Page 60 of Promise of a New Beginning
JACK LEANED AGAINST the side of Siena’s building with his cell phone pressed to his ear, talking to Savannah. Music from the café where she and Aida were having dinner played in the background.
“I just wanted to hear your voice before I went upstairs. I’m a little more nervous than I expected to be,” Jack admitted, though he downplayed just how nervous he was. Savannah didn’t need to know that he’d spent the hour driving into the city contemplating every word he’d say that evening.
“I would be, too. But you’ll be fine, Jack. They’re your family. Just remember that. They might be hurt and angry and tell you exactly how they feel—at least my brothers would—but you can handle that. Besides, it’s not like you haven’t seen them in two years. You just haven’t seen themoften.”
“Thanks, Savannah. Are you having a good time with Aida?” He looked up just as his brothers Dex and Sage walked past the connecting street.Man, they look great.They didn’t see him, and he wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed. There was a time when walking into a room full of Remingtons meant slaps on the back and jokes about how things were hanging. Now he didn’t know what to expect, but a jovial atmosphere was so far off the radar screen that he almost laughed. Lost in thought, he missed half of Savannah’s answer.
“…I hope Aida means it. I’d like to see her date someone for more than a night or two.”
He assumed he’d missed something about Aida’s last date, so he answered in a way that he thought might be appropriate. “I’m sure she’ll come around. Are you free later?” He hated giving up his evening with Savannah, but in a way the steps he was taking were for both of them and their future.Our future.If anyone had told him a year ago that he’d be in a relationship now, he’d have denied it until the cows came home. If they would have asked him six months ago, or even two months ago, he’d have done the same. Although in the weeks before meeting Savannah, he had begun to think about making his way back to the family he loved. Maybe fate did have a hand in their lives after all.
“Yes. Please come by,” she said. “Do you have your bag, or do you need to go back home first?”
He smiled, knowing he’d been presumptuous when he’d packed his leather backpack before leaving home. “What do you think?”
“That’s what I’d hoped.”
JACK HEARD SIENA’S excited squeal from behind the closed door. The door swung open, and he didn’t have time to say hello before she had her arms wrapped around his neck. Siena was Savannah’s height and pencil thin, but when she plowed into him unexpectedly and lifted her feet off the ground, Jack had to take a step backward to keep from tumbling over.
“You’re here! You’re really, really here. I’ve missed you so much.”
Jack embraced her with a laugh. He’d forgotten how enthusiastic she was. “Hi, honey. I’ve missed you, too.”
She dropped back down to her feet and flipped her long dark hair out of her face with a quick snap of her chin. “Jack, you look great. Come on in.” She took his hand and led him into her expansive loft. The track lighting on the high ceilings reflected off of the pristine light wood floors. Siena had never liked curtains, and Jack could see that nothing had changed. The four enormous windows set in the brick walls on either side of the loft were bare. Jack scanned the room for his brothers and spotted them behind the bar that separated the kitchen from the rest of the living room. He swallowed the pang of worry that would normally cause him to dip into his anger reserves and hide behind them. He wasn’t going there again.And certainly not now.He rubbed a knot that had formed at the base of his neck and followed Siena to the kitchen.
“Look who’s here.” She flashed her bright white smile over her shoulder at Jack and waved her hands like she was presenting a gift.
Dex and Kurt came out of the kitchen with bottles of beer in their hands and wide smiles. Sage followed with a brooding stare and a bottle of beer in each hand.
“Dude.” Dex embraced Jack. Even as a toddler he’d had a deep voice, and it had only gotten deeper. At six two, he was just a few inches shorter than Jack. His muscles strained beneath his tight gamer T-shirt. He and Siena were fraternal twins, and while Siena’s hair was shiny and straight, Dex’s was coarse and wavy and a shade or two darker. He wore it long, just touching his collar, and when he brushed the fringe from his forehead, he revealed eyes as dark blue as Jack’s. “How long are you back for?”
“For good, pretty much,” Jack answered.
“Righteous. It’s about time.” Dex took a swig of his beer. “Don’t let me forget to tell you about this rad new game I developed.”
Right after graduating from college with a degree in computer science and a minor in mathematics, Dex had created a video game that went viral. Now a millionaire and having developed several games since, he lived the life that many young people dreamed of. Jack, however, felt a world apart from the gaming community and its lingo, but he adored his brother and was happy that he’d found success doing something he loved.
“I can’t wait to hear about it.” Jack’s heart raced with the warm welcome from Dex. Kurt had always been more reserved than the rest of his siblings, and now he stood with his beer in one hand and his other hand in his pocket. He smiled at Jack and took a slow drink of his beer.
“How’s it going, Jack?” Kurt had written a number of bestsellers, and although he was very well off and fans knew him by sight, people seeing him on the street would never be able to tell that he was someone notable. Kurt was six three with electric blue eyes, short dark hair, and chiseled features, and tonight he looked comfortably casual in his khaki pants and polo shirt.
“Better. Much better. How’s your writing?” Jack wondered if Kurt was as nervous as he was. Where Jack wore his emotions on his sleeve, Kurt kept his close to his chest.
Kurt lifted his bottle. “Good. You know, bringing life to the voices in my head.” He grinned.
Jack took a step forward and opened his arms. Kurt stepped in, patting Jack on the back. “Good to see you, Kurt.”
“You too, bro. You too.” As they drew apart, Kurt touched Jack’s arm. “Are you doing okay? I mean, really okay?”
Jack took a deep breath. “Yeah. For the first time in what seems like forever, I really am. I wanted to get from here…” He fanned the space in front of him. “To there.” He looked around the room at his siblings. “But I couldn’t figure out how. Are you pissed at me?”
“Pissed?” Kurt opened his eyes a little wider. “Do I ever get pissed at anything?”
Jack laughed. Kurt had always been the most evenly keeled of his siblings.
“You didn’t abandon us, Jack. You just couldn’t take it. I get it. Besides, it made great fodder for my upcoming novel,Bonds of Steel.”
“Bonds of Steel?Really? Sounds like a bad bondage porno.” Jack glanced at Sage, his most complex brother. Sage was the epitome of an artist, from his contemplative eyes that were so dark blue they appeared almost black, to his wavy dark hair that usually hung in front of his eyes and always looked windblown. Tattoos climbed his arms, and one could never tell if his brooding stare was meditative, calculating, or ruminating. When he was young, Jack worried that he lived in a constant state of unhappiness, but as he aged and began to share his thoughts, Jack realized that he simply saw life in a completely different way than Jack ever had. To Sage, everything in life, whether it was living or inanimate, held some deeper meaning than what met the eye.
