Page 77 of The Moment They Can't Forget

“Need backup today?” Sawyer asked him in a calm voice, like the conversation had not just happened. The man could change moods like socks these days. “I can call by the Circle Left in thirty and see how things are going and break you out if Henry’s giving you a hard time?”

He would, too, if JD asked him. His head was starting to throb again with all the conflicting emotions and thoughts.

“No, I’m good. The thing is, Dukes.” He looked at the brothers. “My family life is not like yours, and you can’t make it that way.”

“But you got us. We’re your family now,” Sawyer said.

He couldn’t answer because his throat had a lump in it now. So he nodded and left. Jumping back into his car, he pulled out and started driving just as the grapevine twist music started. JD didn’t stop; he just kept rolling.

What the fuck was he going to do now? Did he relocate again? The thought brought him physical pain. A deep hot, searing sensation in his chest. He loved it here; to leave now would be hell. So he had to move on from Zoe and this… he didn’t even know what to call what he felt for her.

As he drove, thinking through the mess that was now his life, he noted small groups of people forming circles. Larry Limpet, who used to own Ryder’s building, was stomping across the road in waders carrying a fishing rod. Turning right before he reached The Gnat, he then took a left and passed the church and the school. Looking at the playground, he noted the kids were all forming circles or lines.

Square dancing and its Lyntacky weirdness had never crossed his mind much. He just did it because he’d been told he had to. He’d learned by watching videos on YouTube. But seeing all those people as he drove coming together to dance, talk, and just share time and space for minutes out of their day was actually pretty cool.

He drove slowly and then pulled in to the Circle Left parking lot. Getting out, he noted Henry was being directed by Robyn Duke on how to dance. Dukes were everywhere in this town.

“That’s it. You got it now, Henry,” Dr. Hannah was saying.

JD had long ago given up wondering why people in this place were where they shouldn’t be on a workday. He stood back and watched his brother as the music wound down. Still in suit pants and looking pale—no doubt after overindulging last night—his younger brother was laughing at something Robyn Duke was saying.

JD used to make Henry laugh. Once, they’d been close. Money had never been a problem, and they’d enjoyed the life it afforded them. The vacations at their family place. The skiing holidays, and the times there had just been the two of them. He’d blocked all that out when he’d left home.

He’d changed everything about himself from his clothes to the way his hair looked. He’d grown a beard, which his father hated, and got tattooed, which his father would again loathe.

His friends said he dressed like a rich city boy; if only they’d known him before. He’d been arrogant, spoiled, and an asshole.

His brother saw him and smiled. It hit JD hard in the gut.

Christ, he’d come here for a simple life. He’d come here to get as far from his family as he could after his time in LA, but it seemed his past had caught up with him.

Chapter22

“How’s the head?” he asked Henry as they walked into the Circle Left.

“Better, thanks. Nancy gave me something for it. I’ll be back in a minute. I just need to make a call, JD.”

“Okay, I’ll order coffee.”

“You all good there, sweetie?” He felt an arm settle around his waist as he walked into the dining room.

“Yes, thanks,” he said to Robyn Duke.

“Because you look a little tight around the eyes.”

This woman loved her family and friends unconditionally. No strings. She was open and generous with her affection. JD knew she could be a hard-ass when required and guessed she’d had to be considering who her children were, but she was always there for them and anyone else who needed her support.

“I’m okay. It was just a shock seeing my brother again. We haven’t spoken in years.”

She made a tsking sound as she squeezed him to her side.

“I don’t know what forced you two apart, JD, but I know you, and you’re one of the good guys. Henry has your blood, so there is every chance he is too.”

He wondered if too much emotion could be harmful. It certainly made his chest burn.

“It’s complicated,” he said.

They went through a set of doors out to the deck, where patrons could dine outside.

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