Page 65 of Axe Backwards
Sopresetta and artichoke heart.
My stomach groaned.
“You’re all animals.” Jude reclined in his chair, beer in hand.
“And you’re amazing,” Finn said, raising his bottle. “How many fancy pizzas did we eat?”
My twin huffed a laugh. “Nine.”
Finn lifted one shoulder lazily. “Next time we’ll hit double digits. That fancy cheese was incredible. How far did you have to drive to get that?”
“Mom picked it up at the Trader Joes in Bangor.”
That made sense. We had decent produce up here, and there was a natural food store in Heartsborough, but imported Italian cheese was a delicacy in these parts. One I’d overindulged in tonight.
I’d be running tomorrow. And I’d have to add more weight to my vest.
The thought of running brought an image of Vic to mind. She looked so damn cute, with her face red and her hair disheveled. She’d been doing well and seemed to enjoy herself.
“I brought you something.” Cole held out a gift bag. “It’s for Tess.”
I wiped my hands on my napkin again for good measure before digging into it. “Wow.” A rush of warmth hit me as Ipulled a beautiful yellow blanket out. The buttery softness of the yarn against my fingertips lit up comforting instincts in my brain. Or it could be the pizza coma.
“I knit it.”
A scoff escaped me before I could stop it. “You knit?”
Cole was practically a giant. He was by far the biggest of all of us, had been the wildest, and was a former pro hockey player. The vision of him fussing with knitting needles that floated into my mind was comical.
“Thor loves his,” Finn piped up. “And it washes well. He’s barfed on it at least a dozen times already.” He raised his beer and shot me a grin, leaving no doubt in my mind that he was delighted by everything his son did.
“Thank you,” I said, clutching it a little tighter. “This is so thoughtful.”
Cole shrugged. “Knitting is good for my anxiety.”
My chest pinched at the idea. I was taken aback by the way he’d laid that out. What was even more surprising was how the rest of my brothers nodded, as if discussing one’s feelings and emotional challenges was normal.
“And my sobriety.”
Huh. The lack of beer for him made sense now.
To be honest, our dad came from the toxic masculinity school of fatherhood, where screaming was required and all vulnerabilities were suppressed. It was heartening to see my brothers doing things differently.
It was also more than a bit jarring.
I had a lot to catch up on.
While the conversation shifted from Tess to Thor to Gus’s newborn daughter Simone, then to machinery he and Jude used regularly on logging sites, I sat back and enjoyed the night air and the feeling of being back home.
For years, I would have argued that Lovewell was not home. That it was the place I’d grown up and nothing more. But this town was just what Tess and I needed.
It hadn’t taken me long to realize I needed to return. After the order had been extended and I’d parted ways with the guardian ad litem and my lawyer at the courthouse, I was finally free to plan for the future. To map out the legal plan and try to figure out how to shape my life around being a parent.
Within days, I was homesick. After years of moving, then moving again, and jumping from one adventure to another, I missed my mom. I missed my brothers.
I needed this place. And Tess needed this place.
“That’s what Parker thinks. We all need to be aware of what could happen next.” Gus was standing now,arms crossed and looming over us, looking like the eldest brother he was.
