Brian prided himself on his self-control, as a rule, but keeping his eyes off of the way the simple black swimsuit cupped and lifted his former sister-in-law’s breasts wasnoteasy. “This is so strange.”
“What’s so strange?”
He winced, not having intended to say that out loud. But he was in it now and they were as close as alone as they could get. “You and me sitting here, hanging out.”
“Well, I’m sitting here watching my son in the pool. You’re the one hanging out.”
“True. I sat down to apologize, but it’s comfortable and it’s just strange how easy it is to talk to you.”
She chuckled. “I’d pretend to be offended, but I know what you mean and yes, itisstrange. You’re kind of a nice guy now, I guess.”
“I always have been, for the most part. We all have our moments. But you never gave me a chance.”
“A chance to what?”
He watched Kyle spotting Nora as she swam the width of the pool, while Steph and Oliver played with the pink noodle. “To be a good husband, I guess. From day one, you were against me marrying your sister.”
“I’m sorry you thought that.”
“What was I supposed to think? When I was in eighth grade, I replaced all my algebra teacher’s dry erase markers with permanent markers—even the boxed ones in her storage cubby—and there was more approval in the lookshegave me when she found out it was me than in any look you ever gave me.”
“How did she find out it was you?”
He noticed she didn’t deny it. “My pain in the ass younger brother always had a digital camera with him—usually still does, actually—and he took some pictures to use as blackmail at home. But he was showing his friend in study hall and didn’t realize the principal was looking over his shoulder.”
“Oops.”
“Yeah, but circling back to the point, even Mrs. Rundell didn’t look at me with as much disapproval as you did.”
“It wasn’t really about you.”
“I was the only man she was marrying.” He snorted. “That I know of. Looking back, who knows.”
“Don’t. I know this is hard, but Kelly’s my sister and no matter how furious I am with her right now, I’ll feel compelled to defend her.”
“You think she deserves that?”
“Maybe not, but…she’s my sister. I don’t know. But I can’t help it and I don’t want to argue with you right now.”
“Okay.” He stretched his legs out, aware he wasn’t going to sit on the cement step much longer. “But if it wasn’t really about me, what was it about?”
“Kelly wasn’t ready to marryanybody. Whether it was you or some other guy, it was going to end in disaster.”
“So you decided the best way to work the problem was to hate me and hope she caught on?”
“I didn’thateyou.” When he gave her a skeptical look, she shrugged. “I didn’t know you well enough to hate you. But I guess I—I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. I thinkI distrusted the fact thatyoucouldn’t see it. If you truly knew her well enough to marry her, you should have been able to see she wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment.”
He thought about what she’d said for a few minutes, and then he nodded slowly. “I guess that’s fair. Obviously I didn’t know her as well as I thought I did.”
“It’s hard to know Kelly,” she said in a quiet voice. “The real Kelly, I mean, because she doesn’t always share the most authentic parts of herself.”
Brian thought about her words, letting what shewasn’tsaying out loud sink in. Having brothers himself, he knew how hard even that little bit had been for Siobhan to admit, so he let it be.
The silence stretched on until she sighed. “It’s time to bring everybody’s peace and quiet to a screeching halt—literally—by dragging Oliver out of the pool. He’s had enough sun for today, but he’s having some of the most fun he’s ever had. I should probably apologize in advance.”
He chuckled and then called out to the other end of the pool. “Hey, Dad!”
When his dad turned, Brian pointed to Oliver and then jerked his thumb toward the gate. Mike nodded.
