The Better Brother

by Rye Hart

  “I don’t want to slow down,” Jim said. “I want you to fix your mistake.”

  “What mistake is that?” I asked patiently.

  I leaned back and intertwined my fingers over my chest. This was the position I always took in important meetings. It allowed me to appear relaxed and calm, while still remaining strong and confident.

  “You don’t even know?” Trey demanded. “What the hell is going on around here, Michael?”

  “We’ve been sending complaints to your office for over a week,” Turner said. He was calmer than either his father or his brother and, still, his anger was evident.

  “I’ve received a few emails,” I said with a nod. “And I responded.”

  “Not good enough,” Jim said. “We asked for a whole new set of tools four days ago, and still, we’ve gotten nothing.”

  “You know it doesn’t work that way,” I said. “I have to send a technician out to examine the tools before they can be replaced.”

  “We don’t have time for that!” Jim spat. “We’ve already spent a week waiting around for you to get off your ass!”

  I nodded and let Jim lay into me. He screamed and yelled, jumped to his feet and paced around the room. The whole time, his sons continued to glare in my direction. I did my best to listen to every word he said, but I let most of it slide past my ears. I just couldn’t bring myself to care about his complaints. Not now. Not with everything else I had going on.

  “Are you even listening to me?” Jim screamed. He’d finally stopped pacing, but I didn’t know when. He was standing at the opposite end of the conference table, glaring at me.

  “Of course, I’m listening,” I said. I sat up straighter. “But screaming isn’t going to resolve the problem, Jim.”

  “Well, you can’t be trusted to resolve it!” Jim said. “That much is clear.”

  “Just let me send my technician out,” I said calmly. “He can assess the situation and then we can decide what to do from there.”

  Jim’s eyes flashed. I’d never seen him so enraged. Both Trey and Turner shook their heads in disgust and turned away from me. It was too late, but I suddenly realized I’d missed something important.

  “I just told you,” Jim said. His voice was low. “I already had a technician assess the fucking tools, Michael. They are all shot. Not a single one works. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I got on a goddamn plane this morning!”

  I didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t realize—”

  “I just fucking told you!” Jim screamed.

  I flinched, and that was it. The rest of the meeting was shot to hell. Jim raged at me while I tried desperately to rectify the situation. I begged, pleading with Jim to give me one last chance to make things right.

  It was no use. Jim Richardson was done. It was bad enough that he flew all the way to Texas to have this conversation, but when I basically ignored him in my own conference room, his anger became too much to overcome.

  “I’m done,” Jim said. He shook his head and turned toward the door.

  “Wait,” I said. I jumped to my feet and hurried to block his exit. “Just give me five more minutes, okay? I’m sorry about my behavior today. I truly am. But I can fix this.”

  “How?” Jim demanded.

  “I’ll get your tools today,” I said firmly. “If I have to drive them to Alaska myself, I’ll get you the tools today.”

  Jim was already shaking his head before I’d even finished speaking. He just shoved past me and slammed open the door.

  “We won’t be working with you any longer,” Turner said simply. “I expect that our contract will be terminated without any additional charges.”

  “And if not,” Trey added. “You’ll be hearing from our lawyers.”

  “Trey,” I said. Desperation dripped from my lips. “Turner. Just hear me out, guys. Come on.”

  “We have Christmas plans,” Turner said. “We don’t have time to waste on you, Michael.”

  They followed their father out of the conference room, letting the door slam shut behind them. When it did, I sank into the first chair I could reach and put my head in my hands. What was happening to my life? How had things gotten so bad so fast?

  I didn’t know how long I sat in the conference room. My head was pounding from lack of sleep and stress. Not only was my personal life in a shambles but, now, my business was falling apart, too. It was as if the entire universe had begun to plot against me overnight.

  “Mr. Smart?” Marcy asked nervously. She poked her head into the conference room just as I looked up.

  “Yes?” I asked weakly.

