Taylor frowned as if confused, but she didn’t press the issue, and except for Isaac, no one had been close enough to hear me.
“Food’s ready!” Timothy called out.
I took that as my means of escaping the conversation before Taylor asked any questions.
We had two long tables we’d hauled out of the garage earlier. They were side by side in the grass. We all made our plates—chicken, hamburgers, potato and pasta salads—and I went to Isaac so we could sit together.
It was hard not to reach out and touch him. Now that I was so used to it, I wanted to do it all the time. I wished we could come up with an excuse to go back to his condo or get a hotel just so we could decompress.
We’d just sat down when Timothy stood at the head of the table, holding up his bottle of beer. We all looked his way. “I’ll keep this short and sweet… You all know I’m not big on this talking thing, but I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for coming. It’s been a while since the whole family has gotten together like this, and having both our boys close to us again…it’s been real nice. When I lost my Leslie, I didn’t think I’d ever love again. Helena changed that.”
I reached over and put my hand on Isaac’s thigh. It was tight, the muscle flexed. Right then I didn’t care if anyone saw us. I just knew how hard it was for him to hear about his mom.
“I will forever be grateful that Helena came into my life. She not only taught me how to live again, she gave me another son whom I love with all my heart, and to Isaac, the brother I know means the world to him, and all of you too. I’m glad we can all come together this way because family is all that matters.” Timothy groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. “I’m not good at all those pretty words. Thank you, is all.”
“I think you’re better at it than you know,” Mom told him, wiping her tears before standing up to hug him. “To family!”
Everyone raised their glasses. I used my free hand to do the same. “To family,” we all repeated, the words echoing through my head.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Isaac
I couldn’t have been more surprised by what my dad said today. He wasn’t the type to stand up and make speeches or public declarations the way he had. I wasn’t sure where it had come from, but he had my thoughts spinning the rest of the day.
While Lane’s cousins, second cousins, and my uncle would all be staying at a hotel over the weekend, Ophelia, Edgar, and the grandmas would be staying at the house. Helena and Ophelia took every moment they could to be close.
It was around seven when most of the crew headed out. I wasn’t feeling myself, still trying to wrap my brain around the day, trying to recall how many times we’d been called brothers, wondering what their reaction would be to the truth, when Dad said, “We got a new couch with a pull-out bed for the attic. We wondered if you boys would sleep up there? Then Grandma can have your room, Isaac, Nana can have Lane’s, and Ophelia and Edgar will sleep in the spare bedroom.”
“I don’t know. He kind of stinks,” I said, trying to play it off like my dick didn’t get real excited about the fact that Lane and I would be sharing a room this weekend.
“I’m rubber and you’re glue,” Lane replied with a wink.
I really wished I could tell him there would be no bouncing off anything and I was sticking to him, but we had to be a secret and all.
Everyone was tired from the day and their travels, so they decided they wanted to go to their rooms early to relax. Lane and I went to the car for our bags, then made our way to the second floor.
“I’m gonna take a quick shower,” Lane told me.
My grandma’s door was open, the light on, so I said, “I’ll visit Grandma, then take one after.”
Lane nodded, and we went our separate ways.
I poked my head around the door and said, “Knock, knock.”
“Come in.” Grandma was sitting on the bed, with her back against the headboard and a book on her lap. I loved that she still read paperbacks and not e-books. It was a discussion we’d had more than once.
She patted the mattress, and I sat next to her. “How’s my sweet boy doing?”
“Good. Work is great.”
“And Lane’s back. I’m sure that helps. You two have always been close.”
I shifted my position. “Yeah, we have. I’m glad he’s here.” I really needed her to not go into the family talk and about how good of brothers we were or anything like that. I wasn’t sure I could handle any more of it.
“Your daddy surprised me tonight with that speech. I miss her, your mama. She was a good woman. You’re just like her—funny, confident, know how to light up every room you enter. People gravitate toward you the way they did her. Your father did from the first moment he met her.”
I looked down, traced my finger over the pattern on the comforter. “Yeah, I know. She was the best.”
“We were blessed with two wonderful women…your mama and Helena both.”
I didn’t respond because I wasn’t sure how to. All paths led back to Lane and me being family.
“You’re a lot like your dad too, the way you keep so much inside you. There’s a lot more going on than you show the world, but you’re different in how you deal with it. Your daddy, bless his heart, struggled to move on, while you push through for other people. I think you do that more than even you realize—holding back, not putting your own wants or needs first because you’re always worried about the people you love.”
If that were true, I likely wouldn’t be fucking my brother. I also wouldn’t be willing to have a relationship with him, secret or not, regardless of the outcome, which I was. It made me selfish, but I wanted him, and as long as he would have me, I’d have him.
“I don’t know about that, Grandma.”
“Well, I do. You’re a good man, and we love you. We’ll always love you. I’ll always love you, no matter what.”
I stood, leaned over, and kissed her cheek. “I love you too. I think I heard the shower stop. I’m jumping in after Lane and then hitting the sack.”
“You’re stubborn too. Not sure where you got that from. I just know it wasn’t me.”
I laughed, walked to the door, and picked up my bag, which I’d left there. “Good night.”
She asked if I could close the door, and I did. I lingered in the hallway, waiting for Lane to finish up. He came out in a pair of paint-splattered shorts, and from the looks of it, no underwear because he wanted to fucking kill me. And because he loved being naked. “Get out of the way, slow-ass,” I said playfully.
He leaned in, his mouth close to my ear as his voice dropped to a whisper. “You like my ass.”
“I love your ass,” I whispered back, brushing my fingers over the thick globes much more quickly than I wanted to.
“You’re naughty.”
My cock twitched. “Go to the attic, Lane.” Because if he didn’t, I was bound to pull him into the bathroom with me, and I was determined to be good while we were home.
He frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I replied, but that wasn’t true. I wanted him, and I was thinking about Dad, and about what Grandma had said, and now my mom. What would she think if she knew about me and Lane? Somehow, I knew she’d be supportive. That it wouldn’t be wrong to her. She would know I was happy, and that would be the end of the discussion. “I’ll be up in a few minutes.”