I chuckled. “Did he now?”
“He did.”
A silence fell, though it felt easier than it had in the first place.
“I do love him,” I whispered, and down the hall the toilet flushed.
“I know.”
“He’s been through a lot,” I said. The sink turned on, turned off. “He’s a really good man, Marshall.”
“He would have to be for you to love him,” my brother said, reaching for the wine bottle. “And so are you, by the way.”
My lashes weren’t dry anymore, but I swiped an errant tear before it managed to track too far of a line down my cheek. The bathroom door opened and Marshall topped off our glasses.
“I am so proud of you,” he said. “And I love you so much, Smith.”
“I love you,” I grumbled back, only holding the words in because the tears were too close to escaping.
Riggs sank down into his seat at my right and immediately returned his hand to my leg.
“Sorry about that,” he said, even though I knew he wasn’t.
“You’re good.” I rested my hand on top of his and threaded our fingers together. “Riggs, this is my brother Marshall. Marshall, this is Riggs.”
They shook hands and Marshall went again for his drink. Things might have been fine, but they were certainly awkward.
“You raised a good man,” Riggs said unexpectedly, and both Marshall’s and my head snapped toward him.
Marshall arched a brow. “Pardon?”
Riggs swallowed hard and shrugged one shoulder toward his ear. “I know some of the history with you and your brothers, and I know how…paternal…you’ve been to Smith. He’s a good man, and I imagine that’s in part because of you.”
I watched carefully as Marshall traced his tongue across the front of his teeth. It was a nervous habit of his, something he did when he was thinking too hard.
“It was always easy with him,” Marshall finally said. “Smith wanted to do good; the other two were the nightmare.”
Riggs laughed under his breath, taking a drink. “I’ve met Finn.”
Marshall’s eyes went a little wide.
“We ran into him at a restaurant,” I explained. “He was in a mood.”
“Finn is always in a mood. I don’t know what’s been going on with him lately.”
I knew exactly what had been going on with Finn, though I found it interesting that Marshall didn’t. My oldest brother had never been a busybody, but he was the unintentional father of us all and generally always knew what was going on. He rarely pressed about it, but apparently getting involved with Silas had given him enough cause to step back out of our lives that all three of us had found ourselves in varying states of disarray.
“I’m sure he’ll tell you when he’s ready.”
“Do you know?”
“I know,” I said. “But if you want to know, maybe you should ask him yourself.”
Marshall sighed, knowing I was right. “I’ve been very wrapped up in falling in love,” he admitted.
“You deserve that.”
He glanced across the table, from me to Riggs, to the point at the table where our arms disappeared toward their resting place on my leg.
