“Oh.” Trent shrugged. “I kind of wonder sometimes, you know, about my heritage.”
Ryan had wondered, too. “I’ve tried to remember seeing her with an Asian man, but I don’t. Our mom was…Well, you’re probably lucky you don’t remember her.”
Trent kept his eyes on the rope. “What was she like?”
Ryan took a deep breath. “She loved us. I mean, she was never abusive or anything like that. But the drugs, the alcohol…it took a toll. She was always looking for her next fix. She just couldn’t break free of the cycle.”
“Did she try? You know, for us?” Hurt gleamed in his younger brother’s eyes.
“She got clean when she was pregnant with you. I think she did try, yeah.”
Trent said nothing, staring at the ground, his jaw set.
“I was only eleven when she died,” Ryan said. “At the time, I thought she must not have cared about us at all to do the things she did. But now, you know, I guess she did the best she could.”
“But not enough.”
“No, not enough.” Ryan couldn’t sugarcoat the truth. “Losing her, and then losing you…it was pretty bad for me. I did a lot of stupid shit, but I’ve never touched drugs. Not once. Not after seeing what they did to her.”
“I’m sorry,” Trent said, his voice gone quiet. “It’s not fair that you had to grow up in foster care. I had, like, a pretty average childhood. I mean, I thought it sucked plenty, but getting grounded for breaking curfew doesn’t compare to what you went through.”
“Life’s not fair, Trent. I did okay, and things have turned out good for me. Not to be all mushy and shit, but I just want you to know how much it means to me having you here. Soon as I could after I turned eighteen and aged out of the system, I left Haven and moved around, looking for you. Hoped maybe you were somewhere nearby so that I could track you down.”
“Really?” Trent turned to look at him.
“Yeah, man. Family’s everything, right? Whatever happens, when you go back home or back to school or whatever, we’re family now. You’re never getting rid of me.” He gave his brother a slap on the back.
A smile creased his brother’s cheeks. “That’s totally cool with me.”
“Good. Maybe I’m hard on you sometimes because I don’t want you to make the mistakes I did. Just punch me if I start to sound too annoying, okay?”
Trent laughed a little at that, shaking his head.
“You know they have those ancestry kits now. You send them a cheek swab or whatever, they test your DNA and tell you where you’re from. If you really want to know.”
“I never thought of that.” Trent sounded thoughtful. “People tell me I look Korean, but I’ve always wondered.”
By the time they had finished checking over the ropes course and noted all the repairs that needed to be made, Ryan felt really bonded with Trent for the first time.
* * *
Emma finished up at Off-the-Grid a little past four thirty. The guys were all out on the property doing who-knew-what, and her seasonal employees had already gone home so she went inside to wash up. She scrubbed up in the bathroom then went into the kitchen for a glass of water. Yeah, she was dawdling, hoping she might get to see Ryan again before she left.
Because…well, now that they’d started kissing, she couldn’t seem to get enough. But she had no idea where he was, and she couldn’t think of another reason to hang around so she headed for her car, trying not to feel disappointed.
“Hey,” Ryan called to her from across the yard, waving as he stepped out of the woods.
She felt herself grinning like a fool and didn’t even care. “Hey yourself.”
“You heading out?” he asked as he walked toward her.
“Landscaping’s all finished,” she said.
He glanced over at the daisies and begonias she’d spent the afternoon planting. “Looks great. You have time to go for a ride?”
“Yes.” She stepped in close, not quite touching him since they were in the parking lot where anyone could see, but close enough that her whole body sizzled with awareness. “What did you have in mind?”
A hot glint came into his brown eyes. “A whole lot more than I have time for. Unfortunately, I have to be back here in an hour or so for another appointment.”
