Page 68 of Rolling Thunder

“Be right over,” Evan replied.

Evan hopped on his bike and took the leisurely cruise down Highway 41 and over the blue Caloosahatchee River on the swooping Edison Bridge to the Barnyard in downtown Fort Myers’s River District. He looked forward to a relaxed lunch with his brother. Just a nice, drama-free meal in a beautiful setting.

He cruised casually through the parking lot, letting the engine idle as he swung the bike into an out-of-the-way spot on the front sidewalk, killed the engine and eased the bike over on its kickstand in one fluid motion. Standing up to remove his leather shorty helmet, he scanned the waiting area for Jake. He took off his shades to make sure he was seeing correctly.

He swung off the bike, took a few steps toward the entrance, and stopped, dumbfounded, about ten feet from the benches outside the door.

Evan clenched his teeth, bulging the muscles in his temples. He’d been tricked, and now he’d stumbled into the most unwanted surprise reunion he could imagine.

Sitting there across from Jake were the last two people he might have expected: Bev and Hank Flint—his parents.

Shocked and confused, Evan wrinkled his brow. He shot a probing gaze squarely at Jake, demanding an explanation.

Jake’s face bore an expression Evan couldn’t immediately identify. It was a mix of guilt, hope, shame, and, oddly, compassion, all rolled into one… A look that conveyed there were things Evan didn’t know, and that Jake was trying to right the wrongs of the past.

There they all were: Jake, accompanied by Bev and Hank, in the awning-shaded waiting area at the front of the restaurant among the potted mini-palms and bird-of-paradise plants.

Bev sat on a bench, wearing her airy white summer dress with the little rose-pattern that she so loved. She stood up immediately when she saw Evan. She stepped forward—at first hastily, but then stopping as if to catch herself. She looked like she wanted to rush in and hug him.

He held open his arms to her. He wasn’t a man who could steel his heart to his own mother. At this signal, she ran forward and threw her arms around him in a powerful embrace.

Hank Flint, ever the epitome of the small-town Southern man, stood up, looked Evan in the eye for the first time in years, and reached out a hand to shake.

“It’s good to see you, son,” he said stoically.

Those simple words hung in the air, filling Evan’s heart and knocking down years of resentments, harsh words, disappointments, and shame in an instant like an earthquake. Evan gripped his father’s weathered hand and shook it firmly.

Returning his direct gaze, he said, “It’s good to see you too, Dad.”

Gathering himself from his unexpected emotions, Evan visibly relaxed.

“What are you doing in Fort Myers?” Evan asked. It was a three-hour drive from their home in Myakka City.

“Jake told us he was here with you. It seemed like a chance…” Hank trailed off, seeming at a loss for words.

“Would you have lunch with us, Evan?” Bev interjected.

His mom was a follower. Even now. When his dad had scornfully washed his hands of him after the drug arrest, his mom had been too easily convinced to follow suit.

Now his dad was taking the lead, apparently holding out an olive branch.

The hostess appeared and said their table was ready. All eyes turned to Evan.

He hesitated. After all these years of total isolation, betrayal, and abandonment, did he really want to rip the scab off that old wound?

“All right,” Evan finally said. If they wanted to make things right, he’d let them.

Jake glanced back at Evan as they followed their parents out to their riverside tiki table. There again was that mysterious look in Jake’s eyes. Obviously, Jake had orchestrated this, but why? And why now?

At first, the anger simmered in Evan. They only came to see him now because Jake had asked them to. They hadn’t come when he’d been released from prison. That had been Dan.

As they all took their seats, Evan looked at his mother’s aging face and asked himself how much it really mattered. They were here now. He thought of Canyon Bill’s complicated relationship with Kayla and how he’d come back after all these years to try to make things right, come what may. Was Evan really willing to die on this hill?

“Jake says you’ve got a girl in your life,” Bev said, and he could hear the tentativeness in her lilting voice. She was just trying to break the ice. If they never apologized, could he just move on?

“Yeah. Kayla. She runs a horse farm down the road from my place.”

He saw the glint in his mother’s eyes. “I’d love to meet her,” she said.

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