Page 53 of Together Again

Max

As I chasedIsaac down the road, I wondered what had gone so wrong that he’d nearly run out of the café. He hadn’t been rude or anything. He’d said his goodbyes to Teresa, Bruno, and Filipe. I saw Mário say something, too, but I couldn’t catch it because Filipe asked if I could make him and Superman fly high in the sky.

The little boy had been so excited at being lifted up over my head that he’d been screaming in delight.

I wondered if Mário had said something that had upset Isaac.

He was heading toward the beach, so once I caught up, I walked silently beside him until we reached the sand.

I thought Isaac might want to walk off whatever he was upset about, so it surprised me when he took his shoes and socks off and walked a few feet in the sand until he came to a stop and sat down.

I sat behind him, placing my legs on either side of his, and pulled him into my chest.

“What’s wrong?” I said in his ear.

He leaned back into my chest and sighed.

“I don’t know. Lots of things. I’m so frustrated, Max.”

“Talk to me. What’s frustrating you?”

“Bruno’s situation. Can he just have a fucking break? His grandparents stopped him seeing his little brother because they didn’t want him to be a bad influence, but when it suited them, they were happy to have Bruno look after him full time. Bruno works so damn hard. Trust me. David wouldn’t have shared the secret recipe for his custard tarts unless Bruno had earned it.”

“You mentioned a lawyer earlier.”

“We have a few lawyers that specialize in family law who volunteer for us and do some pro bono work.”

“I’m sure they’ll do whatever they can for Bruno and Filipe. Is that all that’s upsetting you?”

“Yes.” He paused. “No.”

I wrapped my arms around him until both our arms crossed in front of him and I used my thumbs to caress his skin.

“Mário apologized. I knew he probably would, so it didn’t come as a surprise. I saw it in his eyes; he is genuinely sorry for how he treated me all those years ago.”

“It’s hard to forget, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

We sat on the beach in that same position watching the sun getting lower and lower on the horizon.

“Can I buy you dinner?” I asked. “Joel took me to this amazing seafood restaurant when I was here last time.”

Isaac turned his face to me, and I couldn’t resist caressing his stubble and placing a soft kiss on his lips.

“Actually…” He blushed a beautiful shade of pink that made his already tan skin look even more appetizing, and I knew I had to make sure that despite the occasional kiss, we wouldn’t fall back into more than friends.

“Actually?”

“My brother invited us to have dinner with them.”

“Us.” Fuck, how I loved the sound of that.

“He knows you’re here, so when he told me to come over for dinner, he said to bring you along. I mean, you don’t have to go...we don’t have to go. I have dinner with them all the time, so it’s no big deal. I mean, Joana is making her mom’s Portuguese stew, which apparently is the best thing you’ve tasted but—”

“It’s not.”

“What?”