Page 16 of Pleasure Island
Jake shrugged. “You will. I did. Just takes time.”
“Jake, why don’t you show Liam the guestroom while I finish up dinner?”
Michelle left the two of us alone, and I looked over to Jake, waiting.
He gestured down the hall. “It’s down this way. Nothing fancy, but I figured after four years in the army, you wouldn’t be too picky.”
I took one look at the room almost double the size of the room I’d had back at my parents and laughed. “Compared to what I’m used to, this is like five-diamond accommodations or whatever they call them.”
He dumped my bag on the bed and gestured to a door off to the side. “Your bathroom. It’s small, but it’s got what you need.”
“Thanks.” As he turned to go, I cleared my throat. “Hey, uh…can you give me a minute?”
He looked back at me, his expression curious. “Sure.”
“Look, I’m sorry I believed what they said about you and…well, you know.” I shoved my hands into my pockets, not certain what elsetosay.
A faint smile crooked Jake’s face, and he looked younger, like he had back when we were kids. “Hey, I believed it too.”
“Still…”
“Don’t, Liam.” Matt –Jake– turned to face me completely, his hands on his hips. “Police, medical people, witnesses, they all said the same thing. What else were any of us supposed to believe?”
“I could have stayed in touch,” I said, shaking my head. “Like you said, that’s not how family should be.”
He gave me a rueful grin. “But you’re here now. Most of the family still doesn’t talk to me. So…lay off on yourself, okay?”
* * *
Dinner was a simple thing,the three of us sitting at the island in the kitchen, eating chicken and potatoes, drinking beer and catching up.
Or in the case of Michelle and me, we got to know each other.
“What did you do in the army, Liam?”
I had to wait until I washed a mouthful of food down – Michelle was a good cook. Meeting her blue-green eyes, I said, “Infantry. I’m also trained as a medic.”
“Infantry,” Michelle said softly. “That had to be…intense.”
The conversation almost seemed to echo the one I’d had with my friend Gavin back in Texas. As Michelle studied me, I fought the urge to squirm uncomfortably.
I hoped to hell she didn’t ask anything else.
She didn’t.
“A medic, huh?” Jake asked. “Thought about going to medical school or anything like that?”
Over the past hour, it had gotten easier to think of him asJake, mostly because he was different from the guy I’d known as Matt growing up. He still had a caustic sense of humor, but there was something more…collected about him, I guessed.
I didn’t know if that made sense.
Of course, it could just be that he’d grown up – spending several years behind bars, no less. Why wouldn’t he seem to be a little different?
Meeting his eyes, I shook my head. “I don’t know if I’m good enough with people to be a doctor. I need to figure out something though.”
“Well…” Jake shifted on the stool where he sat and gave me an easy smile. “I might have an idea there to help you out.”
