“A mountain biker reported a motionless body by a campsite. A couple of us hiked out to check on the guy and found a body. We carried him down on a stretcher. One of the guys found an ID at the site. He was a veteran, fought in Iraq. Who knows how long he’d been living up there with next to nothing to eat?”
“That’s awful, Brody.”
“Yeah, it was.” Brody took a bite of the chili. It was worse than the brownies. He associated chili with meat and spice. This had neither. “Good thing Josh is making progress. His cooking stinks.”
“Dr. Arnold didn’t get into specifics,” Katie said. “But Josh will need to find a local therapist. And we have to maintain a stable environment for him. I’m not sure what that means for Megan.”
“She isn’t part of the long-term picture.” Brody took another bite of the bland bean dish. “We can’t justify the expense of keeping her on if we can trust Josh is safe here by himself.”
“I’m not talking about her paid position,” Katie said. “Have you seen the way he looks at her?”
Like he wants to get laid. Brody knew the feeling, and he’d be willing to bet he looked at Kat the same way. But shit, if he was being honest, he wanted a helluva lot more than kinky sex. He wanted a place in her life. The opportunity to take care of her long-term.
But now she’d flown back to New York to attend to God knows what, offering a striking reminder that her life was there and his was here.
“I think Josh is falling for Megan,” his sister said, pulling him back to their conversation.
“I wouldn’t count on Josh lining up to reserve the Willamette Views Vineyard for his special day anytime soon,” Brody said. “Not in his condition.”
“You might be right. But speaking of weddings.” Katie held out her hand and wiggled her fingers. An enormous square rock sparkled under the kitchen lights.
“About damn time.” Brody dropped his spoon and took her hand. “When did Liam propose? And how have you been sitting here this whole time without saying a word?”
“I was waiting for you to notice,” she said.
“Sorry.” Brody shook his head. He’d been so focused on Josh’s doctor that he hadn’t noticed the rock on his little sister’s finger.
“Liam proposed last night under our trees,” Katie said. “He wanted to wait until after Georgia’s wedding.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Your trees?”
“The place where—”
“You know what, I don’t think I want to know.”
She picked up the magazine. “I’m looking for a dress. We’re thinking soon. Probably a weekend in Vegas. I want to save our money for the house and the stables. They’re breaking ground next week, and once it’s done, I’ll be able to take in dozens of neglected or abused animals.”
Josh was supposedly on the road to recovery—though Brody wanted to talk to Kat about what that meant. He needed details. Was his little brother regaining his memory or simply learning to follow a recipe?
He’d sit down with Kat when she got back. And they’d discuss a lot more than his little brother’s memory. But right now he needed to focus on the fact his baby sister was getting married. And heck, Chad was close to asking Lena to spend the rest of her life with him.
Brody picked up his spoon and dug into the chili. If they all moved on, leaving the house they’d grown up in, where did that leave him?
Carrying a stranger’s body down the mountain on a damn litter so that the veteran could receive the honor he deserved.
Pushing the depressing memory from today aside, Brody nodded to the magazine. “What are you thinking for the dress?”
“You want to talk bridal gowns?”
He n
odded. It beat thinking about the questions pilling up in his mind about his little brother’s doctor, or his long hike carrying a corpse.
Katie’s face lit up as she launched into a detailed description of her ideal wedding gown. Half the words—bustle and chiffon—were meaningless to him. But he loved seeing her smile as if life had granted her everything she wanted.
Chapter 15
TWICE A MONTH Kat sat down with her past. The crowded elementary school cafeteria in Brooklyn looked nothing like the small-town lunchroom in Independence Falls, but the weary, yet hopeful expression on the fourth grader across the table was strikingly familiar.