Page 4 of Seeing You

“Sweetbriar Ridge town limits.”

Marcus Calloway muttered the words as he drove past the sign. He had avoided being back here for far too long—basically until he ran out of excuses.

Hell, he almost ran out of time.

But somehow…that really didn’t bother him.

“Because clearly I’m a callous bastard.” That was the general consensus about him from friends, coworkers, acquaintances, and family. It wasn’t something he was overly proud of, but it also wasn’t something he was going to change. Life had made him this way, and it was just who he was now.

Driving through the center of town, he was mildly surprised by all the changes. There were new shops and restaurants, and everything just looked brighter than it was when he was growingup. Slowing down, he spotted a nail salon, a craft store, a wine bar, and some sort of bougie little bath shop, and…

“Books & Beans? What the hell is that—a bookstore or coffee shop?” He nearly came to a stop in front of it and could see bookshelves through the front glass window, but then he spotted people walking out with covered disposable coffee cups. “Guess it’s both.” A little farther down the block, he spotted a thrift shop and almost cringed. Why people were obsessed with buying old things, he’d never know.

Turning the corner, things looked a little more familiar. It looked like the pizza place was still there, as well as the auto mechanic shop, Sweetbriar Auto Care. His father had mentioned the shop had gotten a new owner several years ago, but Marcus had no idea who it was—not that it mattered since he was driving a brand new Mercedes. Plus, he wasn’t planning on staying in town long.

“Get in. Assess. Get out.” That was how he was looking at this trip. His father’s health was declining, and it became apparent that Marcus and his younger brother needed to be here to help make some decisions.

It had been a dozen years since he’d spent any real time with his father, and that had been at his mother’s funeral. After leaving the cemetery, Marcus had packed up the few belongings he still had in his childhood home and vowed to never come back.

He had issues; he knew that. But when his brother called and told him how dire things were, there was a part of him that knew he had to see the old bastard’s face one last time. There weren’t going to be any apologies or reconnections. No, he was simply coming to help ease some of his brother’s burden. After all, it wasn’t Max’s fault that Marcus and his father hated each other.

Well…the hate was primarily on Marcus’s part, but it still wasn’t fair to his brother to bear the brunt of it.

“So maybe I’m not always a callous bastard.”

That was still up for debate, he was sure.

When he turned onto the block he’d grown up on, a wave of nostalgia hit him. How many times had he played basketball down at Danny Flanagan’s house? Or street hockey with pretty much every kid on the block? He remembered snowball fights, bicycle races, and kissing his first girl under the massive oak tree in Quinn Coppell’s backyard.

There were a lot of good memories of his life in Sweetbriar Ridge, but none of them were going to sway him to stay any longer than he absolutely needed.

Pulling up to his father’s house, Marcus let out a long sigh. It was in total disarray. The paint was peeling, the shrubs were overgrown, there was rotting wood on the trim, and the roof definitely needed to be replaced. Muttering a curse, he climbed from the car. If they were going to sell the place, they were going to have to hire a crew to come in and fix all of those things.

“And I’m not paying for it.”

Up on the porch, his brother stepped out of the shadows before meeting him in the driveway. They shared a brief hug and handshake before Max pulled back and grinned at him. “I really didn’t think you’d show up.”

“Yeah, well…you are the only person I’d do this for. I don’t mind being the bad guy with Dad, but after our conversation last week, I knew you didn’t want to do this alone. So…I’m here.”

His brother studied him hard for a moment. “Are you here to help me, or are you here so you can drop Dad off at the nursing home yourself? Because I have a feeling you’d take great joy in leaving him there.”

With a careless shrug, Marcus agreed. “You’re not wrong.” Sliding his hands into his trouser pockets, he looked over at the house. “Mom would hate this. It’s a damn disgrace that he let it get like this.”

“The last few years have been rough on him. Between the heart attack, the bypass, and the accident, he can’t really do anything around here for himself.”

“Boo-freaking-hoo. He could hire someone! It’s a damn embarrassment! The neighbors must cringe every time they drive by!”

Max looked completely unfazed. “Dad pays one of the local kids to mow the lawn, so there’s that. He’s just not interested in the rest. I taught him how to order his groceries online and I pay for a cleaning company to come in twice a month.” Pausing, he mimicked Marcus’s pose. “Look, I’m not trying to be a dick, but…I’ve been helping with a lot of stuff financially. I’m not trying to diminish your feelings or tell you you’re wrong, but I could really use a hand.”

“Helping you would be helping him,” he murmured. “And I don’t want to help him. Just like he didn’t want to help Mom.”

“Oh my God…not this again! You know that’s not true! That’s not what happened and you need to freaking realize that! He was respecting her wishes and…”

Everything in him tensed. “He let her die, Max!” he yelled. “She didn’t get the care she needed—the care that would have helped her! Instead, he kept her here in this house and just waited for her to die! What kind of monster does that?” Turning, he walked back to his car, raking a hand through his hair in frustration. “I can’t do this. I…this was a mistake.”

He had one hand on the door handle when Max grabbed him from behind and spun him around. “No! You arenotrunning away! Not again!” He gave Marcus a hard shake. “You donotget to keep walking away!”

Everything inside of him wanted to rage and put his brother on blast. Trembling with frustration, he couldn’t keep having this conversation. For one thing, Max had no idea what he was talking about. He’d always been sympathetic toward their father,but Marcus knew better. Not only that, but he also wasn’t going to stand here and be bullied.

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