Page 19 of The Hometown Legend

It just wasn’t her thing.

When she walked into the diner, she saw Lydia sitting there. She smiled and gave her a wave.

Rory crossed the space and sat down at the table. “It’s good to see you. We’ve been so busy since the store opened.”

“And you’ve been busy shoring up your plans to abandon me.”

“I’m not abandoning you, Lydia.” Her stomach twisted with guilt. “Or at least I’m not trying to. I’m just trying to...”

Lydia reached out and patted her arm. “You’re allowed to go have a life. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to make you feel guilty.”

“It’s okay if you do. It’s fair.”

“It isn’t.” Lydia frowned and her friend’s sadness cut her deep.

“You could come with me. I could use a roommate.”

“You don’t need a roommate. Anyway, I can’t leave now that my brother is back. That would be a terrible welcome-home gift.”

“Right.” She cleared her throat. “I saw him this morning.”

Lydia’s eyes narrowed. “He’s here?”

“Yeah, he’s... He’s staying at Sullivan’s Point.”

Lydia looked miffed. “He didn’t... He didn’t tell me that. He didn’t tell me or Mom that.”

Well, now she’d gone and upset Lydia even more, and she hadn’t meant to do that.

“I’m sorry. I assumed that you knew.”

“I didn’t. But communication with Gideon has been... It’s been a challenge the last couple of years.”

“Oh.” She felt a strange, hollowed-out feeling. She wouldn’t have understood what Lydia might mean if she hadn’t seen him today. If she hadn’t tried to talk to him.

If she hadn’t come away from it not certain if he even knew her or not.

Lydia sighed and rubbed her forehead. “It’s embarrassing to admit this, Rory. But... I haven’t talked about it because I didn’t know how to admit that my big brother isn’t himself anymore.”

She saw the pain on Lydia’s face and she felt soguilty. Why hadn’t she dug deeper into how he was doing? Why hadn’t she realized her friend was upset about this? That she was hurting?

“When he got out of the hospital we thought the worst of it was over. He was healing. But it wasn’t that simple. Things I attributed to being cooped up in the hospital—his temperament changes—they didn’t go away.”

“Temperament changes?” She thought of how he’d been today. Terse. Unsmiling.

“I guess. He’s different. He stopped reaching out. He doesn’t talk to us unless we make contact, and he makes it hard for us to get a hold of him. He didn’t even tell us when he and Cassidy split up.Shetold us. And after that...sometimes we didn’t know where he was for weeks. I... I couldn’t admit that to anyone, Rory. That my perfect brother wasn’t perfect.”

“Lydia...”

“I know. I’m a terrible person. But it’s not about embarrassment. It’s about the way everyone here sees him. He’s a legend here, you know that. It would be like telling them he...like telling them he was dead.”

“No, I don’t judge you. I’m just sorry I didn’t know.”

Lydia shook her head. “Don’t blame yourself. I didn’t want to think about it unless I had to. I avoided it unless I had to. We just...kept it between us, me and Mom. We did not expect him to move back. But we’re glad. It’s been a lot of...worry. But I just keep hoping that since he’s coming back, he’s ready to be himself again. Though his hiding that he’s already here is a little...eh.”

She thought of him, in the woods when time had stood still for a moment, and at his house. He definitely wasn’t what she’d expected. She would have had a hard time imagining the Gideon she knew not contacting his mom and sister.

But the man she’d seen in the woods had been dangerous. The man she’d seen at the house had been altogether feral.

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