“Until now,” I assumed.
He nodded. “Until now.” His face had shown his resolution, his determination to prove himself.
When the topic switched to my family, he seemed to give extra attention to everything I said about my brother. “David’s a great guy. He’s always watched out for me. My parents have always had so many problems that a lot of the time, I think they considered my brother and I as afterthoughts. Not that they’re bad parents, per se, it’s just… They’re caught up in their own woes.”
“And you’re helping them with those woes,” he concluded, and I looked at him, surprised. He pulled his lips to the side. “It seemed fairly obvious, Kelly. Where you live. How generous you are. But I believe they may have their roles reversed. Generally speaking, it’s the parent’s job to take care of the children, not the other way around.”
I knew he was right. “This is the way I grew up,” I told him, shrugging.
“So you and brother wound up leaning on one another?”
“Yes.”
“I’m glad you have a good relationship with him. Family can be…” he paused. “Complicated. But having them in your corner is important.”
“I agree.”
But we hadn’t talked like that in months now. I missed it. Laura and Chloe suggested that I reconnect to him somehow, but I didn’t see the point. He’d gone out of his way to separate himself from me, and deep down, I knew this was for the best.
Even if sometimes I laid awake at night thinking about him. Wondering about him. Missing the easygoing relationship we’d once had.
Weather permitting, David and I continued to meet up for lunch in the park as often as we could. He’d begun to spend time with another rookie officer on the force, a woman named Twila Hanover, and before I knew it, they’d become a couple.
Even though this was the first time in years my brother had attempted to be with someone, they made it look so simple and uncomplicated. He’d brought her to Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas lunch, looking happy as a clam. I tried to revel in their joy but seeing them together made me think of Marco.
For so long I’d purposely not thought of men in that way, thwarting all their attempts at flirting and asking me out. But now, I was forced to admit I wanted that for myself, too. And the only man who’d ever made me want it was unavailable.
I was buried up to my eyeballs counting the heavy amounts of paper money that always poured into the cash office. Lately these amounts had been increasing, and I’d gotten into the habit of working later rather than earlier. That way, I could prepare everything at night when I had more time, instead of rushing around to prepare all the various deposits in the morning.
About a half hour before closing, I heard a familiar voice in the hallway outside. My brother David’s.
“Hey, I’m looking for my sister, Kelly. She’s a server here…”
Crap. Crap, crap, crap.
That evening had been one of those isolated times when nearly all the staff was new instead of old. Chloe was off. Laura had already worked an earlier shift and gone home, so my brother wouldn’t recognize anyone out there.
I wondered if something had gone wrong, if there was some sort of emergency. In all the years I’d worked here, David had seldom come inside. To the point that I could probably count the number of times on one hand. Yet he’d come inside now.
I scrambled to collect all my neat bundles of cash and thrust them into the safe so I could open the door and greet him. I’d refrained from telling him about my promotion, preferring to discreetly take care of my family’s finances bit by bit.
Once I received my raise, I’d talked my parents into letting me take over the chore of paying bills, which gave me access to their meager accounts. Since they hated dealing with it all, and both admitted—separately—that they weren’t good at keeping up with their checkbooks anyway, they’d agreed, which made my life much easier.
Due to this arrangement, stress in the apartment had been reduced to the lowest in my memory and the amount of arguing between my mom and dad had decreased significantly. Our home felt almost peaceful now, and I wanted to keep it that way.
“You’re looking for Kelly?” came another male voice. Crappity crap. It was Marco’s. I increased my pace, literally throwing thousands of dollars around in my haste.
“Yeah, the folks said she was working. Figured she must be in the bathroom or… Wait… Don’t I know you?” my brother asked just as I opened the door.
“David,” I called out, feeling like my heart would jump out of my chest. Him and Marco having a face-to-face conversation might be the worst idea ever. “Is everything okay?” Only after I’d spoken the words did I see Twila at his side, both of them in their PPD uniforms.
For a second I froze, eyeing the group in front of me. David stood there focused on Marco, his face squished into the same kind of puzzled frown he might wear when trying to solve some heinous crime. Twila appeared next to him, her expression torn between excitement and hesitancy as she took in how David stared at my boss.
And then there was Marco, all tall, dark, and gorgeous in his tailored suit. He wore a cordial smile on his lips, but his eyes remained cautious.
“Is everything okay?” I repeated, a bit horrified at the situation. I’d really hoped such a meeting would never occur.
“What are you doing back here with him?” David asked, accusation in his tone.