“Kacey.”
“Look at your big brother, Willie. Look him in the e
yes. And say what you have to say.”
Mike stood there, steaming with the need to put his fist through something. Trembling with frustration and love for the woman who was amazing him even then—in the worst moment of his life.
Willie moved his head. Mike knew what was coming. His brother looked at his chest. His chin. His nose. And then the world shifted again.
His baby brother’s gaze continued to rise, and for the first time in more than ten years, he was able to look right into Willie’s eyes. The soul-deep anguish he read there broke him.
Broke his heart. Broke his spirit.
He loved the kid. As horrible as he was, he loved him.
“I wasn’t drunk, Mike.”
He didn’t budge. There was no forgiveness here. But Willie had been told to speak. Mike wanted Kacey to feel the full strength of her power, so he made himself stand there and listen.
“Ron brought a buddy and I knew I couldn’t let them come in your house, so I suggested we hang out at the beach. Carlton had some stuff, and some beer, and I just wanted it away from your house. I drank one beer, just like I said. I figured they’d smoke the weed, Carlton would take off and Ron and I would head back to the house.”
He didn’t have patience for this. A vision of his mother’s face sprang to mind. His father’s anger. Diane and Charlie. Dennis...
His entire family was going to be devastated. Once again.
“Go on,” Kacey said.
“Carlton saw her coming up the beach and said some pretty crude things. I found out later he’d had some other shit, but I didn’t know it at the time. I swear. I figure he’s just...you know...talking out of his ass. I figure we’re going to pass her right on by. By the time I know what he’s doing, she’s on the ground and Carlton’s ordering me and Ron to help him hold her down. It all happened so fast. I couldn’t just let him...hurt her...but I didn’t know what to do. Except hold her legs together. And then I see her face, and I panicked. There was no way I was strong enough to take him. Ron would just hold me back while Carlton...you know...so I made up some shit about puking and took off up the beach to get help. I see this man with a dog and send them down the beach while I call the cops.”
“And you ran home.” Mike could barely speak to the kid.
And yet...Willie’s eyes were begging him to do that. To help him.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” Willie said. “I knew if I said anything, no one would believe I wasn’t in on it.”
“You were in on it,” Kacey said. “You left bruises on my ankles.”
Willie started at the sound of her voice but didn’t take his gaze away from Mike.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I’ve let you down so many times, but you still stood by me. This last time, you let me live with you, and it was like everything changed. Getting out of that house...away from Mom and Dad’s hate...”
“Mom and Dad don’t hate you.”
“Get real, Mike. Of course they do. Everyone does.”
“You were a little boy, Willie. Your finger slipped. It wasn’t like you aimed the damned thing.”
“No, but I was the cause of what happened to you. And year after year, when you live with it and can’t move on, the death in that house gets worse. You were the wonder boy. The fun-loving dude with good grades and great looks and girls. You used to laugh all the time. When you’d come home from college, everyone laughed all the time. Then it was all gone. You’re serious all the time. All you do is work. No girls. No dates. No fun...and it was all because of me.”
“Get over yourself.”
Willie gulped. But his gaze didn’t waver. “I did. Last month when you saved my ass for the last time. When I lived in your house and saw how you’d made something so cool out of your life and were still wasting it on mine. I cleaned up my act and you were finally starting to laugh out loud again. You even went out of town last Saturday night, and don’t let anyone fool you, the folks, Diane, Charlie, they were all talking about how you snuck off to be with your mystery girlfriend...”
Mike started. Kacey must have, too. Willie looked between the two of them, and Mike saw the second his little brother figured it out. Mike might have had good grades, looks and girls, but Willie was the genius among them.
Or had been.
“It’s you,” Willie said, looking at Kacey. “I held down my own brother’s woman. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.” He leaned forward, his hand on his head, rocking back and forth.