“You think? That doesn’t make me feel better.”
“I don’t know what to tell you Emma,” I shrugged. “I offered to drop out of the show and stay with him, but he insisted I go.”
We sat there staring up at a mural of Jesus on the wall, neither of us speaking. I hated the feelings she stirred up in me. An anxious thumping attacked my heart. If something happened… if Jake did anything stupid… I’d never forgive myself. By the look in Emma’s eyes, she shared my unease.
“It’s been crazy at work, but maybe I can take a week off.” Her voice was riddled with uncertainty. “I’ll talk to Mom, and we’ll work out a schedule while you’re gone.”
“He’ll love that.” I frowned. “Not to mention he’ll see right through it. You know how much Jake hates it when he thinks we’re checking up on him. I mean, he’s kind of accepted my constant irritating presence, but you two… oh, yeah, he’ll be pissed.”
Emma sighed. “I know, but what choice do we have?”
“Well, we could trust him.”
“Can we?”
It wasn’t an unreasonable question. Jake had given us all a run for our money in the days, months, and years after the kidnapping. Suicide attempts were not an uncommon occurrence in our household. It had taken a comprehensive and proactive effort, on all our parts, to keep him alive.
“He’s okay, Emma.” I tried reassuring her although I wasn’t entirely sure myself. “The tour has been rough on him, that’s all.”
“I still don’t understand why he didn’t take more time off between tours.”
“Jake’s all work and no play,” I replied, shrugging.
“That’s what I’m worried about.”
“What’s done is done, Em. Nothing we can do about it now.”
“I just don’t like him being out there, on the other side of the world, alone.”
“Me neither, but he has Lassen. Not to mention he’s an adult. We can’t babysit him forever.”
Emma nodded, grudgingly agreeing with me. “Where is he anyway? He was supposed to be here hours ago.”
“I don’t know,” I replied sarcastically, reverting back to the asshole I usually was with my sister. “I’m not telepathic.”
Emma pursed her lips and shook her head in clear disappointment. “I was just asking, jerk!”
Thank god. We were back to being adversaries. Sharing feeling and opinions with Emma was like conceding defeat.
Lost in uncomfortable thought, I didn’t see the woman walking up to me until her beauty blocked my view of Jesus. I blinked. Holy hell! Had I just been sent an angel? My eyes zeroed in on her ample rack, which was spilling out from inside her shirt. Nope. This was no angel I’d been sent. How did He know?
Emma kicked the side of my leg, possibly to remind me she was still there. I tore my attention away from my new favorite person long enough to motion, with the flick of an eye, for Emma to get lost. Looking immensely offended, she refused to budge. I gave her a not-so-gentle shove. Emma shot me the look of death before rising off the bench and stomping away indignantly.
“Hi, I’m Sarah,” the blonde greeted me, like I was supposed to know who she was.
I stared at her blankly.
“Your partner for the wedding,” she added, flashing me an irritated grimace.
“Oh, yeah, hey. I’m Kyle,” I replied, standing up and eyeing her greedily. Her legs were long and shapely, and her waist was impossibly tiny. Or maybe it just appeared that way because her breasts were oversized for her thin frame. I lingered on her beauty a moment longer. She looked as if she’d just walked off a beach, her skin shining in a golden hue offset by her glossy blonde hair.
As I was finishing my thorough inspection of the attractive woman before me, I realized she was doing her own assessment of me. I could already tell by the expression in her eyes that she was not nearly as impressed with me as I had been with her. I had to assume, just by the looks of her, that few people met her high standards. My chances of being above that line were iffy at best.
Her eyes flicked over me as if she were deciding whether I was worthy of talking to or not. “So you’re Jake’s brother, right?”
“I am,” I affirmed.
“Well, at least I got a brother,” she mumbled under her breath.
