Brody’s family dream had evaporated like a puddle on a summer day.
Brody picked up the menu and scanned the offerings. “How’s work going?”
That drew more laughter from Riley. “Don’t think I’m falling for that. You’re changing the subject.”
“You got me.” Brody put up his hands. “I don’t want to talk about the hostess or my love life or why I didn’t get married. I want to visit with my little brother before he attaches the ball and chain to his ankle.”
“No need for that. I’m head over heels in love with my wife to be.” A goofy grin spread across Riley’s face. “We’re working out the final details for the wedding. Got the place—”
“The diner.” A busy, quaint place in the heart of Boston where the former playboy Riley had worked for a few weeks when their grandmother had cut him off from the family pocketbook and told him to get a job and grow up. Now, a couple of months later, Riley had turned into a different man. Stace had brought out the best in Brody’s little brother.
“Gran had a fit about us having the wedding at the Morning Glory, because she wanted us to get married at the Park Plaza, but Stace and I love that old diner, so it seemed only fitting we seal the deal there. Stace has her dress, though I am forbidden from seeing it until the wedding day. And you guys all have your suits—”
“Thank you again for not making me put on a tux.”
Riley grinned. “You know me, Brody. I’d rather wear a horsehair shirt than a tux. Finn’s the only formal one out of the three of us. He actually wanted a tux. Says I’m killing a tradition with the suit idea.” Riley waved a hand in dismissal. “I’m sure Ellie will talk some sense into him. That wife of his has been the best thing ever for ol’ stick in the mud Finn.”
Brody shook his head. “I can’t believe you’re talking about wedding plans. You’ve changed, little brother.”
“For the better, believe me. Meeting Stace made me change everything about myself, my life. And I’m glad it did.” The waitress came by their table to take their orders. Riley opted to try the new Autumn Lager, while Brody stuck to water.
Riley raised a hand when a few of their mutual friends came in. Then he turned back to Brody. “Want me to invite them over to join us?”
Brody thought of the small talk they’d exchange, idle chatter about women, work and sports. “I don’t feel much like company. Maybe another time.”
“You okay?”
“I’m fine.” Brody pushed his menu to the side of the table and avoided his brother’s gaze.
“Sure you are. Brody, you’re still struggling. You should talk about it.”
The waitress dropped off their drinks. Brody thanked her, then took a long sip of the icy water. Talking about it hadn’t done any good. He’d lost patients before, back when he was an intern, and in the last few years, seen a few patients die of heart disease and cancer, but this one had been different. Maybe because he’d lacked the tools so easy to obtain here.
Either way, Brody didn’t want to discuss the loss of Andrew. Of the three McKennas, Brody kept the most inside. Maybe it came from being the middle brother, sandwiched between practical Finn and boisterous Riley. Or maybe it stemmed from his job—the good doctor trying to keep emotion out of the equation and relying on logic to make decisions. Or maybe it stemmed from something deeper.
Admitting he had failed. Doctors were the ones people relied on to fix it, make it better, and Brody hadn’t done either.
“By the way,” Brody said, “if you guys don’t have a cake picked out yet for the wedding, there’s this bakery down the street from my office that does cupcake wedding cakes. They had a display in the window. I thought it looked kind of cool. I know you and Stace are doing the unconventional thing, so maybe this would be a good fit.”
“Changing the subject again?”
Brody grinned. “Doing my best.”
“Okay. I get the hint. No, we don’t have a cake decided on yet. We planned this whole thing pretty fast, because all I want to do is wake up next to Stace every day of my life.” Riley grinned, then narrowed his eyes. “Hey, since when do you bring dessert to a get-together? Or heck, offer anything other than a reminder to get my flu shot?”
Brody scowled. “I thought it’d be nice for you and Stace.”
Riley leaned forward, studying his older brother’s face. “Wait…did you say bakery? Is it the one owned by that guy’s sister?”
“Yeah.” Brody shrugged, concentrated on drinking his water. “It is. But that’s not—”
“Oh.” Riley paused a second. “Okay. I get it. Good idea.”
“I’m just offering to help defray the costs of your wedding.”
“Whatever spin you want to put on it is fine with me.” Riley chuckled. “Stace talked about baking the cake herself, but she’s so busy with the diner, and then planning this thing. Let me talk to Stace and see if that works for her. I’ll do that right now, in fact.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I don’t mind, Brody. Not one bit.” Riley’s face filled with sympathy. Riley knew very little about Brody’s time in Afghanistan. A few facts, but no real details, and only because Riley had brought over a six-pack of beer to welcome Brody home, and by the third one, Brody had started talking. He’d told Riley one of the military guys who had died had been local, that he’d struck up a friendship with the man before he died. But that was all. Brody had hoped broaching the subject would be cathartic. Instead, in the morning he had a hangover and ten times more regrets.
Riley flipped out his cell phone and dialed. “How’s the prettiest bride in Boston today?”
Brody heard Stace laugh on the other end. He turned away, watched the hum of activity in the restaurant. Waitstaff bustling back and forth, the bartender joking with a few regulars, the tables filling and emptying like tidal pools.
“Stace loves the idea,” Riley said, closing the phone and tucking it back into his pocket. “She said to tell you our colors are—”
“Your colors?” Brody chuckled. “You have a color scheme there, Riley?”
A flush filled his younger brother’s cheeks. “Hey, if it makes Stace happy, it makes me happy. Anyway, go for bright pink and purple. Morning glories, you know?”
Brody nodded. His brother had told him about the meaning behind the diner Stace owned. The one started years before by her father, and decorated with the flowers that he had said reminded him of his daughter. A sentimental gift to a daughter he’d loved very much. “That’ll be nice.”
“Yeah,” Riley said, as a quiet smile stole across his face, “it will.”
How Brody envied his brother that smile. The peace in his features. The happiness he wore like a comfortable shirt.
It was the same thing Brody had been searching for, and not finding. He’d thought maybe
