Rise (Rise & Fall Duet #1) - Grahame Claire Page 0,13

didn’t—he couldn’t come over. The apartment was a disaster. I hadn’t had time to do laundry in over a week and the sink was overflowing with dishes.

We kept our outside appearance impeccable. Inside the walls of our home . . . I did the best I could. We did the best we could.

Eric may have Down syndrome, but he was a huge help. Much more so than a burden. I couldn’t imagine my life without him. He brought joy and sunshine and kept things interesting.

Like inviting virtual strangers to our home on a whim.

The beautiful and frightening thing about Eric was that he didn’t have that exterior wall most people did. The one to protect us and make us wary of others. He treated everyone exactly the same.

Though he seemed to be taking to a certain someone I wanted to stay far away from.

“I’ve never had strawberry ice cream.”

The admission was quiet, so low I almost missed it.

Our lives hadn’t been glamorous, nothing like his. The most luxurious thing we had was the van, and it was by no means fancy.

Ice cream was simple. Something everyone could relate to.

Maybe that was why he’d never had strawberry.

The incredulousness on Eric’s face matched the expression I tried to veil. “You’ve never had strawberry ice cream?” he repeated as if that were impossible.

“No.”

I wanted an explanation. Like he was lactose intolerant or hated strawberries or didn’t eat dairy.

No. You don’t need an explanation. He hasn’t had strawberry ice cream. End of story, Lexie.

“But you’ve had ice cream, right?” I snapped my mouth closed, embarrassed the question had escaped.

“Yes.”

That was good. I guessed. Why do I care?

“Then you have to come over. Ours is the best strawberry ice cream in the universe.” My lips tugged upward at the big heart my brother had.

“Okay.”

What? No. We could bring him some or . . . shouldn’t Beau be the one to experience that with him? Not us.

“I notice I wasn’t invited.” Beau slung an arm around Eric good-naturedly.

“You know you can come,” he said, as if she were part of our family.

She might’ve been gone for a long time, but she was always welcome without invitation to our home.

“How about next week? I have some work I need to finish up,” she said.

“Promise?”

She held out her pinkie, and Eric twisted his with hers. “Promise.”

Oh, thank goodness. Lincoln wouldn’t come without his sister, so I was safe for a week.

“Thanks for the lift,” Miss Adeline said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.” She grinned. “Enjoy your ice cream.” She spoke the word as if it were naughty.

“Well, I’m sure we’ll wait until Beau and Lincoln come next week, won’t we—”

“I’m free now,” Lincoln blurted.

Oh crud. You have got to be kidding.

“Oh good,” Eric said, excitedly.

Miss Adeline laughed as I hugged her. “Behave.”

“Never,” she whispered back.

“I know you’re going over there to avoid me.” Beau spoke in her brother’s ear, but I was close enough to hear.

“Can I expect you home this evening?” He glossed over her assessment like he avoided uncomfortable topics on a routine basis.

“Can I expect you?” She mocked him in a deep voice that matched his and waved goodbye as she floated out of the rescue.

“Since Lincoln is coming over, we can have ice cream before dinner, right?” Eric linked his arm through mine while we moved to the elevator.

I rarely allowed ice cream before dinner. Sometimes ice cream was dinner, but it was important to me to keep some sort of healthy structure for Eric.

“Why not?”

That meant Lincoln would have one scoop of ice cream and go.

Eric fist-pumped. “Lincoln, you’re coming over for ice cream tomorrow too.”

Chapter Nine

Lincoln

Beau was right.

I was avoiding her interrogation by accepting the invitation for ice cream.

But she was wrong too.

Because I didn’t want to disappoint Eric. And this was an opportunity to make Lexie even more uncomfortable. Something I found I liked doing.

She circled the same block six times before she found a parking spot and maneuvered the van into it.

I’d lived in New York my entire life and had never been in this neighborhood. It was rundown, littered with trash and people hanging out on the street.

We passed an occasional BMW or Mercedes, but Lexie’s VW stuck out as the nicest vehicle in the area. A beacon to be stolen or vandalized.

Lexie and Eric didn’t seem to notice the less than optimal surroundings. I catalogued every building, wondering why I’d never looked at property here and what the potential was for revitalizing the area. Though a lot of times