Summer’s eyes lit up, and somewhat tentatively, she walked back up the driveway. Aggie let out a small sigh of relief. Whatever secrets her friend was keeping prevented her from living her life, and she was pretty sure Summer had just taken the first step toward revealing them.
* * * * *
10:11 P.M.
He stood and looked at the house.
Should he be here?
He honestly wasn't sure.
He’d come all the way here for the very purpose of seeing the person in the house and yet now he wasn't sure he could go through with it.
Maybe he would just turn around and go home.
Only he didn’t really have a home anymore. He had given it all up to come back here and reconnect.
He didn’t like being back here. Too many bad memories. But enough time had gone by and it was time to make things right. He never should have let so many years pass without trying to make amends.
They had drifted apart. It wasn't really either of their faults, it was just the way life went sometimes.
He took a deep breath, steeled himself, and stalked up the front path.
As his hand reached for the doorbell, he was annoyed to find it shaking.
He shouldnotbe shaking. Why was he working himself up over this? It was no big deal. At least it shouldn’t be.
So why did it feel like such a big deal?
He was second-guessing himself and had already turned and stepped off the porch when the door was suddenly flung open.
“Luke?”
It had been so long that he wasn’t even sure he would have recognized the voice if he’d heard it on the street. Part of him felt relief to hear it again, and part of him was worried things were already too late and their relationship was ruined beyond repair.
“Luke? What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you,” he mumbled; he still hadn’t turned around.
“Why now? Why after all these years do you want to see me now?”
Finally, Luke turned around to face his big brother. “I made a mistake when I didn’t come to your wedding,” he admitted. Nick’s call had come right on the heels of a bad breakup to an eleven-month-long relationship. He’d been jealous to hear that his brother who had walked out on him when they were kids, who he hadn’t seen in almost seven years, who never showed any emotion at all, had fallen in love and was getting married.
It was petty, Luke acknowledged that.
He should have been happy for his brother. Hewashappy for this brother.
It just didn’t seem fair.Hewas the one who wanted a family of his own. Nick had never cared about family, he’d checked out and decided it was safer to be on his own.
Then again, life wasn't fair.
He knew that more than most.
He wanted to make amends, but Nick was just standing there staring at him. Maybe it really was too late.
“I'm sorry, Nick.”
His brother smiled. Luke couldn’t remember the last time he had seen anything even vaguely resembling a smile on his brother’s face. “Come on in.” Nick stepped back and held the door wide open.