“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You think Luke’s given me the van so he doesn’t have to deal with your bullshit all the time.”
Denial bubbled up my throat, but it died on my lips as I took in the worry creasing my brother’s usually easy gaze. “What’s wrong?”
Gus went back to the kettle. “Nothing.”
“Liar.”
“Yep, but it’s not my business, and youhate Luke, so—”
“I don’t hate him.”
“Since when?”
“Jesus, Gus. Since ever, okay? Things are just...complicated between us.”
“Everything with you is always complicated.”
“That’s why you love me, though, right?”
Gus sighed. “I guess.”
I took the kettle off him and finished putting it on to boil. “Look, you don’t have to tell me anything, okay? But Iwantto know, becauseI care...about both of you. And if there’s anything I can do, I want to help.”
My brother rarely lost his temper with me, but he was so used to me bitching at him that the few and far between moments when I didn’t often knocked him for six. He frowned dazedly at me for a long moment before he seemed to snap back to the present.
He got two mugs from the cupboard and set them on the counterwith a dull thud. “Luke’s gone away,” he said. “He’s gone to take care of Billy, and I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
