Page 26 of Missed Steps
“Architecture isinteresting.”
It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow.
Mark clears his throat. “I don’t mean this as an insult. You’ve just never struck me as the type to enjoy accounting, and I’ve never heard you talk about your classes, so I assumed it was a token choice.”
“Really? You’ve never heard me talk about it? Not once during all our conversations over the past two years?”
Mark grins. “You know what I mean.”
“I enjoy the classes. I haven’t talked about them during club meets because people tend to say how much more interestingtheircourse is.”
Mark casts me a rueful smile. “So, why do you like them?” He seems genuinely interested in my answer.
“I’m good with numbers, for one. And the course is getting me where I want to be. Aside from that, I just do.” I shrug.
“Where is that?”
The food timer beeps, and I go to the oven to retrieve dinner. “My brother has a hiking business. It’s a decent sized company now, and I want to work with him. I wasn’t interested in the admin side, and I didn’t want to be a hiking leader—the climbs they do are intense, and that is too much pressure and responsibility for me—so, I figured out that I could take up an accounting role and join him on the odd hike.” I set Mark’s plate in front of him. “I can do the accounting, still. Even if I can’t join him for climbs.”
Mark waits until I’ve retrieved my plate and joined him before picking up his cutlery. “You could still do the hiking,” he says, speaking carefully. “There’s a lot of exercise prosthetics and running blades.”
“Did your research?” I ask.
Mark clears his throat and looks embarrassed as he nods. “After the other night…I looked it up.”
I’ve thought about it, too. But for the moment, walking normally is my focus. Down the line, I could try for more, once I’m more comfortable and able for it. “Chris does several month-long hikes through the tallest mountain ranges in the world, so I’ll never be able to do those. But yeah, small climbs, maybe. I’ll have to work up to it.”
“Have you been on many climbs before?”
“Not the longer ones, but some of the week-long adventures, yeah. Actually, that’s how I was able to afford this place.” I gesture to the apartment. “Chris took out a decent insurance policy for me.”
“That’s…suspicious.”
I laugh. “It’s overprotective. He didn’t want me to go at all, but I can always get my way with him. It drove everyone nuts because he always refused to take them.”
“Who is ‘everyone?’”
I hesitate, a ball of unease tightening in my gut. “My siblings.” I say, my voice coming out a little clipped. I disguise it by shovelling food into my mouth. “There’s Timothy and Eric; they’re twins. Ronan and Chris are twins, too. Chris is the eldest by a few minutes. He was always everybody’s favourite.”
“Let me guess. You’re the youngest?”
I nod, and I can tell from the way his lips quirk up at the corners what he’s getting at. “Before you say it, I wasn’t spoiled. Chris was soft on me; the rest were not.” The unease inside tightens further. I blink, pushing the ghost of any memories that hover in my peripheral far, far away. I think of Chris, and only Chris. “He’ll probably have a heart attack when he finds out about my leg.”
“He doesn’t know?”
“He was on a long climb when it happened. No cell service. I talked to him for the first time in months a few days ago. He should be here within two weeks.” I wince, thinking about the upcoming reveal. I’m under no illusions that Chris is going to put his entire life on hold to take care of me. He’ll want to move in, I’m sure, and there is an extra bedroom. And I both want him around and don’t. He’ll make everything better, he always does. But I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t want him to have to change his entire life for meagain.
“It wasn’t bad when you told me,” Mark says, drawing me out of my thoughts.
I look at him, meeting his eyes.
“I know you don’t like talking about it, but it wasn’t bad, right?”
Mark is right that the block in my head was more of a “me” issue than Mark knowing. Or anyone knowing, for that matter. I didn’t even mention it to Tommy earlier when it had been the perfect time to show him. “I didn’t set out to hide it,” I say. Mark has clearly misunderstood my silence as me worrying about talking to my brother about my leg.
“I know. You don’t like talking about it. Or thinking about it, it seems.”
I shrug. “It’s not exactly a happy subject. I’ll come around, eventually. Get it all figured out.”