  “I don’t know if you want to talk to anyone right now,” she said slowly. “But your mother is on line one for you.”

  I nodded. “Thank you, Marcy.”

  Marcy hurried out of the room while I slowly pushed myself to my feet. There was a phone on the opposite end of the table. I made my way over to it, wondering how my mother knew I’d be at the office.

  “Hello?” I said as I put the phone to my ear.

  “Michael!” My mom’s voice was bright. I closed my eyes and tried to keep my annoyance in check.

  “Hi, Mom,” I said. “How’d you know I was here?”

  “I didn’t,” Mom said. “But I called your house and your cell first.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Sorry about that. I’ve been in a meeting all morning.”

  “On a Saturday?” Mom asked. I could hear the worry in her voice.

  “Everything’s fine,” I said. “Just some last-minute issues with a tool package I have up in Alaska.”

  “Oh, okay,” Mom said. She didn’t really understand my work. Mostly because she never tried to. “Well, I’m sure you’ll get it all worked out.”

  “I’m sure I will,” I said. “So, what’s up?”

  I wanted to get off the phone quickly. My day was already miserable, and I wanted nothing more than to go back home and hide under my covers for the rest of the weekend.

  “I’m calling about Christmas,” Mom said. “Are you still planning to be here?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Of course.”

  “Okay good!” Mom squealed. “I’m so excited. Your father is, too. He’s been planning the menu for two weeks now.”

  “You don’t need to go to any trouble,” I said. “It’s just us, right?”

  “Well, the neighbors may stop by,” Mom said. “But that’s another thing I wanted to ask you. Are you bringing your new girlfriend along?”

  I froze. I couldn’t remember telling my mom about Julie, but I knew I must have. My mom waited silently for my answer.

  “No,” I said. “Julie and I aren’t seeing each other anymore.”

  “Oh no,” Mom said. “What happened?”

  Telling my mom about Julie’s connection to Josh would only make things more complicated. My mom, who adopted me when I was just a baby, was already nervous about my relationship with my brother. When Josh first tracked me down, Mom spent weeks trying to talk me out of meeting him. She was terrified that my biological family would somehow steal me away from her.

  “It’s not worth talking about,” I said. My voice was weak. It took all my strength to keep talking. “We just didn’t work out. That’s all.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Mom said. “I could tell you really liked her.”

  “You could?” I asked.

  “Well,” Mom said. “You haven’t mentioned a girl to me since that horrible ex of yours. I knew this one must be special if you were telling me about her.”

  “Yeah.” I sighed. “She is pretty special.”

  “Then—” Mom began, but I stopped her quickly.

  “I have to get going,” I said. “Work is just nonstop right now, Mom.”

  “Okay,” Mom said. “I understand.”

  “I’ll see you for Christmas,” I said. “Love you.”

  “I love you too, honey.”

  I could tell my mom didn’t want to get off the phone. She was constantly worri
ed about me. She thought I worked too much and too hard. She insisted that I didn’t have enough of a life. It probably made her so happy to find out I was seeing someone. And now, I’d disappointed her yet again.

  With a groan, I left the conference room. Marcy was still sitting at her desk. She looked at me nervously when I approached.

  “Cancel the Richardson contract,” I said simply. “Send them the confirmation and then go home.”

  “Go home?” Marcy asked.

  “It’s the holidays, Marcy,” I said. “You deserve a break.”

  “Thank you,” Marcy said. “But, I don’t mind.”

  “I insist.”

  Marcy smiled and nodded. She immediately went to work on the Richardson paperwork. I left the office without another word.

  My drive back home was slow and exhausting. In just a few days, my entire world had crumbled around me. Julie hated me. Josh wasn’t speaking to me. And my company was teetering on the brink of ruin. I felt like there was nothing I could do to make things right.

  I got home and went straight to bed, tucking myself under the covers and blocking out the world. I slept most of the day, happy to have an excuse to turn off my brain. Still, when I woke up that night, Julie’s face was the first thing I thought of. No matter what I did, I couldn’t stop missing her.

