Page 55 of The Archer Brothers

I was here the day his body came off the plane. I identified him. I cried for him and for the loss my family was suffering. I held his fiancée in my arms so she wouldn’t crumble to the ground from devastation at his funeral service. None of this makes sense, yet here sits a man who looks and speaks like my brother, only he can’t be because my brother wouldneverlet me claim his son as my own.

I have two of Evan’s most prized possessions and if the man before me actually is my brother, I just became public enemy number one.

EJ comes thundering down the stairs, shouting for me to come and join him. Evan’s eyes are trained on him, and mine are on Evan. There’s no handbook on how to handle this situation. Evan and I have never trained for anything like this. It’s unchartered territory, and I’m nervous. EJ passes by Ryley, who hasn’t moved an inch since Evan sat down. I’ve noticed in the brief time they’ve been home that she watches him like a hawk. What I can’t determine is if she’s waiting for him to do something dangerous, or if she wants to crawl in his lap and tell him it’s going to be okay. Never mind the fact that she still wears my ring on her finger, not his.

As soon as I sit down, EJ hops into my lap. He’s blocking my view of Evan, and that gives me a little reprieve from the death glare.

“Nate, are you hungry?” Her voice is meek, unsure and sounding nothing like the Ryley she was when I left. I don’t even want to know how many nights she’s cried herself to sleep. In my mind, the only image I want to have of her sleeping while I was gone is by herself. But I know Evan well enough to know that he hasn’t left her alone.

“I am, but I can make something.”

She shakes her head. Her lower lip quivers as she pulls it into her mouth. EJ is restless on my lap and the tension in the air is so thick that it’s suffocating. EJ taps me on the face, taking my attention away from Ryley.

“Did you hear’d me?”

Evan mutters something as he stands up and passes by, following Ryley into the kitchen. The eighteen year old in me wants to get up and go be the third wheel, much like I was in high school, but my son needs my attention.

“I’m sorry, buddy. Tell me again.”

EJ prattles on about everything he’s done while I’ve been gone, but I’m only picking up a few tidbits of information. Each time I hear “Eban” my train of thought diverts. I’m not being fair to my son right now and I hate that. Each and every time I’ve returned from deployment he has been given my utmost attention. He’s curious about what I do and loves going to base with me. The guys love having him around too.

“Did you miss me?”

“Every day,” I say with as much conviction as possible so he knows it’s true. I’m not sure how long Evan’s been home – if that’s even Evan – and I don’t want EJ thinking I’m being replaced because I’m not. I refuse to allow that to happen in his or Ryley’s life.

“What did you do dis time?”

“Well let’s see,” I say as I pretend to ponder his question. The last time I was gone I told him I had to race around in a boat trying to rescue baby ducks that had missed their chance to fly south with their parents. He told me I was the coolest dad ever because I had saved all the babies so their mommies wouldn’t be sad. In EJ’s eyes, I’m a hero and I want to stay that way.

“This time a giant snake escaped from the zoo and I had to go help them find it.”

He gasps and his little mouth drops open. I choke back a sob and paste on a smile just for him. My world is spinning right now and the more I think about what the next hour is going to bring, the faster it goes. My life is about to change and I’m not so confident I’m going to be the victor in any of this.

“Did you catch him?”

I nod more than a few times, hoping to find my voice. “Yeah we did,” I say as my voice breaks at the end. I can’t lose Ryley and EJ. They’re my whole life. And my brother – my best friend – we should be celebrating the fact that he’s home, but we’re not because our lives are colossally screwed up.

“Nate?”

I look toward the familiar voice and smile. My sister, Olivia, is here, which can only mean one thing – she and Ryley are on speaking terms.

“Hey Liv, it’s good to see you. I thought we’d have to take a trip up to Mom’s to see you later in the week.”

Livvie’s face is pensive and her eyes are wandering around the room. She looks like she has something to say, but can’t find the words and the longer she stands there, the more it dawns on me that she’s here because of Evan. She didn’t reconcile with Ryley while I was gone, it’s because Evan came home.

“Did you go see Grandma, EJ?” I ask him because he’s the only one who will give me an honest answer.

He nods. “Eban took us.”

Of course he did, I think as I press my hand to my head so I can massage my temple. The headache that is coming on is going to be fierce and relentless. I’m single-handedly being pushed out of my family and there won’t be a single thing I can do about it.

“Did you know?” she asks her voice barely above a whisper and breaking. I hate that she’s about to cry.

I shake my head. My lips form into a thin line.

“How?”

I look at her questioningly. “How what, Olivia?”

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