Page 9 of Shaded Amethysts
“Yes, he’s my brother,” Gage answered just before Noah clarified, “Half-brother.”
With that, Gage turned and stalked away from us.
7
Avery
To say I was stunned by the revelation that Noah and Gage were half-brothers would be the understatement of the year.How had this news not leaked out via the town’s infamous grapevine?
Noah made almost as quick of an exit as Gage had after our awkward interaction. I didn’t have the chance to ask my date any questions, so now they were swirling through my mind unanswered.
Did these two very different men grow up in the same household? Did they not get along? It certainly seemed like that might be the case. Where was the rest of their family? Why was Gage sent to prison?
No matter how much I tried to convince myself that I was only interested in Noah, Gage would not leave my mind alone. Some irrational part of my heart was convinced that he was simply misunderstood.
I shook my head as I pondered my own silliness. It was precisely this type of fuzzy logic that left me alone, while everyone else was happily paired off. A handsome, charming doctor, who cared for animals, was actively pursuing me, yet I couldn’t seem to keep thoughts of his bad-boy half-brother out of my head.
As if she was sensing my dilemma, my cell phone began jangling with an incoming call from Molly. The moment I picked up, she said, “I need some juicy gossip to distract me from all of this stress. Tell me all about your date with the hot doggy doctor.”
“Hot doggy?” I chuckled at my silly friend before answering, “It was fine.”
“Fine?!?” Molly practically spluttered into the phone. “Oh no, that doesn’t sound good at all. What’s wrong with him? Does he talk with his mouth full? Speak too loud on his cell phone? Chomp his ice? Pick his nose?”
“Eww, no.” Even when she was upset, Molly could still manage to cheer me up.
“What’s the problem, then? I know he’s handsome and has a killer smile. He proved that he remains calm and helpful in an emergency. Oh, and he’s a doctor. If I wasn’t already madly in love, I might ask him out myself.”
Molly audibly sucked in a breath, “Wait… is he too serious? Does his sense of humor suck?”
“No, his sense of humor seems fine. He even has some funny signs about ‘being the person your dog thinks you are’ posted in his office,” I answered.
“There’s that ‘fine’ word again,” Molly said quietly.
I smiled over how astute she was. “Yes, on paper, he checks all the right boxes for being boyfriend and possibly even potential-husband material.”
“But…” she prompted me.
“I don’t know. Something is missing between us. There isn’t a jolting spark of attraction that crackles in the air when we’re near each other, like you and Grant have.”
“You can see that firing back and forth between us?” Molly sounded astounded that her radiating happiness might actually be visible to the naked eye.
“No,” I giggled at her. “But I sense it. You two have a magnetic connection between your souls, like my brother and Claire have. I want that, too.”
I was tempted to tell her about Gage, but sensed that now wasn’t the right time.
“I understand wanting that, and you deserve nothing less,” Molly said, fully accepting my explanation.
“Tell that to my mother,” I grouched, knowing the woman would be absolutely devastated and beyond disappointed in me for not bagging the eligible veterinarian as a husband.
It was Molly’s turn to chuckle now. “No way! That is all you. Use some of your fancy legalese to confuse her into complacency.”
“I wish I could,” I lamented before asking, “Speaking of legalese… Any news on the lawsuit? Please tell me the birth mother changed her mind and dropped it.”
“Nope, it’s full steam ahead,” Molly answered sadly before perking up slightly. “But they have agreed to hold the proceedings in Maine, since so many people on the film crew are counting on Grant to be here to finish the movie.”
“That’s good news,” I answered half-heartedly, overcome by sadness that my friend was facing down this potentially devastating loss.
It simply wasn’t fair. Molly couldn’t love Scout any more if she had given birth to him. She was his mom. His birth mother had given him up and not even bothered to see him for most of his life, yet she had legal rights to the boy that Molly would never have.
