“The past is the past. All we have is the present, so let’s enjoy it before you have to go back to Chicago.”
“I can do that.”
Chapter 5
Vanian
While we’re chilling on the couch, Nantes’s phone buzzes. He grabs it from the coffee table and swipes it open, his brow creasing as he reads the message.
“Busted.” He chuckles. “My brothers and Brogan are on the way.”
“Is that bad?”
“It’s more loud than bad.” Nantes smiles. “Brogan noticed the one car that hasn’t left yet and put it together that no one has seen me for a few hours.”
“I see they still mind personal boundaries.”
Nantes laughs heartily. “Just like old times. If I’d told them not to come they would’ve stayed away, but I figure we might as well rip the bandage off.”
I nod. “It’ll be good to see everyone. Deo and Brogan were still teens when I last saw them.”
“Yep.”
Just a few minutes later, while we gather our wineglasses, there’s a knock at the door, and Nantes yells out, “Come in.”Seconds later, Deo, Brogan, and Giuliano pour into the space with inquisitive expressions.
It’s Giuliano who notices me first, stopping in his tracks, his brow creased. “No way. Vanian?”
“In the flesh.”
“Whoa.” He walks over and gives me one of his specialty bear hugs. He was always the buff one out of the brothers, and that hasn’t changed at all.
Deo and Brogan stare at me, and I admit to staring back a little. Both of them have changed so much. They were kids when I left, but they’re definitely adults now.
Deo holds out his hand. “Hey. Long time no see.”
“Definitely. How are ya, Deo?”
“Great.” He glances at his cousin. “You remember Brogan?”
“Of course.”
Brogan just stares at me with an expression I can’t quite place until Deo nudges them with his arm and they blink, clearing their throat.
“Hey, Vanian,” Brogan says.
“How ya been?”
“Can’t complain.”
“What brings you to little Robin’s Grove, Wisconsin?” Giuliano asks.
“I was planning to visit my sister in Janesville and I bumped into Nantes in Madison.”
“He’s staying with me for a few days,” Nantes says. “His sister sort of forgot he was coming.”
“Oh, shit,” Deo says. “How does that happen?”
She would’ve had to know I was coming to forget. “Oh, you know, life is busy sometimes.”
