is changing all at once. Us finding the Whispering Key treasure and finally having money for a change. Dad getting remarried and renovating the whole house so he can give Gloria the craft palace of her dreams. Fenn and Mason falling in love and moving in together, then tearing up their house. Which begs the question, what is it about love that makes some people wanna do home renovations?”
I laughed. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Yeah. Well. Me neither, apparently.” He smiled, but the smile looked forced, and I winced.
“Do you wanna talk about—?”
“Aimee leaving me?” He shook his head again as the Jeopardy! theme song began to play from the television over the bar. “Oooh, I’ll take ‘Not just no, but hell no’ for a thousand, Alex. Besides, that’s old news.”
“But I thought we were brothers,” I teased. “I thought we were supposed to tell each other everything.”
“Your everything,” Rafe clarified. “Not my everything. Older brother’s privilege.”
“Hmm. That sounds suspiciously like bullshit.”
“I don’t make the rules, Beale,” he said mock-seriously. “The Universe does, and I am merely a pawn at her mercy. Isn’t that what Mom used to say?”
“I’m sure that’s what you heard.” I rolled my eyes again, because I knew he was teasing… mostly. But beneath the bar, I ran my hand over the bracelet of protective stones I’d worn every day since my mom had given it to me four years ago. As always, feeling the cool lapis lazuli, moonstone, and sapphire beads under my fingers centered me.
Despite the fact that we’d all grown up side by side, I was the only one of Mary Goodman’s three sons to understand her view of the Universe—to understand how energy flowed around us and connected all living and nonliving things, to believe that energy could be seen, and felt, and changed, and predicted, to know we were all intended for a higher purpose.
I believed we had to visualize the future we wanted, and trust that the Universe would manifest it for us. My younger brother, Gage, meanwhile, tended to be pretty skeptical of anything he couldn’t logic his way around, and Rafe… well, Rafe thought if you didn’t Hulk-smash your way to happiness, you were cheating somehow.
“You’ll know the right paths when they’re revealed, honey,” Mom had said the day she put the bracelet on my wrist. “The Universe will guide you to the things that are meant for you. You’ll see the signs. Don’t settle for less.” I’d promised her I wouldn’t. And every time I looked down at the bracelet, I reminded myself of that promise.
“And speaking of thinking we’re pawns at the mercy of the Universe—”
“Were we speaking of that?” I shook my head. “’Cause I don’t recall—”
“—when do fall classes at the community college start?”
I blew out a breath. “I don’t know, and I haven’t decided whether I care or not.”
“Uh-huh.”
“It doesn’t feel right,” I insisted. “Not at this moment. Besides, I have plenty to do. I volunteer at the Nature Center and with Fish and Wildlife. I still do boat tours with Dad. I’m not unhappy! And look, I know you and Gage operate differently than I do. You determine the right thing logically, and then it feels right because you decided it’s right. But that’s not my way, okay? I wait to see if it feels right, and then I know it is, even if it’s not logical. And that’s the way I work, whether you’re talking about me going to college, or buying a house”—one of Rafe’s other favorite things to nag me about—“or dating a guy. I’m not gonna settle for something that’s not right, just because it makes you antsy.” I nodded once, with a confidence I didn’t feel, and caught sight of the question on the television. “The answer is Vienna, Alex!”
Predictably, Rafe turned to glance at the television to check my accuracy. “Nope, Salzburg.” He turned back to me and wiggled his eyebrows. “No matter how right Vienna might feel.”
I laughed. “You were the one pointing out that everything is changing. I don’t think there’s a damn thing wrong with waiting until the dust clears to make some big life choices.”
“Just don’t wait too long. Remember, there’s only so much you can control, Beale. I know the easiest way to prevent yourself from getting hurt is to not act… but then you’re not really living either.”
I shook my head sadly. “Man, the whole point is that I’m not controlling it. I’m open to the messages I’m getting from the Universe,