Erin’s on Sunday?”
“We’ll be there,” Dec said as he got up to walk his brother to the door.
“See you, Colin,” Jessica said.
“Bye, Jess.”
“Hey, Col,” Dec said quietly when they reached the door. “Everything’s going to be okay. He’s gonna make it. The Brandon we know would never do what he did to a woman. That’ll stay with him. It’ll keep him straight.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Colin wiped mud smudges off the chrome fender, stashed the Harley under a tarp, and pushed the button on the wall to close the garage door. He entered the house through the kitchen, where the dim glow over the stove created a narrow swath of light. Moving through the dark, he flipped on a lamp in the living room and sank into an easy chair to pull off his boots.
The house was small, but when Colin thought about the wreck it had been when he found it, he was deeply satisfied by how it looked now. He’d spent two years working nights and weekends—while living in the midst of chaos—to renovate the place. There wasn’t an inch in the house that he hadn’t stripped, sanded, painted, or polished. He still felt like there was something he should be doing when he was home, but it was finally done. With some help from his mother and sister, he had comfortable furniture and tolerable curtains that he’d agreed to under tremendous female pressure. He usually kept them open to maximize his view of Oyster Pond.
He sat back and flipped up the recliner’s footrest, suddenly tired down to his bones. At times like this, the house was too quiet. He’d expected to be married with kids by now. Six years earlier, he’d come close, but his fiancée Nicole called off their engagement a month before the wedding. The blow had devastated him, but in time, he’d come to see that she’d done him a favor. Something had been missing between them. He didn’t know what it was, but he hoped he’d recognize it if he was ever lucky enough to find it.
His mother lamented that three of her sons were late bloomers in the love department. Only Aidan had been different. He’d been married at twenty-two and widowed at twenty-nine. Colin had known of no other woman in his brother’s life until Aidan brought Clare home when their father had the heart attack.
He wondered if Declan had finally found his mate in Jessica. She was a nice girl and seemed well suited to Dec, but it was still hard to imagine his younger brother married with a family. He was still such a big kid in so many ways.
The whole family had been disappointed when Brandon’s lovely girlfriend, Valerie, left him, but they couldn’t blame her. She’d hung in with him much longer than she probably should have. His drinking got much worse after Valerie left, and without her keeping tabs on him, Colin had been sucked more and more often into the daily drama of Brandon’s life.
As Colin gave in to the exhaustion and closed his eyes, he thought of Meredith, the woman he met at Al-Anon. She’d been so sweet and sympathetic to everyone, and it was clear they all adored her. There was something so comforting about being on the receiving end of that kind of empathy from people who’d been there and understood. His last thought before sleep took over was that he looked forward to going back for more.
Chapter 7, Day 28
On the last weekend before Brandon was due home, the O’Malleys invaded Boston to celebrate Aidan’s fortieth birthday. His girlfriend Clare surprised him by inviting his family to meet them in the city for the weekend.
After dinner on Friday night, Colin sat with Aidan and watched the others tear up the dance floor in the hotel’s nightclub. Erin’s five kids were right in the middle of the action, and Aidan smiled when eight-year-old Josh spun his grandmother around. The expression on Colleen’s face was priceless.
“Looks like Mum’s met her match,” Colin said, taking a sip from his bottle of Sam Adams.
“He’s going to
“We’ll be there,” Dec said as he got up to walk his brother to the door.
“See you, Colin,” Jessica said.
“Bye, Jess.”
“Hey, Col,” Dec said quietly when they reached the door. “Everything’s going to be okay. He’s gonna make it. The Brandon we know would never do what he did to a woman. That’ll stay with him. It’ll keep him straight.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Colin wiped mud smudges off the chrome fender, stashed the Harley under a tarp, and pushed the button on the wall to close the garage door. He entered the house through the kitchen, where the dim glow over the stove created a narrow swath of light. Moving through the dark, he flipped on a lamp in the living room and sank into an easy chair to pull off his boots.
The house was small, but when Colin thought about the wreck it had been when he found it, he was deeply satisfied by how it looked now. He’d spent two years working nights and weekends—while living in the midst of chaos—to renovate the place. There wasn’t an inch in the house that he hadn’t stripped, sanded, painted, or polished. He still felt like there was something he should be doing when he was home, but it was finally done. With some help from his mother and sister, he had comfortable furniture and tolerable curtains that he’d agreed to under tremendous female pressure. He usually kept them open to maximize his view of Oyster Pond.
He sat back and flipped up the recliner’s footrest, suddenly tired down to his bones. At times like this, the house was too quiet. He’d expected to be married with kids by now. Six years earlier, he’d come close, but his fiancée Nicole called off their engagement a month before the wedding. The blow had devastated him, but in time, he’d come to see that she’d done him a favor. Something had been missing between them. He didn’t know what it was, but he hoped he’d recognize it if he was ever lucky enough to find it.
His mother lamented that three of her sons were late bloomers in the love department. Only Aidan had been different. He’d been married at twenty-two and widowed at twenty-nine. Colin had known of no other woman in his brother’s life until Aidan brought Clare home when their father had the heart attack.
He wondered if Declan had finally found his mate in Jessica. She was a nice girl and seemed well suited to Dec, but it was still hard to imagine his younger brother married with a family. He was still such a big kid in so many ways.
The whole family had been disappointed when Brandon’s lovely girlfriend, Valerie, left him, but they couldn’t blame her. She’d hung in with him much longer than she probably should have. His drinking got much worse after Valerie left, and without her keeping tabs on him, Colin had been sucked more and more often into the daily drama of Brandon’s life.
As Colin gave in to the exhaustion and closed his eyes, he thought of Meredith, the woman he met at Al-Anon. She’d been so sweet and sympathetic to everyone, and it was clear they all adored her. There was something so comforting about being on the receiving end of that kind of empathy from people who’d been there and understood. His last thought before sleep took over was that he looked forward to going back for more.
Chapter 7, Day 28
On the last weekend before Brandon was due home, the O’Malleys invaded Boston to celebrate Aidan’s fortieth birthday. His girlfriend Clare surprised him by inviting his family to meet them in the city for the weekend.
After dinner on Friday night, Colin sat with Aidan and watched the others tear up the dance floor in the hotel’s nightclub. Erin’s five kids were right in the middle of the action, and Aidan smiled when eight-year-old Josh spun his grandmother around. The expression on Colleen’s face was priceless.
“Looks like Mum’s met her match,” Colin said, taking a sip from his bottle of Sam Adams.
“He’s going to
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