  CHAPTER 25

  Julie

  Saturday morning came too early. Andrea was passed out on my couch, but I hadn’t yet made it off the living room floor. My head ached from all the wine we drank and, yet, the hangover still didn’t hurt as badly as the memory of what happened with Michael. I could still see him leaving the night before, disappearing out my front door without a backward glance.

  Andrea tried to convince me to call him. By the time we opened the second bottle of wine, she was convinced that my love for Michael was real. She pushed me to forgive him, saying that it would only make me happier if I did. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to make the phone call. As much as I still cared about him, I wasn’t ready to face him yet. I didn’t know if I would ever be ready.

  “Good morning,” Andrea mumbled when she saw that I was awake. “I need water.”

  “On it.” I slowly got to my feet and grabbed two water bottles out of my fridge. I tossed one to Andrea. She groaned as she opened it and took a long sip.

  “I hate hangovers,” Andrea said.

  “This isn’t so bad,” I said with a shrug. “I’ve had worse.”

  My mind returned to thoughts of Michael. I remembered waking up beside him after his company Christmas party. My head was resting on his chest and, even though it was pounding from the alcohol, I had never felt more comfortable. Just being with Michael used to be enough, but now, I wasn’t sure.

  “How are you feeling about everything?” Andrea asked. She sat up slowly with another groan.

  I shrugged. “I’m fine, I guess.”

  “Have you thought any more about calling him?” she asked.

  I shook my head and turned away. Today was going to be a long day. My parents were expecting me at their place by lunch.

  “Just think about it,” Andrea said. “I won’t push you anymore.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled, but it didn’t quite reach my eyes.

  “Are you heading home soon?” Andrea asked.

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “My parents want me there for lunch. You?”

  “I’ll see mine on Christmas morning,” Andrea said. “But I have to get back to Dallas for work. My shift starts in like two hours.”

  “Damn.” I laughed. “Have fun with that.”

  “Yeah, fuck you.” Andrea groaned again, but it quickly turned into a laugh.

  It took us a while to get moving, but soon, we were both heading out the door. Andrea walked to her car with a giant cup of coffee in her hand. I waved goodbye and climbed into my car, happy to be alone for the short drive back to my parents’ house.

  As much as Andrea helped the night before, I needed time to myself. It was hard to wrap my head around everything that had happened between me, Michael, and Joshua. Accepting that they were brothers was hard enough, but finding out that Michael had been lying all this time felt impossible. Even after two days, I still couldn’t make sense of it.

  Luckily, I didn’t have long to dwell. When I pulled into my parents’ driveway, my sister ran outside to greet me. Layla was on her hip, bouncing around happily and waving her arms at me.

  “Hey,” I said as I hurried over to them.

  Bethany pulled me in for a tight hug while Layla played with my hair. I kissed my niece on the cheek before turning my attention to Bethany. She was watching me closely, a slight frown on her face.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked immediately.

  “Don’t.” I shot her a warning look as our mom and dad stepped outside. “Not now.”

  Bethany nodded and stood aside while I said hello to our parents. They both hugged me and quickly ushered me inside. My dad took my suitcase upstairs to my old bedroom. I’d be staying for a couple of days, although I wasn’t sure that was the best idea.

  Despite how excited I was to spend Christmas with my little niece, I didn’t know how well I’d be able to hold myself together. Michael stayed in the back of my mind throughout the entire day.

  We ate lunch together as a family, laughing and catching up on life. Bryan wasn’t there yet, though he would be arriving later that night. He and Bethany agreed to spend Christmas with our parents this year because his parents lived out of town. Everything was nice. Normal. Calm. I tried to feel comfortable, but I couldn’t stop my emotions from creeping up on me.

  While my mom cleared all the dishes, I just sat at the table and stared down at my hands. Bethany was watching me from the living room. She had Layla on her chest, rocking her slowly to sleep, but her eyes never left my face. I could feel her gaze the entire time.

  Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I pushed away from the table, mumbled some excuse about being tired, and ran upstairs. I felt like a teenager again as I pulled my door closed behind me and fell onto my old bed. My head hit the pillow, and immediately, fresh tears sprung into my eyes.

  I was getting impatient with myself. All this crying was pathetic. Not only was Michael not worth it, but I refused to be the kind of girl who fell apart every time a relationship didn’t work out.

  Angrily, I shoved myself up off the bed and began to pace around the room. My head was spinning with thoughts of Michael, and my heart ached from missing him so much. But I refused to let the tears fall. I walked circles around my childhood bedroom until I was certain I could keep my emotions at bay.

  Just when I thought I was ready to head back downstairs, the door slowly crept open and Bethany stepped inside. She smiled at me knowingly and sat down on the edge of my bed.

  “Talk to me,” she said simply.

  I sighed and sat down beside her. She waited patiently until I was ready to unload everything. When I first saw my sister outside, I didn’t want to tell her anything. I just wanted to keep the whole situation a secret. I wanted to bottle everything up and pretend like it didn’t exist until after Christmas. But now that we were alone, I couldn’t stop myself from spewing the entire story.

  “Michael is Joshua’s brother,” I said bluntly.

  Much like Andrea, Bethany assumed I was kidding. She was shocked. As I told her the rest of the story, she just shook her head from side to side in disbelief. It wasn’t until I was completely done talking that she finally found her voice.

  “Well, damn,” Bethany said. “No wonder you look like hell.”

  “Thanks,” I snapped.

  “Hey,” Bethany said. “Don’t expect me to start lying to you now.”

  “I know.” I groaned. “I feel like shit, Beth. I barely slept last night.”

  “I can imagine,” Bethany said.

  “Michael showed up at my place last night,” I said softly. “He just showed up with what I assume was my Christmas gift. He didn’t even know som
ething was wrong until I told him about dinner with Joshua.”

  “How did that end?” Bethany asked.

  “With us both yelling,” I said. “Then, I kicked him out and spent the rest of the night drinking with Andrea.”

  “Sounds healthy,” Bethany said with a laugh.

  I laughed with her, feeling relief flood my body. I hadn’t laughed much lately. It felt amazing to let myself feel something other than confusion and pain.

  “I’m sorry,” Bethany said. “You don’t deserve this. Any of it.”

  “I just thought we had something real,” I said softly. “Michael and me, I mean. We connected so quickly, you know? It almost felt like…”

  “Fate?” Bethany finished for me.

  “As pathetic as that sounds,” I said. “Yes, it felt like fate.”

  Bethany shrugged. “Well, maybe it was.”

  “How?” I asked. “How could it be? After what he did?”

  “He lied,” Bethany said with a nod. “But is that really the worst thing you can imagine?”

  “It’s not the best,” I said darkly.

  “Of course not,” Bethany said. “I’m just saying, Michael isn’t the devil, Julie. He lied because he didn’t know what else to do. He obviously cares about you.”

  “I just feel like our entire relationship was built on a lie,” I said. “Like none of it was real.”

  “Do you really believe that?” Bethany asked.

  I hesitated. My immediate answer was ready and waiting on my lips, but it didn’t feel true. When I thought about all the time I’d spent with Michael, a warm feeling spread throughout my entire body. I could remember the way I felt the first time I saw him, how his dark blue eyes had drawn me in instantly. Our first kiss came flooding back to me, and my stomach clenched with desire at the mere memory.

  More still, when I remembered the way Michael looked at me as we stood in front of that huge Christmas tree in the middle of the town square, I knew his feelings were real.

  “I don’t know anymore,” I said, defeated.

  “Just think about it,” Bethany said gently. “You want to be with him, Jules. It’s written all over your face.”

  “Of course, I do,” I admitted. “But what does that matter now? It’s not like we can just snap our fingers and fix everything. It doesn’t work that way.”