and I think the kids respect him even more because he’s real with them and doesn’t pretend to have been perfect.
“Truth,” I grunt, thinking of the few juniors and seniors that we have working on our crews in the summer. Students who he worked closely with because they were on a bad path and needed straightened up, or because their families needed his guidance. It’s hard work and they don’t shy away from it. They’re also eager to earn a hefty paycheck but damn, they’re freaking weird.
“Talk to you next week. They don’t practice much anymore since they’re playing games, but since you’re new to them, I think the parents would agree that it would be good to have a few practices with the kids first.”
“You got it. Email or text. You know how to find me.”
“See ya, brother.”
“Yeah, see ya.”
I toss my phone on the counter and look out the kitchen window. The skies are dark and it doesn’t look like the rain clouds will be letting up anytime soon. I wonder if Alden had to change his plans for proposing or if they’re suffering through a rainy camping weekend.
Just as I’m thinking about it, my phone buzzes with another text. This one from none other than Alden. A picture of him and Hannah, Hannah proudly displaying a diamond ring on her left finger, both drenched from what I assume is the rain, and the caption only saying “You were right. She said yes.”
I grin and feel a twinge in my gut. I’m happy for him. He fell hard and fast for Hannah, so much different than the way I fell in love, and he’s never once second-guessed himself. Never wavered. I have a lot to learn when it comes to love, apparently. If only I’d always been as confident as he was when it came to the woman I love.
Maybe I wouldn’t be looking at a future alone and wouldn’t have hurt the woman who didn’t deserve to be hurt. I have a lot of if onlys in my life… the biggest one of them all being:
If only I’d noticed what was right in front of me all along and never taken that one look back.
Chapter Two
Beau
Monday morning I arrive at work after the perfect weekend. Sleeping in, working out in my home gym, a little bit of yard work once the rain stopped, and quiet. The quiet is what makes me happy.
Alden can’t wipe the smile off his face, rightfully so after his girlfriend accepted his proposal, and everyone gives him shit for how sappy he seems. He takes it all pretty good, though, and doesn’t seem bothered by it. Just smiles and shrugs.
We spend the day cleaning up some messes that the storm over the weekend brought in and get calls for patch jobs, which means our week is going to be even busier than normal.
When it’s time to head for home, my body is more than just aching. The humidity in the air is stifling, making the heat that much more unbearable. When the temperatures reach into the mid-90s, we have to consider the health of our workers above getting a job done. We sometimes work until eight at night but with the weather the way it was today, we shut down around four. Let everyone get home and get cooled off and rested up. The heat can make a man exhausted pretty quickly.
I’ve just said goodbye to the last of our employees when my cell rings. I reach for it, seeing “Mom” light up my screen so I say goodbye to Alden and watch as he walks out the door and take the call.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Beau?” my mom whimpers.
The sound of her voice has me instantly on alert. My muscles strung tight and my hand that’s not holding my phone is fisted at my side. I might be over thirty now, but my urge to fix things with my hands hasn’t dulled in time. That’s not to say that I’m getting into bar fights — or any other kind, for that matter — but that’s only because I’ve learned how to control myself.
“What is it?”
She sniffles and hiccups. “It’s… it’s…”
“What,” I grind out, jaw clenched.
“Your brother. Christopher. He… he... Oh, god, Beau!”
Dread fills me and I plop back down in my chair, leaning over.
“What happened?”
“He’s...”
“Mom. What. Happened?”
The phone fumbles around a little bit before I hear my other brother’s voice come through the line telling her to sit down and breathe. Then all I hear