Shattered (Steel Brothers Saga 7)

“Doesn’t Hawaii seem strange to you?”

“Not overly. It’s a great place to retire.”

“Never been there.” I’d never been anywhere other than Colorado and Jamaica, but that was neither here nor there.

“You’d love it,” he said. “Maybe we can go someday.”

Big doubts there. But heck, we were in Jamaica together. Why not Hawaii? Maybe we could have a relationship…

“Do you keep in touch with her?”

“I tried to contact her through social media a few times, just to check in, but I never got a reply. So I gave up. She has her own life now in Hawaii with her family. Maybe she met someone. I only wish her the best.”

“Hawaii…” Why was I having such a hard time wrapping my head around this?

“Yup.”

“It just seems so unreal. How long had her family owned the ranch in Colorado?”

“Several generations, same as us.”

“And they just up and leave? Something doesn’t make sense there.”

“Never thought about it.”

“And she doesn’t reply to you on social media? Why wouldn’t she? She’s the one who ended the relationship.”

“Again, never thought about it. Which I guess tells you that we were right to end it.”

“Was there any time during the relationship that you thought maybe she felt more than you did?”

“No, not really.”

I swatted his arm. “You’re no help at all.”

“I don’t mean to sound unfeeling. It just wasn’t a relationship that meant that much to me.”

“But you loved her.”

“Yes. I thought I did. But looking back, I think it was more of a comfortable thing. I did care for her deeply, but I think the love I felt for her was more like that of a big brother or a good friend. It wasn’t her fault at all. She was great.”

“You can’t help what you feel. Something just doesn’t sit right with me.”

“About my relationship with her?”

“No, not th

at. About why they left so abruptly, to Hawaii of all places.”

“I can’t think of a lot of reasons not to go to Hawaii.”

“I guess it’s the detective in me. Something just doesn’t add up.”

“I think we all have enough mysteries to keep us busy without adding one more.”

I couldn’t fault his observation.

Still, I had a feeling the mystery of the Shanes would come up again.