Page 60 of The Leaving Kind

Nick’s truck was parked in the driveway, and there was a shadow behind the wheel. Bizarrely, only an hour had passed since Cam had left. The afternoon seemed barely to have aged, the midsummer sunlight only now starting to dull toward evening. But the phone call might have been a year ago. Man, he was tired. Maybe he’d be able to sleep tonight without the sound of the TV.

Nick hopped out of his truck as Cam was carrying Honey back out of the garage. He broke into a smile at the sight of her. “When did you get a dog? What happened to her leg?”

“I found her on the side of the road one night. She’d been clipped by a car. I just got back from meeting with some folks who might have been her people, but they weren’t.”

“Oh.” Nick’s face shifted into processing mode. “You’re taking care of her for now, then?”

“Yeah.”

“It’ll suck when her people turn up.”

“Yeah.” Cam nodded toward the house. “You could have gone in. You didn’t have to wait out here.”

“I just got here. I was about to call you.”

“Okay.” Cam led the way to the door. Rather than put Honey down, he handed Nick his keys. “She can walk, but stairs are hard for her.”

“Okay.” Nick let them into the house and immediately looked around. “Oh, wow, you repainted in here. It’s so much brighter!”

Last year, Cam and Nick had made a lot of improvements to the house they’d grown up in. It had been a bittersweet journey, replacing windows, tearing out bathrooms, hanging new curtains, refinishing the kitchen. At times, Cam had felt as though they were ripping up pieces of their childhood. But after the death of their sister, Nick had let the house—already old—begin to fall apart around him. The work had needed to be done.

Cam had never liked the color they chose for the hallway that formed the connective tissue of the entire house, though. They’d picked blue for Emma. But it had always felt temporary, as though the walls were simply testing the color out. So, he’d painted again. Downstairs and upstairs.

He smiled at the dove gray walls. “It’s the original color if you can believe it. But three and a half decades fresher. I also repainted the stair rails using a softer white. Less glare and less prone to show wear.” With the dark wood of the stair risers, the combination was homey.

“I like it.”

“Come check out the kitchen.” Cam deposited Honey onto the floor and tossed her blanket over the chair closest to the family room door before hurrying his brother toward the back of the house. “I finally replaced the fridge.”

Proudly, he opened the shiny stainless door to display his sweating roasted chicken, tub of mashed potatoes, and six-pack of beer. There wasn’t a lot else to dull the bright white of the new interior, easily seen through the clean glass shelves.

“Nice,” Nick agreed before running his finger over the countertops and cabinets they’d refinished together. He cocked his head at the wall beside the fridge. “You painted in here too.”

“Yeah. The white felt too clinical. I think the green looks good against the windows. Especially now, with the garden in bloom.”

Nick checked the windows overlooking the backyard. Cam waited for the flinch. His brother had a complicated relationship with the backyard. He’d been unable to venture out there for three years after Rebecca had died. But now, he turned and showed Cam one of his more relaxed smiles. “It all looks great.”

“Thanks.” Cam gestured toward the fridge again. “Want a drink while you’re here? Water, beer? I can put on some coffee.”

“I just came to drop off the truck.” Nick dug keys out of his pocket and put them on the kitchen table, next to the laptop.

Distractedly, Cam noticed the screen was blank and wondered whether he’d turned it off before taking Honey over to the vet. If not, he’d have to dig out the cord and charge the damn thing back up again. He checked back in with Nick, who was watching him with an expectant expression.

“Why are you dropping off the truck?” Cam asked.

“Because you need it more than I do right now.”

“I do?”

“For your landscaping and garden maintenance business.”

Cam felt his jaw unhinge. “You can’t give me your truck.”

“Yes, I can.”

“But, Nick. You need it to deliver your houses. Plus, it’s your truck.”

“I can use Oliver’s van.”