idea what you’re talking about, so will you tell me, or are you just going to stand around making ‘poor you’ faces all day? Because if it’s the latter, I’ve got better things to do.”
I whistled to Roxie and started back the way we’d come. Deacon stared after me for a second and then, inevitably, caught up. He didn’t say anything for a while. Actually, for Deacon, it was more like an eternity.
In other words, for a whole block.
Then he pushed. Because that’s what brothers do. Or, at least, it was what he did.
Asshole.
“I knew Julian was on the committee to save the park,” Deacon said slowly. “Em and I—well, we weren’t sure if you knew, and it seemed better not to get involved. But maybe we should have said something. I’m sorry.”
So that was what their look had been about, that first night at dinner.
In case you were wondering, it is possible to feel vindicated and belittled at the same time, and it’s not an experience I’d recommend. I wanted to snap at Deacon, but I wanted to continue the conversation even less. I settled for a glare.
“I’d forgotten he taught at Adair Elementary until just now,” he said, taking my silence as an invitation to keep talking. “For future reference, he doesn’t usually work door duty on Monday. But you really didn’t have to come on this walk, if you’re trying to avoid him. Lily wouldn’t have minded.”
I decided not to dignify that with a response either.
“Come on, Connor, work with me here. At least yell at me and tell me to mind my own business. It’ll make you feel better. And then you’ll get to spend your day annoyed at me, which you’ll probably enjoy.”
“I know you’d like to believe that everything in the universe revolves around you,” I snapped, annoyance winning out over my desire to stay silent, “but contrary to popular opinion, I do actually have other things going on in my life.”
“There we go, that’s the spirit.”
“God, in your own way, you’re as pushy as Eleanor. Is it genetic? Does meddling places you don’t belong just run in our family?”
“Eleanor? Have you been talking to her, too?”
“Or maybe it’s just that she’s rubbing off on you, now that you’ve decided to forgive everything she’s done.” I hadn’t intended to get sidetracked into talking about Eleanor, but it did have the bonus of getting us off the topic of Julian. “And don’t bother trying to hide it. I know you’re talking to her again.”
Deacon didn’t respond immediately, and when he did, he sounded thoughtful, which annoyed me even more.
“I wasn’t planning on trying to hide it. And I’m also not going to say I don’t feel conflicted about it, because I do. I don’t really know what to make of it.” He pursed his lips. “She made her beliefs clear for years, and suddenly she’s acting like she’s had a change of heart, and I’d be lying if I said I weren’t suspicious.”
I searched for something objectionable in that response, but couldn’t find anything.
“Oh.”
“At first, I thought it was just because she wanted to get to know Lily. But she’s called a couple times, just to talk to me, she says. She’s even suggested getting lunch with me and Mal, just the three of us.” He shook his head. “It’s weird.”
That was weird. Deeply. The fact that it lined up with what Eleanor had said when I was at her house didn’t make it any less weird.
“Anyway,” Deacon continued. “That’s where things stand with us.”
I flexed my fingers, accepting that I probably wasn’t going to punch my brother. I didn’t even particularly want to anymore. Fucking Deacon—he could even ruin being self-righteously annoyed.
“I went to see her the other day,” I said. “About work stuff.”
“Wow.”
“Wow? I haven’t even told you anything yet.”
“You’ve told me you went to see her. That’s more than I expected already.”
He might have had a point.
“So.” Deacon gave me a sidelong look. “How’d it go?”
“About as well as you’d expect.”
“What I’d expect is a bare-knuckle boxing match.”
“More or less. I asked her what the hell she thought she was doing, acting like she suddenly cares about the island and the beach and really, anyone other than herself, and she acted like I was the one being offensive.”
“I can’t imagine why.”
We paused as Roxie gave a thorough investigation to a rosebush spilling enthusiastically from someone’s yard onto the sidewalk. It wasn’t till she started trying to eat the flowers that I pulled