to that megaphone zone again.
Keats quickly glanced at Georgia to make sure she was okay and not getting panicky. But he shouldn’t have worried. Her jaw was set, her eyes blazing with anger. She looked ready to take down his father on her own.
“I’m not leaving until you promise to drop the thing with the lawyer. Tell him that I came to talk to you and that if he has any questions about what happened, he can call me. I’ll tell him the truth. I had a crush on Colby. But he never crossed a line. And when I tried, he turned me away.”
His father stood. “You have some nerve coming here and ordering me to do anything. Get out of my house, Adam. And don’t bother me with this shit—”
“Adam?”
The voice came from somewhere behind Keats, and he swung around. Georgia turned with him. The shocked face that greeted Keats made him lose all his gumption. “Justin.”
Keats’s brother stood frozen in the doorway, leaning on crutches. Keats’s gaze traveled down to the spot where Justin’s right leg used to be. His pant leg was neatly folded up at the knee joint. There was nothing below it anymore. Jesus.
“Adam,” Justin repeated, his eyes going glossy with tears. “It’s really you?”
Keats stood, not sure what to do with his big brother’s tears. He couldn’t remember ever seeing him cry. “Yeah, it’s me.”
“He was just leaving,” Keats’s father bit out.
Justin’s attention snapped to his father. “What the hell is wrong with you? It’s Adam, Dad.”
“I know damn well who he is.”
His brother swung himself on his crutches with what looked to be practiced ease toward Keats and pulled him into a crushing one-armed hug. Keats didn’t know what to do but hug back. “Hey, big brother.”
The embrace only got tighter and Justin’s chest bounced with silent sobs. “You’re okay. I can’t believe you’re okay.”
That was when Keats realized Justin hadn’t known. His dad hadn’t bothered to inform him that Keats was alive. For Justin, his little brother had just come back to life.
And he cared. His badass Marine big brother was sobbing.
Emotion welled in Keats as he hugged Justin back in a fierce embrace. And before long, his face was wet, too. Because he was happy to see his brother. But also because he realized how much pain he must’ve put him through when he’d run away. He’d wanted to hurt his dad. But he’d never intended to hurt Justin, too.
Justin finally leaned back, eyes red, and smiled. “I’m trying to convince myself that I’m not having some weird medication reaction or something.”
Keats laughed and swiped at his eyes.
“I’m so freaking happy to see you,” Justin said, shaking his head. “I never believed what they’d said about you. You had too much fight in you. But after all these years passed, I started to lose hope.”
“I’m so sorry,” Keats said, the guilt weighing heavy on him now. “I never wanted to put you through that.”
Justin grabbed Keats’s shoulder, his grip strong. “I know why you left. I don’t blame you.”
They both looked toward the empty recliner.
During their hug, Keats had heard the front door slam shut and the rumble of an engine. Keats glanced down at Georgia, who was watching him and Justin with shiny eyes. “So he left.”
She folded her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not,” Keats said, putting his arm around Justin, careful not to knock his crutches. “Now we can relax and catch up. Georgia, I’d like to introduce you to my brother.”
She smiled and stood, putting her hand out. “So nice to meet you.”
Justin took her hand to shake it.
“Justin, this is my girl.”
And even though Keats knew that wasn’t exactly true, right then he wanted nothing more than to make it so.