away, so we leave it and walk around the community centre. It’s not like anyone is going to steal it, even if it wasn’t so obviously broken. Oak Point’s population isn’t even big enough to go on the town sign. I doubt there’s even anyone who would volunteer to count the number, anyway.
“You saw Mom, then?”
I hesitate long enough to give him his answer.
“Of course you didn’t. You’re not going to be able to avoid her, Tilly. Dad’s probably already told her that you’re back,” he says.
“Yeah, well. She’s going to cry. It was already awkward enough with just Dad.”
I unlock the truck doors and leave Ash by the passenger side. He pulls it open and waits for me to get to the opposite side.
“You’ll have to suck it up and deal with it,” he tells me once I join him and start the engine.
Leaving the community centre, I pull onto the main road. “I know that. Trust me, Ash, I fucking know what I need to deal with being back here.”
“Alright.”
I feel his eyes on my cheek and swallow, knowing exactly what he sees. We may have been apart for a decade, but he’s my twin. There isn’t anyone on this earth who knows me as well as he does. I always hated it growing up, and I think I still do.
Maybe now more than ever.
“He’s home, you know?”
My grip on the steering wheel turns painful as I stiffen. “I figured.”
“His sentence ended two years ago.”
“I know how to count, Ash.”
“He’s been riding again. Now that his parole’s finished, he can compete?—”
“I don’t want to talk about him,” I snap, the tips of my ears burning.
