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“Hey, no judgment.” Suzie held up her hands in surrender. “Plenty of people are wary of serious relationships after divorce. Just be gentle with him, okay? He’s fragile.”
I snorted. Michael, fragile? I remembered how he took care of me, even taking off my shoes and getting me coffee. I remembered the way his loose-fit tee shirt couldn’t hide the curves of muscle in his chest and shoulders. There was nothing fragile about him.
“I’m just saying,” Suzie started, but then she stopped saying anything and merely shook her head. Her eyes lit up, and I had a feeling she knew what my friend was about to say. Because Suzie was nothing if not a busybody, and she very much believed in love.
I cut her off before she could get another word out. “I’m sure he’s great, Suzie, but you have to stop pimping out your brother,” I said in exasperation. “I’m not hooking up with Michael!”
The silence was deafening as my friends stared at me with wide, horrified eyes.
Behind me, a male voice said, “Ahem.”
Oh, no.
No no no no no.
I swallowed hard and turned slightly in my seat to see who had spoken, although I had a horrible feeling I already knew.
Oh, yes.
“Morning, ladies.” Michael casually rested his arms on the wrought iron fence that separated the patio from the sidewalk. “Nora mentioned you’d be here, so I wanted to say hello to Suzie before I go rescue Sam.”
“Michael!” Suzie pushed herself up from the table to give him a hug. She pulled back and patted his beard. “You look so different. When did this happen?”
He swatted her hand away. “Get off my face, woman.” But his voice was full of affection.
“You remember Kate.” Suzie nodded to our friend, who was doing her damnedest not to laugh, and then said, “And apparently you know Nora already.”
He smiled slowly as his gaze drifted over me. “Sure do.”
I couldn’t tell whether I was more embarrassed or attracted. Damn him and his chocolate brown eyes.
Suzie and Michael chatted for a few more minutes while I slowly died inside. To his credit, he gave no indication that he had heard what I had said to Suzie.
“I should go,” he said finally, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “Enjoy the rest of your brunch.”
But then suddenly he leaned in close and swooped my hair off my shoulder, causing goosebumps to erupt on my neck. His breath was warm against my ear as he whispered, “Challenge accepted.”
Oh,no.
Chapter 4
Michael
“Dad.”Ikeptmyvoice patient even as the tight, anxious feeling in my chest increased. “You don’t even have to do anything. Give me your insurance card. I’ll take care of everything.”
My dad stared me down. “I’m not seeing a fucking quack.”
I flinched. Swearing was so unlike Dad. Hell, this whole thing was so unlike him, which was the point of making an appointment with a psychiatrist, and he would understand that if he were his old self. But then if he were his old self, he wouldn’t need the appointment. Catch-22.
My head hurt.
But not nearly as much as my chest hurt when I looked at this irritable, angry old man who had somehow usurped my father’s body. It was the disease that did this. Fucking Huntington’s. A rare, genetic disease that caused the progressive breakdown of brain function. It started slow. A few memory lapses here, a stumble or two there. Eventually nothing worked, body or mind, and the end result was death.
Four years ago, Dad had been showing only mild symptoms. Things had progressed while I was away, which was the main reason I came back. Mom couldn’t do this on her own anymore. She needed help to care for Dad.
One day, this might be me. That thought was never far from my mind. But I didn’t have time to wallow in it right now. My dad needed me.
So I tried again.
