He studied the pretty face of his sister and felt a kernel of something that he thought was possibly affection. She was his blood, as was the man beside her. He’d resented them for a while, but that seemed to have eased.
“How did you know about the wedding?”
“I didn't,” Brad answered Hope's question. “I was involved in something and it made me think about things. So I decided to visit Ethan first as he’s the oldest.”
“Are you okay?” Hope touched his arm. “Was it a bad something?”
She was worried, he could see it in her eyes, and the thought gave him a small jolt of pleasure.
“I lost a friend, and it made me realize I needed to talk with my siblings, and repair some of the damage I’d caused.”
“I’m sorry.” Taylor placed his hand on top of Hope’s and they sat like that, connected, for a few seconds.
“Now, I want to hear about you two. Tell me what you’ve been doing?” Brad could only handle so much emotion. He wasn’t used to it, so he pulled his hand free.
When he thought about Mark dying he felt a lump of emotion ball up inside him, and he didn’t need or want that now. Not at his brother’s wedding, and not with his siblings watching him. When he grieved for his friend, he did so in private.
They talked, he listened, and he was pleased that both his younger siblings seemed to be doing well away from their father's influence. Unlike him, they had escaped early.
“Will you promise me that you’ll stay in contact with us now, Brad?” The words came from Taylor.
“Promise.”
“Give me your cell phone, and I’ll put in our numbers,” Taylor said, holding out his hand.
“I don’t remember you being so pushy.” Brad took out his phone and handed it over.
“No, it’s always been in there, he just hid it well,” Hope said.
“I guess we all had our own way of coping.” His had been drink and abusive behavior.
The speeches started minutes later, and Brad sat in companionable silence with his brother and sister. He’d never really had a problem with them, it was Ethan he’d resented the most.
“So, when I first met this guy he pulled me from a burning building.”
Brad listened as the best man told the story of his brother the hero. He heard stories of bravery and friendship. Glowing accolades about the newlyweds. Things Ethan had done that cemented him in the hearts of these people, and he battled down the irrational resentment that he hadn't received the same treatment.
I shouldn't have come, he realized.I should have started repairing damage with Hope and Taylor first. But no, instead he’d come for Ethan. Because when the dust had settled and he’d buried Mark after the accident, it had been his eldest brother he’d thought of first. So he’d come to Lake Howling to find him, and now he was regretting it.
Looking at the man who was now standing, he realized that his feelings ran deep where Ethan was concerned. Him, more than the others, he had felt abandoned by. It may not be rational, but it was there deep inside him. He hadn’t realized how raw he was until now, until he had seen him.
“Thank you for your kind words, and can I say that I'm honored to finally be accepted into this community.”
A few people called out that he wasn’t and wouldn’t be until he backed a winning team, which made everyone laugh.
“This woman,” Ethan looked down at Annabelle, “is my soul mate. She’s the better half of me, and it’s her that makes me a better man. Love is an easy word to throw around, and yet nothing else fits. She’s Annabelle, and she holds my heart.”
Ethan had always been good with words, Brad thought, looking at Macy. She was sniffing into a tissue. Her eyes met his and then flitted away.
“Finally, I want to say thank you to my siblings, Brad, Taylor, and Hope, for coming today. We haven’t always been there for each other, but that’s about to change.”
Ethan’s eyes locked on Brad’s.
“Today is the first step in our new lives. Let’s all take it.”
Everyone raised their glasses and Brad did the same, but the doubt nearly choked him.
Brad found himself watching Macy as the food started to arrive. She took small bites, her movements neat and precise. He watched the line of her throat as she drank her champagne, and wondered what it would be like to place his lips there.
