AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pulled the front door open and watched Cormac guide his super-duty truck around the fountain in the center of my driveway.
"This," Cormac said, hopping down from the silver truck and waving a hand to indicate the house and yard, "is pretty fantastic."
I tried for a smile as I stood on the front porch and waited for my brother to open the back doors of the cab. As soon as he had, a curly blond head appeared and big wide blue eyes took me in as Cormac swung the little girl down and set her on the driveway. My other niece hopped out behind her, and held her book in the air by way of greeting. "Uncle Callan!"
Madison and Taylor were beautiful little girls—probably because Cormac's wife had been beautiful—and I had always enjoyed spoiling them. Now Maddie trundled toward me at top speed on chubby legs, her wide three-year old smile melting some of the ice inside me as I stepped down the wide stairs to catch her, scooping her into my arms.
"Hey Maddie," I said, hugging the little girl tight and then opening an arm and bending down to hug Taylor, too. "Hey gorgeous."
At three and six, the girls were beginning to become their own people, and I loved noticing all the ways they changed between visits. They were a big part of the reason I’d chosen Singletree—the girls, and my brother, Cormac.
"Come on in, guys." I gave my brother a nod over Taylor's head, and we all went into the big house, where most of my things still sat in boxes. The place had a musty smell I hadn't noticed before.
"Love what you've done with the place," Cormac joked. "Planning to actually move in, or is this just a stop on your way to something better?"
The words stung. Cormac was the older brother, but I had had always felt the bite of his jealousy as my soccer career had developed and then exploded. Dad had been a huge sports fan, and my natural athleticism had pulled an unequal amount of his focus, probably leaving Cormac feeling abandoned at times.
"I'm staying," I said, leading the little group to the back porch, where I had actually arranged furniture and put down an outdoor rug. "Come hang out." I waved at a chair for my brother and put Maddie down on the porch next to her sister, who had already climbed into a chair and opened her book in her lap. It was unseasonably warm for late November, and the porch caught a light breeze coming up off the river.
"Maddie," Cormac said, catching the little girl's attention as she climbed down the big steps to explore the wide grassy expanse behind the house. "Stay up here where I can see you. Don't go down to the water."
Maddie nodded and then turned to stare at the Potomac sliding quietly by at the bottom of the long rolling hill. "Big water," she remarked, and then began turning circles on the grass just beyond the porch, her arms extended outward and her head tilted back at the bright blue sky.
"The girls look good," I said. I examined my brother's face, taking in the dark circles beneath his eyes, the drawn cheeks. "You look less good. You okay?"
Cormac sighed and gave me a half smile before turning his gaze to the water. "I still miss her. Every day." He whispered it, as if he didn't want Taylor to hear, but then cleared his throat and spoke more loudly. "We're managing. It's hard."
"I'm so sorry, Mac. Linda was a great catch. I miss her too."
I watched my older brother swallow hard at the mention of his late wife, his eyes dropping shut for a long moment and then clearing. Linda had died suddenly just over a year before, of an aneurysm. It was shocking and horrible, and Cormac had been devastated. From what I could tell, he hadn't recovered.
Cormac cleared his throat and turned his attention to me. "What's your plan here, Callan? What are you going to do? This is a small town—not a big market for former sports stars."
"Happy enough to leave all that behind," I said, though it was more what I wished than what was true. "Beyond just getting this house set up, staying out of the spotlight, I don't really have plans."
"How'd the team take the news?"
"The Sharks have plenty going on without me. Just brought on two hotshots recently. Some guy they're calling the 'fire' and another guy who talks more like a computer geek than a pro striker. But he is pretty good, I guess. Max Winchell." I didn't like the way the names of my replacements felt coming out of my mouth. The Sharks had been my team for a good run, and walking away had been difficult. Especially because walking was difficult. I didn't really walk away. I limped away. All the more reason to leave.
"You're gonna get bored."
I shrugged. My life had been the opposite of boring for so long, I didn't know if my brother was right, or if it would be good to have a break. "Want a drink?"
Cormac nodded and I rose and went to the kitchen door at the far end of the porch, returning with a beer for us each and juice boxes for the girls. We took seats in the big wooden chairs that overlooked the lawn.
"At least you've gotten out to go shopping."
"They deliver groceries now, Mac." I corrected. "Welcome to the Internet age."
"Surprised that's legal in this county. This place has the craziest laws…" he shook his head and took a swig of his beer. "It's the smallest county in Maryland, and half the stores and restaurants here straddle county lines. Did you know there's a distillery here that's only legal because half of it is in the adjacent county?"
I frowned at my brother. Who cared? “And?"
"It's just nuts here. You'll see. You can only drink at the bar there if you stand on one side of it. The other side is in the wrong county."
"That's ridiculous."
He nodded. "It is." Cormac gave me a long look over the top of his bottle, and was about to speak again when Taylor stole his words. "You walk funny now, Uncle Callan. Does your foot hurt?"
