"You sure, John?" the girl asked.
"Positive," he told her. "You've been looking forward to this all week long, and I already made you late."
The girl nodded and headed inside. My brother followed her up the stairs, then turned to walk down the porch until he reached me. For a long moment, we just looked at each other. I hadn't seen him since my parents had thrown me out of the house. He was thirteen, almost fourteen, years older, and yet still looked the same. All I could do was shake my head in confusion.
"What are you doing here, John?" I asked.
"Sadie works at one of the horse ranches in town and heard about this lingerie party deal tonight," he explained. "When she said it was at Southwind, I told her I knew where that was. So what are you doing here? Is your girl in there buying too many panties or something?"
I shook my head again, unable to find the right words to explain everything that had happened over the last decade. "Um, I live here actually."
"No shit?" he asked. "You stayed in Cats Peak?"
"Yeah, because this is where my daughter is." I was completely confused. He should've known that!
But surprise took over John's face. "Mom and Dad said that you weren't going through with it. That's why they kicked you out. They said they wouldn't support you if you were going to shirk your duties. I mean, I thought you two didn't keep the kid, but you did? It's a girl?"
"Faith," I told him, "and she's thirteen now, John. She lives here too."
"So, you married Meredith, huh?"
"No." I blew out a heavy breath. "That's what pissed Dad off. I didn't love her. Dad was so damned proud of me for dating a cheerleader, you know? He kept making jokes about getting her in the back seat. Well, I did, and she got pregnant, but I wouldn't just marry her, so they told me to get the hell out, because if I was man enough to get laid, then I was man enough to take care of myself." I reached up to scrub at my face. "Vera took me in. She gave me a place to stay and helped me figure out how to raise a child. Well, for the weekends I had her."
"So you and Meredith... never worked out?" he asked.
"Shit," I grumbled. "When I told her that I wasn't going to marry her because of a child, she dumped me hard. Told me she never wanted to see me again, and tried to keep me from having anything to do with Faith. Didn't let me help name her, nothing. She wanted the child support, though. Well, Vera - the old woman who used to own this place? Yeah, she got me some help, made sure I had joint custody, even if it was just every other weekend, and made sure I was a good dad. I actually just got primary custody of Faith a few weeks back. She lives with us full time."
"And you're still living with crazy old Vera?" John asked, proving he remembered the woman who had run Southwind back when we were kids.
"No." It seemed he was more out of the loop than I thought. "Vera passed away in March. Her granddaughter inherited the house."
"Dawn?" John looked surprised. "I thought she moved away to Europe or something."
I couldn't help myself. "You knew Violet?"
"Who?"
"Dawn Higgs," I corrected. "Her name used to be Violet Dawn Higgs. She went by Dawn at school, but ended up changing her last name to Dawson when she was old enough. Vera raised her, so she wanted to have Vera's last name."
But my brother's entire body had stilled. "Wait. So, like... She'stheViolet Dawson? The lingerie model lady? The one with the tattoos and the hair?"
"How do you know about all of that?" I asked.
John ducked his head and laughed softly. "Yeah, um, so after you moved out, Dad got a job over in Sherman. We moved. Mary and I both graduated from there, and then I went to Commerce to go to college. I'm actually working in McKinney now."
"And Mary?" I asked. "How's she doing?"
"Yeah, she got married about two years ago now. Moved to Austin." He tilted his head and smiled. "And you never did answer about the model. I mean, I just brought my girlfriend to some lingerie party at a house owned by a woman who has the same name as a lingerie model. Luke, I'm dying to know if it's the same girl."
"Same one," I assured him. "Evidently, I met Violet when she was in middle school. I don't remember, because it was the day I quit football. She did, though. So, um, when she came back to town, she got a flat and I helped her change it. We've kinda been dating since."
"My big brother is dating a supermodel?" he asked, slapping my shoulder proudly. "Damn, Luke. I thought Meredith was cute, but I think you upgraded. What does she think about banging a single dad?"
"Yeah, um, no, look," I rambled. Then I just sighed. "She loves Faith. More importantly, Faith loves her, but it's a little complicated."
"She can't date because of her job or something?" my brother asked.
"No, no, nothing like that." But that embarrassed feeling was back and now my stomach was rolling. "I'm a bisexual man!" I blurted out, immediately wishing I could take it back. "Fuck."
