Page 30 of We Thought We Knew It All
Kids area great weapon against best friends who insist on grieving alone.
Amber invited us over for dinner. I didn’t know her that well, but I did know she was a fabulous cook. She’d been keeping both Jay and Colby fed since getting married.
Jackson idolized Jay and Colby, picking up on their mannerisms and phrases. It was a big reason for moving here. After leaving Dylan, the boys needed men in their lives they could look up to.
“Callie,” Amber said in relief, opening the door. “I’m so glad you guys came.”
“Of course.” Noticing the tension in her shoulders, I handed her Declan who was in a particularly huggy mood. She smiled, squeezing him close. “Where is he?”
“The living room. He isn’t drinking tonight because the boys were coming.”
“Well, at least he has enough sense to not make me hurt him. Has it been every night?”
She nodded. “I just don’t understand why he’s reacting like this. His father always seemed more like a business partner than family.”
“There’s a lot of history with this family,” I said. “I’m sure it’ll be explained to you when he snaps out of it, because he will.”
She nodded and looked to the boys. “You go in first. I’ll watch these three. I want you to talk to him before Colby and Jamie get here.”
That surprised me. “I’m assuming you didn’t tell him his brother was coming?”
“If I did, do you think even the boys’ presence would keep him from drinking?”
Running a hand down my long sleeved black sweater dress, I put on my calmest face. This was Jay. I knew how to deal with him. He’d been the one person I’d always understood growing up, and it’d worked both ways. I didn’t know what the last few years were like between him and his father, but I knew what the younger years were like. It’d been good between them. Even when Jamie was on the opposing end of their father’s fist, Jay never got the brunt of it. And that cut to the heart of Jay’s problem with his brother, especially in light of their father’s death.
Guilt.
Jay sat in a suede chair facing the fake fireplace, his elbows on his knees. A glass swung in his hands filled with clear liquid.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” He didn’t bother to look up. “It’s water.”
I smiled. There was the Jay I knew. The couch was empty, but I went to him instead and sat on the arm of his chair.
“Hello, old chap,” I said in my terrible British accent. It was a thing we did.
“Would you like a wee bit of the dram?”
A laugh burst out of me. “I thought that was water. A dram is whiskey.”
“One can always dream.”
I smacked the side of his head. “I’m glad you’re at least joking a little.”
He shrugged. “Are my nephews here?”
I played with his dark hair, combing my fingers through the soft locks. “Are you going to be an ass?”
“I don’t want to be.”
“Not even when your brother shows up?”
“Dammit Amber! When will she stop trying to meddle?” He ripped the glass back from me and threw back the rest of the water.
“She loves you.”
He grunted.
“So does Jamie, by the way.”
