He pulled into the parking lot of the rehab facility at the same time visiting hours started. Visitation wasn’t a free-for-all; each one had to be scheduled. Graham gave his name at the door and waited for the all-too-familiar clicking sound to alert him that the doors had unlocked. When he entered, the security guard stationed at the reception desk searched Graham’s bag. Graham swore he saw the guard lick his lips but couldn’t be certain.
Graham was shown to a room that reminded him of the cafeteria at Cape Harbor High, except the tables were round and not rectangular. Graham chose a table near the window. He liked the view and thought Grady would like to look out. He had no idea what sort of living situation his brother was in but felt confident Grady was being taken care of.
The doors opened, and Graham stood. Grady came toward him, tall and proud and looking healthy for the first time in fifteen years. He wore hospital-issued clothing. He was clean shaven and his hair trimmed. More and more, he looked like his twin. The closer Grady got to his brother, the more Graham could see the changes and what a month without alcohol could do for someone. It was Grady who initiated the hug between the two. Graham held on tightly to his brother and fought back the tears. Why had it taken everyone so long to get Grady the help he needed?
The twins sat down, and Graham slid the bag toward Grady. “What’s this?” he asked.
“Maple bar. Still your favorite, right?”
Grady nodded and pulled the pastry out of the bag. He took a bite, closed his eyes, and hummed in satisfaction. Grady still had the feeding tube inserted but only had to use it at night.
“How are you feeling?”
“Odd,” Grady responded. “I’ve done so much of this”—Grady mimicked drinking by lifting his hand to his mouth—“that my hands need something to do, and it’s weird because I never had any plans before except to wake up and drink, and now, I’m on this schedule. They’re teaching me to be an adult.”
Graham wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Grady at twenty-two was this happy-go-lucky, give-the-shirt-off-his-back-to-anyone-who-asked guy who always had a smile on his face and wore a ridiculous knit hat regardless of the weather. All he ever wanted to be was a fisherman. The man before him had missed out on so much life. Graham wanted to help him get some of it back. He reached across the table and held his brother’s hand.
“I’m proud of you, Grady.”
“Are you?” he asked, making eye contact with Graham.
“I am. I know I haven’t shown it lately, but I’m here, and I’m not going to turn my back on you.”
“What if I come into the bar and need a drink?”
“Your H2O game is going to be strong. Maybe I’ll create some water competition.” Grady laughed, and it felt good to hear him do so. “Seriously, your sobriety means everything to me—to Mom and Dad as well. You have a strong team waiting for you when you’re out.”
“I have like two more months.”
Graham nodded. “It’s a little under, and then you’ll go back to court. Rennie will do her best to keep you out of jail.”
A nurse in pink scrubs came up to Graham and Grady. She put her hand on Grady’s back and bent toward him. “Grady, would you like to show your brother around outside?”
Grady looked at Graham and said, “I’ve been working outside, you know, to keep my hands busy. Would you like to see what I made?”
“Of course!” The brothers stood and followed the nurse to the side door. She unlocked it and held it open.
“I’ll be behind you, but you’ll have privacy.”
“Babysitters everywhere,” Grady mumbled to Graham.
“Think of the end prize, Grady. She’s here to protect you from everything out there that’s trying to take you down.”
“And who protects me when I leave?” Grady asked.
The question gave Graham pause. What did happen to people who still needed help after their ninety days in rehab? Surely three months wasn’t enough time to cure a fifteen-year addiction. “I’m not sure, but we’ll figure it out when the time comes.”
Grady led Graham to a rock formation. The stacked thin pieces of slate were formed into an archway. “I did this.”
“Wait, what?” Graham asked in shock. “How?”
Grady shrugged. “We can take classes. There wasn’t really one I wanted to take, so my therapist signed me up for this gardening thing, and the instructor showed me how to put the rocks together.”
“This is amazing.”
“Thanks.” Grady’s smile beamed brightly. “If I continue to do well, I can teach people how to tie flies.”
“When is the last time you tied one?”
Grady thought for a moment. “Probably a week before Austin died, but I’ve been practicing.”
“They give you hooks?”
“No, they’re these plastic things. Works the same.”
“That’s great, Grady.”
Grady led his brother down the stone path until they came to a koi pond. They sat on the bench, both watching the fish swim around and the water cascade over the edge of the statue to create a waterfall.
“I was surprised to see Rennie in my hospital room.”
“She wanted to be there. She spent the first weekend you were in a coma at the hospital with Mom and me. As soon as the police showed up, she intervened and told them you had a lawyer. She’s the one who set everything up to get you this help and try to keep you out of jail.”
“How come you never married her? Or the one I met the time I visited?”
What a loaded question that was. Graham could make up some story and tell his brother how sometimes things didn’t always work out, or he could tell him the truth. Graham sighed, kicked his feet out in front of him, and relaxed against the bench. If he was going to do this, he was going to be comfortable.
“Monica, she’s the one you met. After Austin’s funeral, I went back to Cali and asked her to move to Cape Harbor with me. She said no, and I really couldn’t blame her. As far as Rennie goes, up until Brooklyn’s return, I hadn’t seen or heard from her. Found out she’s been living in Seattle for some time but kept her distance out of respect for Brooklyn.”
“You should’ve stayed in California, Graham.”
“Hindsight, Grady. It’s a beautiful thing.”
Grady chuckled. “Hindsight . . . what if I stopped Austin? How different would things be now?”
Graham was a master at the what-if game. “Okay, let’s play this game,” he told Grady. They had nothing but time to waste, so why not? “Let’s say that night never happens. I stay in California, marry Monica. We probably have kids, and I probably work fifty to sixty hours a week.”
“Or?” Grady responded.
Graham laughed. “You’re sadistic. Or, Monica and I don’t work out, and I marry Rennie.”
“Option two sounds more like it. I never understood why the two of you weren’t together.”
Graham didn’t know, either, but their future looked promising. “Yeah,” Graham sighed. “Now, to you. Where do you think you’d be?”
Grady shrugged. “Right before the accident, I was going to ask Monroe if she wanted to go out on a date.”