“I know it’s scary,” Riley said. “Believeme, I know it’s scary. And I haven’t always followed the advice I’m giving you right now. But I wish I had. Like I said, regrets suck.”
Emily made a soft, sad noise and walked around the counter to wrap her arms around Riley again.
“You have to help me finish a whole tub of ice cream if she rejects me,” Emily said. “Since you’re the one telling me to go for it.”
Riley laughed at that. “I’ve had plenty of practice with that. You like raspberry ripple, right?”
Emily nodded, biting her lip. Sometimes, Brent forgot she was only eighteen. She seemed so grown-up for her age.
Sometimes that made him feel like a failure. He was never sure Emily had gotten the childhood she deserved.
Riley was always quick to tell him he was doing his best, when he mentioned it. Sometimes, Brent just wasn’t sure his best was good enough.
Sometimeshad become more and more often lately, even though he knew Emily had turned out okay. He couldn’t help but think of all the things he might have done differently, all the mistakes he’d made.
He was still making mistakes. Maybe that wasn’t something he was ever going to grow out of.
“Okay. Tell you what. I’m gonna buy ice cream later, and we’ll either have it to celebrate or to drown our sorrows. Sound good?”
Emily nodded again. “Sounds good.”
Riley beamed at her. “Good. And if she’s not interested, you’re going to college on Saturday. There will beplentyof cute girls there.”
“You never went to college,” Brent pointed out.
“I’vebeento colleges,” Riley countered. “There were cute girls at your college. Half of them waiting for the cute nerd who had no idea how cute he was to notice them.”
Emily pulled a face.
“Brent’s first roommate dropped out within a week,” Riley explained. “No one ever seemed to notice that I wasn’t actually a student, and the beds in those dorm rooms were comfy.”
Brent smiled at the memory of Riley coming to stay with him when he’d felt lost and lonely, away from home for the first time. That was before Riley had gotten his hands on an RV. Until then, he’d been hitchhiking and relying on long-distance buses and odd jobs that gave him a place to sleep while he did them.
They’d both come a long way since, but Riley had always been around when Brent needed him most.
“Those beds were not comfy. They were comfy compared to sleeping on an overnight bus. A concrete slab would have been comfy in comparison.”
Riley waved away Brent’s objection, tapping on the coffee pot. “My point is: cute girls. Plenty of them. You will find someone you connect with. Probably lots of someones, and that’s okay. You only get to do this whole life thing once.”
Emily smiled wryly. “I get it. Live for the moment, or whatever.”
Riley chuckled. “I’m getting that printed on a t-shirt,” he said.
“I want a percentage,” Emily responded without taking even a second to think.
“You are your brother’s sister,” Riley said. “Which is good. If you’re going to try to imitate either of us, make it him, okay? Your uncle Riley is fun, but kind of a screw up by normal standards.”
“You’re not a screw up,” Brent said before Emily could say anything else. “Don’t say that.”
“A non-traditional success?” Riley tried.
That did sound better. “Okay. You can have that.”
“If you two are gonna argue like an old married couple, I’m gonna go back to watching TV.”
Riley laughed again, grabbing mugs from the cupboard. “Do you want a cup of coffee to go?”
“I’m okay,” Emily said. “I’m glad you’re both home safe.”
“I’m glad you didn’t burn the house down.” Brent grinned at her. “Go do whatever you were doing. Don’t let us old folks keep you.”
Emily stuck her tongue out, but crossed the room to hug Brent around the shoulders, kissing the top of his head as she did so. She waved goodbye as she left the kitchen, and Brent waited to hear her footsteps on the stairs, like he always did.
He was going to miss Emily when she was at college.
He was going to miss Riley when he left.
He really needed to get a dog or something.
