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“Well, I just wanted to be sure. We had a lot of fun in that house over the years, shared a lot of memories. And, well, I felt like I needed permission.”
She looks from me to Brady and fixes her stare on him. He bought that house for them so many, many years ago. I know he’s never once considered it his.
“My name isn’t anywhere on that deed,” he says.
She scowls at him. “Braden.” She is in full-on Mom mode now.
“Victoria.” He bellows back.
She scoffs at him, but there is no way she is winning this argument. That house is hers to sell, keep, burn to the ground, whatever she wants. I can see the wheels turning, trying to form some sort of argument, but one more glance at each of us, and a cocked eyebrow from B and she scrunches up her nose in defeat.
“I also guess I was going to see if either of you wanted to keep it, use it as rental property. Or if anyone wants one last visit.”
The last time we were all together in that house, it included everybody in this room. Everybody but one.
I hadn’t been sober for much of that weekend. But despite the reasons we were there, it was a great one. It had been a celebration of my dad’s life. It had been his boys using that house for what it was intended, to laugh, to love, to come together. That’s how I want to remember it.
Brady and I share a glance. He cedes the decision to me.
“Mom, I feel like we had the best last visit we ever could. Besides, to be honest, I don’t feel the need to set foot in the state of Minnesota ever again. For all the wonderful memories I left there, there is a lot more bad stuff that I don’t need to revisit.”
I look back into the house and find Davey and Devyn lingering in the doorway. Our eyes met and I can’t read what he’s thinking, or tell how much of this conversation he heard.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’m good here. B if you want to go back…”
Brady is smiling at me, his eyes filled with pride. I guess that was a pretty big admission for me. I look at Davey again. This time, he smiles. But there is still something unreadable in those eyes.
“I’m good too,” Brady says. “I agree about that last visit. Those are the memories I’m holding onto.” He reaches over and places a hand on Levi’s thigh, then looks at Devyn.
Mom surveys this crazy family that is all hers now and beams with pride.
“Wait,” I say. “You said you want to leave Minnesota. Where are thinking of going?”
“Back to Canada.”
“What? Not Toronto!” Brady exclaims. His real father is from Toronto and still lives there. Brady spent a lot of his young life splitting time between there and Minnesota until he was old enough to make his own choices, and he chose Minnesota. And from what I gather, his father was obviously not the ideal dad and an even worse husband. Even at this age, we can still try to protect our parents as much as they try to protect us.
Mom laughs and waves a hand at him to calm down. “No, not Toronto. I was thinking west, Vancouver area, something like that. I don’t know. I feel like I need to bounce around a bit and see what feels right.”
“Vancouver is amazing,” Levi says. “And I can hook you up with the perfect pair of tour guides.”
“I was hoping you would say that,” Mom says.
“Thanks for joining us,” the smooth deep voice comes from behind me as I reach for my coat. I swallow and turn to face Brady.
There is no sarcasm in his voice, but I’m still more than a little uncertain of his opinion about my role in his brother’s life.
“Thanks for having me,” I say. “Your Mom is fantastic.”
He smiles. “Yes, she is.”
We remain silent for way too long. I’m waiting. He’s waiting. I have nothing to say. I’m not going to address the elephant in the room that is my new relationship with Carter because the only one who needs to deal with that elephant is Brady.
“Be careful driving home,” he offers a small smile. “See you in the morning.”
That’s it? I think. That’s all you have to say?! The voice inside my head screams. What did I want him to say? Welcome to the family. I’m so glad he has you. Time. That’s all he needs. Time to adjust to this.
Hell, I need that, too. Even being able to say the word relationship inside my head is new. But this cordiality from him? Well, that just fucking sucks. I gained a boyfriend, a partner, but did I just lose my best friend? Is our relationship damaged forever?
