“I’ll always help you, Brady.” Solomon placed his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “And I’ll always be here if you need me, even when I’m worried, and even if I don’t agree. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
He never doubted his family. They didn’t always understand him, and he knew Solomon didn’t always approve of his decisions, but he stuck it out and never let him down. It was love, Aunt Ellen always said, more than genetics or Sol the Elder’s obsession with the Finn name. Love kept them together as a family. Love was the glue.
But Brady was no longer sure Ellen was right. Unless she’d only meant a particular kind of love. Not the kind that was intense and full of passion—not the kind that was obviously one-sided. Ken had sent him away so easily. Shut him out and moved on with his life without looking back.
Brady had spent the better part of a week going over everything that had happened, what they’d shared, and he was no closer to understanding how something so powerfully profound and life changing for him could mean that little to Tanaka.
It had happened so fast—falling in love. He knew it could—Ellen and Shawn were proof of that. But when he looked at Owen and Jeremy, at Tasha and Stephen, he saw a whole life of shared memories and experiences mixed in with the romance. Maybe that was the real truth, the real key. Maybe all that was between them was chemistry. Passion. Maybe Ken was right and time would make it fade.
What did he know? He’d never been in love until now.
Brady forced the painful memories down and glanced up to find Seamus and Solomon watching him with matching expressions of concern. “I’m fine. Stop hovering.”
“You know what Jake would say to that?”
“Jake is twelve.”
Seamus ignored him. “Jake tells me fine never means fine unless you’re talking about a girl. Or in your case, a man. He says whenever people say they’re fine, it means that they are too worn out from crying to go over why life sucks so bad.”
Solomon snorted. “He’s a prophet, that one.”
“I think so,” Seamus replied with a glance at Brady. “He’s also an eavesdropper, and overheard me mentioning Terry Wahl to Noah. When he found out Tanaka had a foster brother, he told me it made sense.”
Brady frowned in confusion. “How’s that?”
Seamus took out a rag to wipe the sawdust from days of construction off the bar. “You weren’t around when my kids came into my life. Jake was the first. He was six going on sixty back then. Introverted and in pain, but smart. He was at my side when Penny and Wes were born a year later, and he was the first to hold Little Sean when I agreed to help Mira out of a tight spot. He’s a special boy and he’s always been a people watcher. He usually figures things out long before I do.”
Brady would have described Seamus exactly the same way.
“You should get his advice before you date again,” Solomon joked.
“Nice, Younger. I’m working here.”
Brady sent him a look. “What did he say about Ken?”
“He said Tanaka was good at everything because he has to be. When you don’t know what it’s like to have family to rely on and people you trust, you’re all you’ve got.”
There was a lump in Brady’s throat. “He’s a smart kid.”
“He likes Uncle Necky,” Seamus said chuckling. “All the kids do. Lord knows I owe him a kidney for the way he helped with Little Sean.”
“We all owe him for that,” Solomon agreed. “And I owe him for giving me back my brother.”
Brady lowered his brows and looked at Solomon, wondering if he’d gone crazy. “What are you talking about, Younger? I’m back now? Forgetting the fact that it’s been eight months since I took off the uniform, I’m still homeless and unemployed. I still have bad dreams and I’m still not returning to the police force the way you and Sol want me to. Nothing’s changed.”
Solomon’s smile was subtle, but for him it might as well have been a parade. “I never cared about that. Dad might still give you shit about it, but that wasn’t what I was looking for.” He paused for a moment, and when he spoke again his voice was thick with emotion. “You were gone a long time, Brady. Even when you got home… Don’t tell me I wouldn’t recognize my own brother when you finally came back.”
Damn it. “Don’t start, Solomon. I can’t…” His laugh was watery and rough. “Great. I’m back to my old self again, just in time to get kicked in the teeth by everybody’s favorite hacker. What am I supposed to do now? He’s smart and sexy and I love him and none of that means shit because he sent me away.”