man, but one look at you and there was little question that you’re our brother. We’d really like you to fill us in on some things.”
Patrick fought off doubts and reminded himself that he’d always preferred to confront things head-on. “Sure, why not?” he said, as if the prospect of a beer and a little get-acquainted chitchat were of no consequence. Admittedly he had a great deal of curiosity about these men who were his brothers. He might as well satisfy it, now that the opportunity had presented itself.
Besides, there was something reassuringly solid and normal about the three older Devaneys. He’d learned a lot about judging people since leaving home. He could tell at first glance that these were men of character. One of them had been a SEAL, for heaven’s sake. If that didn’t speak of courage and honor, what did? Maybe it was possible to outfox the Devaney bad blood, after all. If so, he wanted to know how.
As he led the procession toward Jess’s, his steps dragged. Even though he’d satisfied himself that this was the thing to do, he couldn’t deny feeling a certain amount of dread. What if things were even worse for his brothers than he’d imagined? What if they bore scars from being left behind? What if they blamed him, right along with their parents? Not that it would be a rational blame, since he and Daniel had been little more than babies, but in a volatile situation, logic and reason seldom mattered. Though he didn’t even know them, he found that he desperately wanted them to accept him, and that terrified him. Discovering his parents’ betrayal had taught him never to expect or need too much from anyone. Better to be a loner than to be hurt like that ever again.
Besides, his brothers had said they were here to fill in the blanks in their lives, not to answer all of his thousand and one questions.
With Patrick lost in thought, Alice kept up a barrage of inconsequential, nonstop chatter, mostly about Widow’s Cove’s history. It helped to defuse the tension as they made their way to Jess’s.
As they neared the bar, they could hear the jukebox blasting. That, too, could be an inadvertent blessing, Patrick concluded. It was going to make real conversation difficult, if not impossible. And at this time of the evening on a typical Friday, Jess’s was usually packed and noisy. Maybe they wouldn’t even find a free table, Patrick thought, in one last hopeful bid to put this encounter off until tomorrow…or maybe forever. Maybe Daniel had it right, after all. Maybe it was better to keep his head buried in the sand. Maybe these strangers who claimed to be his brothers would go away. Sure, his curiosity wouldn’t be satisfied, but what did that matter really? He’d made it through more than twenty years without having them in his life, and vice versa.
His halfhearted hope for a quick end to the evening was promptly dashed. He wasn’t entirely sure how Alice managed it, but with a few whispered words to Molly, a table was magically cleared. Then Alice gave his hand one last reassuring squeeze. “I’ll leave you with your brothers.”
Fighting panic, Patrick gazed into her eyes. “Don’t.”
“You’ll be fine,” she assured him. “Obviously, I don’t know the whole story, but I heard enough to know that this must be a life-altering moment for all of you. I don’t belong here in the middle of it.”
“I want you to stay,” he said, needing some sort of familiar lifeline, someone from the world he’d made for himself to steady him as it rocked on its axis.
“It’s okay,” Ryan assured her. “If Patrick wants you here, it’s fine with us.”
Still, Alice shook her head and extracted her hand from the death grip Patrick had on it. “Thanks, but I need to get home. I’m glad I got to meet you, though.”
Ryan nodded. “Perhaps we’ll meet again one day,” he said, then headed over to join the others.
Still, Patrick held back. “I never thanked you for the soup,” he protested with ridiculous urgency, just to keep her there and talking.
She grinned at that, obviously seeing straight through him. “And now you have.”
She pushed him none too gently toward the table where his brothers were already seated. Patrick sighed and let her go, but his gaze followed her as she left the bar. Only then did he suck in a deep breath and go to join his brothers, pulling up