Page 54 of Love in Training
But he couldn’t stop thinking about her. His brother’s former fiancée. The woman who’d led Kyle astray and then left him when he was most vulnerable. Drew had every reason to hate Caprice, and the feeling was obviously mutual. So why did his mind keep returning to her whispers to Rufus that she wouldn’t let anything hurt him? The pretty way her lashes fluttered as she struggled to remain conscious while petting him. Or how those same eyes welled with tears when the photo of her and Kyle hit the floor?
If his brother meant so little to her, why did she have that picture at all?
Drew’s vision glossed over. He’d recognized the photo from a shelf in the background of a distinct memory. One that ambushed him regularly, refusing to fade.
“Just come back to Colorado and recuperate for a while. I’m already building the business. You can step in whenever you’re feeling better.”
“I feel fine,” Kyle said in a voice so flat it was an obvious lie.
“Of course you do.” Drew masked his concern. “But, you know, it seems like the perfect time.”
The shadows on Kyle’s face made it look like his eyes were sinking into his head. “Yeah. Medical retirement. Just what I’ve been waiting for.”
It was a struggle, but Drew managed to keep his expression neutral. “Look, I know this wasn’t part of your plan?—”
“What areyoutrying to accomplish,DoctorForbes?” Kyle asked.
“I told you, I’m done with medicine,” Drew whispered. “You and me—we’re going to chase our dream.”
For a second, it looked like Kyle considered it. Then he shook his head and limped to the window. No specialist had been able to explain the limp, not medically. But it was there, nonetheless, every time he moved. “No, thanks.”
“Why?” Drew’s voice came out harsher than he intended. His eyes followed Kyle’s to a photograph on an otherwise bare shelf. “Because you don’t want to be nearher?”
“No.” Kyle’s voice was far away. Across the room, his recently retired military working dog, a handsome Belgian Malinois named Rufus, lifted his head, keying in on his tone. Or maybe his respiration. Or some pheromone in the air.
Drew waited for his brother to say more, but when he didn’t, he just shrugged. “Maybe she’s one thing Mom and Dad were right about.”
Kyle’s head snapped up, nostrils flaring. “Caprice was the best fucking thing that ever happened to me.”
“Then why isn’t she here with you?” Drew snapped, losing out to frustration. “Why would she let you live through the worst time of your life alone?”
Kyle pressed his lips together but directed his gaze back out the window. The dog got up and crossed the room, laid his chin in his lap, and looked doubtfully at Drew.
“Look, I even have plenty of room for this guy.” Drew took a gentler tone, gripping his brother’s shoulder. He leaned down and gave Rufus an affectionate pat. “Just come stay with me. We’ll figure out the rest.”
“I’m staying here.” Kyle’s hollow, stubborn voice set Drew’s skin prickling.
“Why?” Drew looked around the tiny, barely furnished apartment. “There’s no reason to stay here. You don’t even have a job.”
“Maybe I’ll greet people at Walmart.”
“There’s a Walmart back home.”
“Maybe I don’twantto go home,” Kyle snarled. “Or be anywhere near you, or Mom, or Dad.”
Drew flinched, his mouth hardening into a line. But he couldn’t help feeling some relief at his brother’s ire. At least when Kyle got angry, he seemed alive.
“Look, I’m just thinking about what your doctors said?—”
“Believe me,” Kyle spat. “I heard it.”
Drew watched the shadows creep back over his brother’s face. His physical wounds had mostly healed, but PTSD and a traumatic brain injury had left him unable to carry out his duties—or do much of anything aside from sitting around this apartment. The neurologists suggested he could heal with time and support, but they couldn’t make him want to. The one thing that gave Drew hope was that Kyle had Rufus, whose own discharge for canine PTSD felt like some unfortunate consolation prize after what they’d been through. But if theycould somehow heal together, Drew was confident he could get his brother back on his feet.
“Okay, look. I have to get back to Denver for the training facility opening—I thought you’d be coming with me. But I’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Just think about it, Kyle.” He put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You’re going to get through this. And when you do, we’ll run the business together... like we always said we would.”
Kyle didn’t respond. Didn’t even look at him. He just sat there with one hand on the dog.
There was nothing left for Drew to do but give Rufus a last pat and head for the door, holding on to the hope that the dog would be enough. That if Kyle did nothing else, he’d take care of himself for Rufus’s sake.
