Page 95 of The Archer Brothers

A man who finally has everything he’s dreamed of.

“I DON’T WANT THIS to be awkward,” Evan says, gesturing between us before he hands me a cup of coffee. We’re meeting this morning, away from the house and Ryley. What I have to show him, he needs to see without her being in the room. I’ve hidden a lot of my work from her over the years and while it pains me to hide this, it’s for her own protection.

“I agree and I know that things between us are rocky, I can respect that.” I take a deep breath and ready myself for what I’m about to say. “I don’t know where things are going, if anywhere, with Cara. Seeing her brought back so many memories and made me realize that the love I have for Ryley doesn’t even scratch the surface of what I feel for Cara. One look and I was taken back to the day I met her and all the time we took falling in love with each other. I know that’s what you feel for Ryley and I should’ve stepped aside. I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted,” he says, but I hold my hand up.

“I’m not done,” I say with a shake of my head. “I love EJ. But I also love Cara and I know in order to have a future with her, if she’ll even consider it, I’m going to have to let that part of EJ go. As much as it’ll kill me to leave, I need to find some happiness.”

“Leave?” he questions.

“Cara has a life away from here. I can’t ask her to move but I’m willing to move for her. She came here for me one time in her life, so I would do the same for her. I thought you and I could go to the Clarke’s and just spend some time with EJ and let him see that we’re brothers and not two men vying for his love.”

“All right,” he agrees, but I feel as if he’s skeptical. I guess I would be, too.

“But before we go, the other reason I wanted to meet you here is because I have some stuff to show you. Yesterday, Cara and I met with Carole’s contact at the NCIS.” I hold the file folder in my hand. “This shit,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s deep and it hurts. As your brother, I’m furious this even happened. Someone we know knew you were alive.”

Evan’s face deadpans as he reaches for the file. I hesitate, but only briefly, before handing it over. “Special Agent Blaine will be making an arrest later this afternoon. Carole asked that you be given the opportunity to confront the people concerned and he’s allowing it as a favor to her.”

He nods as he opens the folder and visibly stiffens. Cara arranged the documents as such that everything he needs to know is on top. He looks up at me with a mixture of anger and sadness. The realization that someone we trusted took away six years of his life is written all over his face. For the first time since I buried a body I thought was my brother, I’m angry. His pain is mine. We share it. Not only has he lost something, but so has EJ, Ryley, our sister and mother, even the Clarke’s. What these people have done is unthinkable and they need to pay.

“Um…” he clears his throat and grips the side of the table.

“This is why I want you to see EJ first. Let him calm you down and remind you of what’s at stake. You’re just like me and your first thought is that you want to kill them, but not today. I won’t let you. You’ve suffered enough, we all have, and Ryley and EJ need you.They’re…” I jab at the folder with my index finger, “not worth it. They’ll get theirs in the end. I can promise you that.”

Evan rubs his hands over his face and yells at the top of his lungs. Bystanders stop and look, but I ignore them. They’re lucky that’s all he’s doing. His leg bounces, a clear sign of agitation and my cue to get him out of here and to a place where I know he’s welcomed.

“Come on,” I say standing up. “Carole and Jensen are waiting for us.” I pick the folder up off the table and tuck it under my arm. Pausing next to his chair, I’m banking on Evan being more like me in the sense that when I’m on edge, when I need to be talked off the cliff, EJ has been the one to do it. I realize now that could’ve all been because he was my link to Evan, but regardless, I need to try.

I put my hand on his shoulder and squeeze. “Let’s go see your son,” I say, the wordsonrolling off my tongue easily. Evan stands and slams his chair into the table, causing the other patrons to jump.

The drive over to the Clarke’s is a short jaunt from where we are and as soon as we pull in, the garage door opens with Jensen and EJ standing there waving at us.

“I’m not going to stand in the way of you and your son,” I say, as I turn off the ignition and exit the car. EJ runs up to me, just like I knew he would. I scoop him up and hold him in my arms.

“Hey buddy.” I pull him into a hug and walk us off to the side of the house, giving us privacy and letting Jensen and Evan chat. I squat, setting EJ down on his feet. When I look into his eyes, I see Evan. Everything about this little boy is Evan, aside from his hair, which is a mixture of Evan’s dark brown and Ryley’s red.

“Remember at the park when you asked about Evan being your dad?”

He nods. “’Cause my name is Eban junior and he’s Eban. He kinda looks like me but really look like you.” EJ smiles and that alone makes everything right in my world.

I sit down, resting my back against the house. In my head everything works out and what I’m about to say makes sense. But in reality, it probably doesn’t and I know I have to tread carefully here. EJ sits in front of me crisscross style and starts picking at the grass.

“So, I wanted to tell you today that I’m going to move to a new house, and it’s my hope that Evan moves in with you and your mom.”

“Why? Don’t you lub me?”

“I do, and I love your mom, but Evan is your dad and he wants tobeyour dad. He wants to take you fishing and teach you how to throw a ball. When we were kids, your dad was one of the best football players in our state and he played basketball and baseball. He just wants a chance to teach you what he knows and to show you that you are the most important person in his life.” I look for any sign of resistance or hesitation from EJ and see none, so I continue, “I know it’s hard to understand right now, but maybe when you’re a little bit older, you’ll sit down and talk about everything that happened when you were little.”

“Are you still gonna be my dad?”

I don’t want to say no, but it’s the truth. “I think I can be someone a bit cooler than a dad.”

“What?” he asks, full of excitement.

“An uncle... and let me tell you why it’s cooler. Being an uncle is the best thing ever because it means I get to do whatever I want and your mom and dad can’t say anything about it. And when you’re upset, you just pick up the phone and call me and I can help you.”

He looks at me with furrowed brows and shrugs. “Are you and mom still getting married?”

---