“What happened this morning, Skye? What did I say wrong?”
“Nothing happened.” This was why she’d tried to get out of his coming with her. Well, that and it hurt to be near him now that she’d made the decision to end their brief affair. Because that was what it was, an affair. Nothing more.
He swerved the car to the right, onto the shoulder, then slammed on the brakes. She yelped at the sudden move. “What? Did we almost hit a deer? A dog?”
“No.” He turned off the engine, then unbuckled his seatbelt, and turned toward her. “What’s going on in that head of yours? What did I do to deserve your silent treatment? Tell me, and I’ll make it right.”
This man was determined to break her heart. Stupid tears burned her eyes, and she turned her face to the window. “It’s not you.”
“Worst breakup line in history, Sheriff, the it’s not you, it’s me excuse.” He reached across the console, put his fingers under her chin, and turned her face toward him. “At least do me the courtesy of looking at me when you stomp on my heart.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Sensing the charged emotions between them, Fuzz stuck his face between the seats and whined. Tristan pushed him back. “Not now, Fuzz.”
He was right, he did deserve an explanation, but she didn’t know how to explain her fears.
“You have it so together and you’re so sure of yourself.” As she said the words that had come from the top of her head without thinking, she realized that was a part of it.
His shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I had to be.” When she didn’t say anything, he sighed. “I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll tell you my worst fears if you’ll tell me yours.”
“Okay.” But only because she couldn’t imagine him fearing anything, so she really wanted to know what his fears were.
“I’ll go first, and no going back on our deal, yeah?”
She nodded.
He stared out the window for a few moments, then his gaze returned to hers. “I was still a boy myself when I had to step into the role of father and mother to Kade and Parker. Our aunt sure as hell didn’t want the responsibility of us. I guess I should be grateful she let us stay when it became obvious our mother wasn’t coming back, but I don’t have that much generosity in me.”
“She was that bad?”
“She was. It didn’t take long for me to realize that keeping my brothers alive and well fell to me.” His eyes took on a distant look, as if he was remembering, and he chuckled. “Kade was a handful, a boy on the fast lane of self-destruct.” He chuckled. “With him, I understood why parents drank.”
“He seems to have turned out okay.”
“Yeah, miracle of miracles.” Love for his brother was clear in his voice. “The Army saved him. Two days after he barely graduated high school, he and some friends stole a car, took it for a joyride, and got caught.”
“He went to jail?”
“Almost. I went to the judge and begged him to give Kade a choice of jail or the military. Judge Sorenson is dead now, but I’ll always be indebted to him for doing just that. Kade decided the military was more appealing than jail. I think he’s questioned that decision a few times, but he knows as much as I do that Sorenson’s offer turned his life around.”
“And Parker?”
“Yes, Parker. The sweetest and most sensitive one of us. For a year after our mother left, he barely spoke. It was Parker who I believed she would come back for. He was her baby, her favorite. She never did. One day I walked up behind him, and looking over his shoulder, I saw an amazing drawing of the three of us. As soon as he realized I was there, he slammed the notebook closed, then refused to show me any of his drawings.”
“What did you do?” She was enthralled by the story of him and his brothers.
He gave her a sly grin. “I sneaked into his room that night after he was asleep, found his notebooks, slipped out with them, and spent hours turning the pages, marveling over art he’d drawn that was better than the last one.”
“And then?”
“And then I found him a private art teacher. After he graduated high school and told me he was going to Paris to learn from some dude whose name I can’t remember, I didn’t stop him as much as I wanted to. He was too innocent, too naïve, too sweet to be off in another country where I couldn’t keep watch over him.”
“But you let him go?” The way he’d stepped up for his brothers wasn’t helping her resolve to walk away from him.
“I did, and he came home a few years later with a beautiful baby girl. As much as I love my niece and wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world, I’m not sure I did him any favors. He hides it, but he’s incredibly sad and lonely.”
Did Kade and Parker appreciate how special their brother was? “What about you? Who takes care of you?”