Page 25 of Binding Their Hearts

“Proud and practically broke.” Kevin snorted. “If they weren’t gonna do basketball, they could’ve at least picked cross country—that doesn’t burn through anything but shoes, and they grow so fast they need new ones all the time anyway. But maybe they’ll do better than their old man and win big scholarships for college.”

He’d never get a better opening.

“About that.” Jay unfolded his wallet and dipped two fingers into the cash slot.

“Jay, you don’t have to pay me back for the game—we already had the ticket. It’s nothing.”

He held out the check, his number one reason for coming tonight, and tucked the wallet away. He’d filled it out at home, because who carried a checkbook? The payout would put a big dent in his cash reserves, but Henry swore he didn’t need anything for the house when they found one, and the money wasn’t doing anything but sitting there earning more. “Here. This is for you.”

Kevin glanced down, his eyebrows frowning and his mouth quirked. “I said you don’t—holy shi—” He cupped both hands around Jay’s, crumpling the check in their fingers. “What the hell?” His whisper came out between snapped-shut teeth. “Don’t go waving that kind of money around. Are you crazy? That’s—” Kevin shook his head. “I don’t even know what that is.”

“It’s yours.” He peeled his hand free, leaving the check closed in Kevin’s doubled fist. “For the boys, for their college funds.”

“That’s too much.” Kevin unfolded the check, then refolded it twice, scoring the edges with his fingernail. “That’s more than I gave you. By a lot.”

So weird. Kevin shouldn’t be surprised; they both had finance degrees. They knew how compound interest worked. “It’s fair—that’s everything you loaned me, plus interest for the last seven years, because you didn’t get it back when you should have.”

“It’s okay, Jay. You don’t owe me interest.” Kevin set one hand on Jay’s shoulder, an unfamiliar grip that felt good. Important. “We’re family. I know you would’ve paid me back sooner if you could.”

“I did pay you back.”

The money he’d sent Peggy every month would’ve cleared the debt to Kevin three years ago, even with half set aside for farm expenses.

Sighing, Kevin shoved the folded check deep in his front pocket and patted Jay’s shoulder. “Yeah, you did. And then some.”

“No, I mean before.” Going after the lost funds wouldn’t fix what was broken, though, not like clearing the slate and spending time with his brother could do. “If you want to know where that money is, you’ll have to ask Peggy. She set up the account for me after I graduated and promised to split it between farm expenses and repaying you.”

Kevin stared at him, unblinking. They had the same brown eyes. Kevin’s mouth moved, but nothing came out. As the line shifted, Jay stepped forward. Kevin let his arm fall, and the connection thinned. Maybe paying his brother back hadn’t been the right move. But he’d laid out his reasons, and Henry and Alice had agreed that punishing Kevin’s kids for Peggy’s petty spite hurt the wrong people. The hugging and praise had lasted so long he’d almost run out of time to leave an origami piece for Alice’s place setting. Ladybug today—those were quick to fold.

“You—you’re saying—” Muscles worked as Kevin shifted his jaw side to side. A red flush crept up the sides of his neck above his youth hockey league sweatshirt.

“Dad, can we get—”

“In a minute, Evan.” Kevin stepped closer to Jay, head bent like they stood in a huddle before a big play. “All this time, you’ve been paying, and I thought—and I let Charlotte say—and you—” He dug in his pocket. “I can’t take this money from you, Jay. You’ve paid it twice over.”

He gripped Kevin’s forearm. So strange. He’d probably touched his brother more times tonight than in the last ten years. “Keep it. I can afford it.”

Kevin’s eyes narrowed. Whatever he saw in his long study of Jay’s face, he glanced away, looking everywhere but at his brother until finally he dipped his chin and whispered, “Is this Henry’s money?”

Jay leaned back, swallowing the hurt. He’d been prepared—Alice had pointed out the chance of that reaction real quick—but knowing it might be coming and hearing it from his brother was the difference between a bunny slope and a black diamond trail. “I get why you’d ask that.”

Kevin dropped his head and made a tch with his closed lips. “Shit. I’m sorry, Jay. I’m trying to understand.”

“I know. I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.” Henry would’ve played the dom card this time, and Jay would’ve listened. Only Nat got a pass—Kevin was still borderline, and if the kids hadn’t been with him tonight, Henry might’ve vetoed the meetup. “I’m not your lazy brother coasting along and mooching off my boyfriend.”

Hot damn, wait till Alice heard he’d called Henry his boyfriend without tripping over the word. Bet that would earn him a fan-freaking-tastic reward. Nothing would top last night for a while, though. After Henry’s ice contest and dinner—nope, focus, before he got distracted and flustered.

“I run a good business, Kev. I make a decent living.”

“Having that much extra is more than decent, little brother.”

Mindful of his nephews a foot away, heads buried in a game or not, he lowered his voice. “Henry is not paying me for sex or anything else. This is my money, I earned it, and I’m not going to let Peggy screw up our relationship anymore. I’m paying you back because I love my nephews, and I can afford it, and you deserve it. Take the money, Kevin. We’re square, you and me.”

If they never hung out together again, so be it. He’d said the things he’d come to say, and he’d paid back the debt. Whatever happened next was up to his big brother.

The bear hug came out of nowhere. One second he was standing, and the next he was engulfed in a rib-creaking crunch, his toes barely on the floor. Huh. He’d done the same to Kevin at the farm before heading out on his bike, and the whole thing was just as cozy and heartfelt and appreciated from the other side.

“I am so sorry, Jay. That I didn’t take the time to get to know you, or to ask more questions, or to tell Peggy to take her attitude and shove it. I’m always telling Evan to look out for his little brother. If he does, he’ll be a better man than I am.” Kevin drew back, leaving both hands on Jay’s shoulders, and looked him straight in the eye. “I should’ve protected you, and instead I was never there.”

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