Page 60 of Harboring Secrets
“Little brother.” Carol got to her feet and wrapped Liam in an embrace. The top of her head came up to just under Liam’s chin, but the hug looked intense, like she was cracking ribs. She pulled away and gave Liam one final glance before her gaze swung over to me.
“Carol Lawson. You must be Brodie.” She extended her hand and I shook it, trying to recall everything I’d ever been told about how to give a good handshake. I should have practiced. Or at least rehearsed what I was going to say.
“That’s me.” The heat of a thousand volcanos flooded my cheeks. “I mean, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Carol’s smile softened and after she released my hand, she took her seat again. Liam and I sat on the same side of the table. On any other occasion, it might have felt reassuring, but tonight it felt like I was on trial. Or at an interview.
“I hope you’re okay with my restaurant choice,” Carol said. “The last few times I’ve been out to eat have been for business and this kind of place isn’t suitable for business dinners.”
“Well, I don’t know the first thing about business dinners. I’d be happy anywhere. It’s all a write-off anyway.” Brodie said.
“Which is why they go to the places that cost the big bucks,” Liam said.
A server arrived and took our drink orders and promised to return with menus.
“Anyway, enough about that. How long are you two in the city for?” Carol took a sip of her drink. I think she was already aware of Liam’s plans, but wanted to hear it from him when she could look him in the eyes. “Are you going to show Brodie around?”
“If he would like that,” Liam hedged.
The Liam here was different from my Liam. I’d gotten a flash of him on our way in, but Boston Liam was subdued. It was like the melancholy met him on the tarmac and had clung to his bones ever since. There were clearly too many ghosts here for him.
“While I’m here, I wanted to discuss using a few members of the tech development team for a project.”
“Oh?” Carol leaned forward, suddenly all business. “Tell me about this project of yours.”
Our drinks arrived and Liam took a sip of his. I stared at mine and wondered if I should abstain or if I should slam the entire thing to take the edge off.
“It’s not technically my project, but the person the idea belongs to doesn’t have the resources I do and I said I’d help if I could.”
“Well, color me curious. What do you need them for? They’re all yours, of course, but I want to hear what captured your attention.”
I listened and poured over the menu while Liam outlined Clay’s project. They’d clearly been in touch since the initial conversation because the idea was a lot more fleshed out now.
It turned out that I loved hearing Liam in his element. I don’t think even he was aware of how much he came to life when he was in a situation that put his knowledge to use. He often came off as insecure about his own education and abilities. It might not have been a passion of his when he was in school, and he might still feel as though he let other people dictate his decisions, but helping Clay with the app had really brightened something inside of him.
I think Carol saw it too. As Liam chatted about it while we ordered, the longer he went on, the more she relaxed.
By the time our food arrived, Liam had secured her blessing along with her permission. And then her focus shifted.
I was just shoving a bite of pulled pork poutine—sorry, Canada—into my mouth when her eyes landed on me.
“And what do you do?” Her question came from genuine curiosity, but I still felt like an asshole, having nothing meaningful to respond with. Instead of trying to sound impressive, I went with being brutally honest.
“I mooch off my lottery-winning brother. I traveled a lot, which is how I met your brother. Before the lottery, I worked for minimum wage at a grocery store. I didn’t go to college because I watched my other brother, Kieran, drown in student loan debt. And I never knew what I’d do there anyway. It was too much money to just wing it, you know?”
“I respect that. It’s a big commitment, even if you don’t have to worry about the money.” Carol sounded far more accepting than I’d expected and I realized that maybe I’d judged her without knowing her. I’d decided that she’d automatically look down on me because I came from a different background than her and her brother. But she’d been nothing but kind. From the restaurant choice, to her losing her suit jacket to appear to be more casual. And then the way she seemed to honestly understand why someone with no money might not want to spend even more money they didn’t have.
“But right now, I’ll admit to being a bit directionless. Liam and I are both trying to figure out what’s next for us.”
The corners of Carol’s eyes crinkled when she smiled. “You’ll figure it out.”
“I thought of writing a book,” I said, suddenly feeling brave and a little foolish. “I saw all these famous places that were in movies and from books, and it always made me think, like, I could do that. But it’s not practical, I think.”
Carol lifted her beer to her mouth and took a sip. “Fuck practical. You love my brother. My brother loves you. My brother is loaded. Your brother is loaded. Why do you need to be practical? Will your brother let you starve? Likely not.”
You could have knocked me over with a feather. I sat in stunned silence as her words washed over me. Liam nudged me with his elbow.
“Your food is going to get cold,” he said.
