“Yeah, I know,” I agreed. I pulled out my phone and steered him toward the couch. “I should call him now to get it over with.”
As predicted, Evan was super pissed when he heard about the protest. He calmed down a lot when I told him about Caitlin’s idea.
“Ooh, I like it,” he crowed. “You need to give that woman a raise.”
“You’re probably right,” I replied, already calculating how much I could afford. “So, you think we can pull it off?”
“Oh yeah.” He sounded excited. “I know a few people in the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. I’ll call them and see if they can pull together a small group to come down for the wedding day.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief. “Excellent.”
“Hey,” Evan said, “Give Caitlin my number and ask her to contact me. I want to coordinate the groups if we can.”
“You got it.”
I ended the call and slumped back into the sofa. “That went way better than I thought it would.” The alarm on my phone went off before Jeremy could respond. I looked at the time and said, “Oh shit, I forgot.”
“Forgot what?” Jeremy asked.
“I have a video call with Liam in fifteen minutes.”
He moved to get up. “Oh, okay. I’ll let you have your privacy.”
I took hold of his arm. “No, stay. I’d like you to meet him.”
“Really?” His cheeks went pink.
I kissed his sweet cheek. “Yes, really.”
I got my laptop so we could both look at it and signed in when it was time. Liam looked even wearier than the last time I talked to him.
“Hey, little bro,” I said. “How’s it going?”
He gave me a tired smile. “Good. I mean, as good as it can be. Things are heating up a little, and more people are coming into the refugee camps. We got a couple of new people, but we’re still short-handed. How about you? How’s business now that summer has started?”
My stomach was knotted over the news that the fighting in the area was getting worse. I knew Liam was glossing over that he was in more danger now. I also knew there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it, so I sucked it up and put on a happy face.
“Good now. There were a few problems a couple of weeks ago, but we resolved them.” I turned the laptop so he could see Jeremy. “I want to introduce you to someone.” I saw Liam’s eyes go wide. “This is Jeremy Fitzgerald.”
Jeremy smiled and said, “Hi, Liam. It’s nice to meet you.”
Liam was speechless for a moment. He finally said, “Wow, it’s really great to meet you. It seems like my brother is upgrading the company he keeps.”
I barked a laugh. “Very funny. You know what’s even funnier?” I kissed Jeremy’s cheek. “He’s dating me.”
Liam’s jaw dropped. “No way!” He shook his head. “I miss all the good stuff.”
My smile fell. “So maybe you should come home. We miss you.”
Liam sighed softly. “I know. I miss you too. So much. It’s just two more months, and then I’ll be back—I promise.”
Jeremy must have seen something in my expression because he put his hand over mine and squeezed it lightly. I drew in a shaky breath, which I did my best to hide from Liam.
“I know, bro. I just miss you, and I’m always gonna worry because you’re my baby brother.”
“Sean…”
I shook my head. “I know. Tell me all about what you’re doing over there.”
