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“I know she’s okay. Her disappearing is due to the kind of work she does.”
“But you miss her.”
I hung my head. “So fucking much it sometimes hurts to breathe.”
My brother slid his chair closer and hugged me. “I’m sorry, Henry.”
I wiped the tears that had fallen and sat back in my chair. “I wanted to bring her here. She would’ve loved this house.”
James smiled. “Who wouldn’t? I keep threatening to move Jane and the kids in here when you’ve been gone a while, but neither Mum nor Nance would stand for it.”
We both chuckled. Nance was our sister, and if there was anyone I expected to find here after a long absence, it would be her.
“I miss them. And you,” I said, turning my head to look out the window. “And this place. I actually saw the two of us living here together. God, James, I even imagined having children with her.”
I crossed my arms on the table and lowered my head. James rested his hand on my back. “I think you could stand a drink, Henry.”
“A bottle should do it.”
He stood, went to the pantry, pulled out a bottle of Scotch, and returned to the table, then opened it and handed it to me. I took a swig, handed it back, and he did the same.
“Reminds me of when we were young blokes,” he said, setting it on the table in front of me. “Good God, we made a lot of trouble for Mum and Dad.”
James and I were closest in age, and he was right. We’d spent a good amount of our teenage years raising hell. “They loved us anyway,” I said.
“That’s the key, I think.”
“What is?” I asked.
“You keep loving someone. Even when their actions hurt you, even when you don’t understand. You just keep loving them. Eventually, they’ll come around.”
I took another swig of Scotch. “I hope so, James. I’ve never hoped for anything more in my life.”
24
ZEPPELIN
“Take all the time you need,” said Nemesis when I called to tell her where I was. “We’ll manage in your absence but will be very happy when you’re back.”
I thanked her and ended the call before returning to my brother, who still sat at the table.
“I suppose I should go see Mum before I get pissed.”
“Or more pissed.” He stood. “I’ll go with you.”
My brother and I walked the four blocks from my place to the house we’d grown up in. “It doesn’t look any different,” I said, standing outside the front gate.
“Some things never change, outside of a fresh coat of paint and a new roof,” said James. “Oh, and Mum’s redecorating our old bedrooms. Yours was first.”
My mouth hung open. “Why mine?”
“You’re here the least.”
“What about Robert? He lives in the States, for God’s sake.”
“He, Mary, and the kids were here for Christmas. That’s what motivated our mother to start the project.”
Bloody hell. I’d missed Christmas with my family. It would’ve been the first time we were all together in years. “I wish I’dknown. I would’ve loved to see them.” I tried to remember where I even was then, but the Scotch, coupled with the punches Magnet had landed, made things a little fuzzy.