But if I mentioned it to any of my brothers, that would be the end. I would never hear anything else. Not to mention they would not hesitate to tell Lindsey all about it. That was a humiliation I would just as soon not have to go through.
I could have peeled off and headed for my own place. Tucked away in a dense patch of forest, the cabin seemed isolated and totally distanced from everything. But it was actually only a few miles away from Nick’s place. I could make it. Explaining why I left my car behind might be a challenge, though. Deciding the questions it would stir up just weren’t worth it, I continued alongside my brothers. We had slowed to a jog at that point, and Nick was grinning at Lindsey. She’d gotten out of her car and was leaned back against it, waiting for us.
There had been plenty of rumors over the years about the two of them. Everybody thought they made just the sweetest couple and were going to end up together. Not anybody in the family. All of us knew from day one there was nothing between Nick and Lindsey but good friendship. They got along perfectly and understood each other’s sense of humor. But there was never even the slightest hint of any sort of romantic attraction between them. I figured that’s why their relationship worked out as well as it did. I was firm of the belief that men and women could be just friends. But in order for it to really work and last as long as it had for Nick and Lindsey, there had to be no attraction, no romantic feelings. And definitely no sexual feelings.
She fell into step behind us as we went inside and headed directly for the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of cold water out of the refrigerator and guzzled half of it in one shot.
“Are you hungry?” Lindsey asked.
“Starving. They just ran me all over the place,” Nick said.
Darren laughed. “It was only six miles. We didn’t go on a death march.”
“If you don’t have any plans for lunch, I’ll hang around here,” Lindsey said. “I have some time before I have to be at the bar. You need to go take a shower.”
Nick laughed. “Way to be blunt. I’ll be back down in a minute.”
“I get the other shower,” I said at the same time Darren did.
We argued back and forth over the rights to the second shower located downstairs. Of course, I won. Darren was not only the youngest of the four of us, he was also the sweetest. Out of the brothers, he was always the first one to think about somebody else and do anything he could to help. That is, if they could get past his quiet, shy exterior.
As I started for the second bathroom, I realized I forgot my bag at home. Taking a detour to Nick’s bedroom, I stole some clothes from his dresser and went back to the bathroom. After a fast shower, I made my way back to the kitchen. Darren was already poised and ready for his turn. He was better prepared than I was, gripping a duffel in front of him. As he headed for the bathroom, I went into the kitchen and found Lindsey still there. She stood at the counter making mimosas.
When she turned to look over her shoulder at me, I raised my eyebrow. She looked at the blender and let out a sigh.
“It’s been a rough morning. I needed something strong,” she said.
She didn’t explain any further, and I didn’t push. If she wanted me to know the details, she’d give them to me. Considering how she looked the other night at the bar, it seemed this wasn’t just a one-day issue. Whatever was bothering her that day was probably the same thing that made her look so angry. Some of the protective feeling started tingling up through me again, and I forced it away. I still didn’t know anything about it. I didn’t know what was going on in her life or what she wanted to do about it. That meant it wasn’t my place to try to protect her.
But it was my place to be her friend. And that meant I could do whatever possible to make her feel better. She was obviously struggling with something, and I hated to see it.
Going to the refrigerator, I started pulling out ingredients. Piling them up on the island in the middle of the kitchen, I went to the breadbox and took out one of the loaves of thick, crusty bread I knew would be there. Nick always picked up bread from the bakery near the compound. It was a weakness of his, and he almost always had too much of it. That wasn’t so bad because the leftover chunks got stuffed into the freezer until he could bring them to Mom to be transformed into bread pudding or Thanksgiving dressing. Today, it was being called upon for a higher purpose.