Page 13 of Love is a Harmony
Mathieu nodded. “He and Stella spent more time at our house though.” They reached a stone walkway that led around to an overgrown garden. “He and Stella always tried gardening, but the two of them could never stay focused on it long enough to make a difference.”
Noah smiled. That was Carson. He loved projects, just not finishing them.
Mathieu pulled a key from his pocket and unlocked the back door, forcing it open. “I haven’t come over here since…” He looked away, unable to finish his sentence. “I sent the kids to get some of Stella’s things, but we haven’t brought her back yet. You’re welcome to stay here while you’re in town. No use being at a hotel. Carson wouldn’t want that.”
Noah tried to ignore the emotion in Mathieu’s voice, but tears burned the back of his eyes as well. He cleared his throat as he found a light switch and flipped it on to reveal a simple country cottage. They’d walked into a mud room, and he peered down a narrow hall to the small living room.
Mathieu led him further into the house, pointing out the guest room. “I don’t know if there’s anything in the kitchen that hasn’t spoiled. Your brother was a terrible cook, so he and Stella mostly ate dinner with us.”
Noah surprised himself with a laugh. “It’s a family trait.” Noah was the best cook of the family, but that wasn’t saying much. They’d always had kitchen staff growing up, but if he’d wanted to eat non-weird things, he’d sneak into the kitchen late at night with Nan to whip up some grilled cheese.
Carson, on the other hand, always seemed to fancy the toff food the cooks served.
Mathieu turned on lights in the living room, revealing a large, brown leather sofa in front of a small television. Noah wasn’t quite sure how Carson had lived with such a tiny telly. Had he been hurting for money?
Noah wanted to know everything about his brother’s life here, but a sudden exhaustion weighed him down, and he wasn’t sure how much more he could handle tonight.
Mathieu reached into his pocket and pulled free a folded envelop. He smoothed it between his hands and held it out.
“What’s that?” Noah couldn’t take his eyes off the white flap.
“I wasn’t only Carson’s friend, I was his avocat. About a year ago, I convinced him he needed to make plans in case he died.”
Noah shook his head. “I-I can’t.”
Mathieu pressed it into his hand. “We can all handle more than we think, Noah. Just… when you read this, remember that.”
“You know what’s in it?”
“I do. Tomorrow is Saturday. I won’t be at the office, so come find me, yes?”
Noah nodded, staring down at the envelop in his hands. His name was scrawled across it. What had Carson been thinking when he wrote that? Had he ever thought Noah would actually have to read the letter?
Mathieu put a hand on his shoulder then walked back down the hall, leaving Noah standing alone in his brother’s house.
He turned, surveying the room, seeing the pictures for the first time. Walking closer to the entertainment cabinet, he took in a life he hadn’t known his brother had. Stella as a baby. Carson and Stella at the beach when she was a toddler. Carson, Stella, and Mathieu’s family.
And one picture on a lower shelf. Noah almost missed it. Two boys grinning at the camera. He stared at the kid versions of him and his brother who never knew how crazy their lives would get or that they wouldn’t always be together.
The letter felt heavy in Noah’s hands. He walked into the small kitchen and set the beer he’d all but forgotten about on the counter before pacing back out.
This house, none of it looked like the Carson he knew. Carson had loved extravagant things, a toff life. Not country cottages.
He couldn’t take it anymore. Ripping open the letter, he wanted, needed to feel his brother here with him.
He never expected the words to turn his entire world upside down.
4
Melanie
A cacophony of “where is hes” came through Melanie’s speaker, and she leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms.
The rock star support group she ran, Rockstars Anonymous, knew what this posture meant.
Shut up and listen.
She didn’t know when she’d gotten to the point that she could actually get this unruly lot to obey her, but it worked in her favor.
