“You’re not getting me up there,” Brock says.
“I don’t really want any of us to go up there,” I say, “but who else do we trust?”
“If they’re up there,” Dale says, “wouldn’t there still be evidence? Like…you know…drippings or something?”
This time my hand goes to my mouth. This is all too disgusting.
“Maybe I’ll do some research,” I say, once the gag reflex is under control. “Find out if there are any missing persons in that area.”
“Yeah,” Brock says, “because if what you say about the smell is true, the bodies can’t really be that old, can they?”
“I wouldn’t think so,” Dale says.
“Let’s just get through this damned party tonight,” I say. “Then I guess tomorrow we go back.”
“Not how I was expecting to spend my Sunday,” Brock says.
“Why? You got a hot date?”
“I may.”
“Are you seeing somebody new that we don’t know about?” Dale asks.
“Not yet. But after tonight, I figure I may be.”
“No. Please say you’re not thinking about Rory.”
“Why not? She’s the hottest thing walking.”
“She just got out of a relationship, Brock.”
“Yeah…and I love being the rebound guy.”
Leave it to Brock to be able to go from possibly finding decaying bodies to picking up his latest conquest without so much as a transition. I used to be the same way. As the founding member of the Three Rake-a-teers, I can’t really fault Brock.
He’s also so young. Twenty-four as opposed to my thirty-two. And Dale’s thirty-five.
And…he’s not in love. Both Dale and I are, and it’s funny how once you find that person who you fall for—who you can’t imagine your life without—things change. You want to make the world a better place. You want to make your family better.
And whatever’s going on in our present right now is not making our family better.
“Honestly, cuz,” Dale says, “I don’t know how you can talk about picking up a woman when we’re dealing with this shit.”
“I’d say I have a one-track mind,” Brock says, “but you already know that. But seriously, I’m as freaked out as you guys are about this whole thing. Your father took a shot that may have been meant for my father. Or maybe they want all the Steel brothers dead. And who the hell is hiding dead bodies on our property? You think this doesn’t get to me?” His cheeks go red. “I’m just not ready to abandon everything else about life while we deal with this.”
Again, I understand Brock’s attitude. It was my own a mere month ago.
“Ease up, Dale,” I say. “We can’t let ourselves live like this.”
“I know that.” Dale shakes his head. “And I won’t. For Ashley’s sake. For all our sakes. I can’t let myself get inside my own head too much. You all know how good I am at that.”
“Yeah.” What I don’t tell my brother is that I understand him more than ever now. For some reason, the mess of our present has dredged up our past in ways that I never allowed myself to think about before. My brother continually lived in the past, and he only broke free of it recently. Me? I didn’t forget the past. I just didn’t let myself think of it. So why in the hell is it at the forefront of my mind now?
Then there’s Brock. Uncle Joe in miniature. Except not miniature. He’s every bit as big and tall as Uncle Joe. Brock, who lived the charmed Steel life from birth. Just like Diana and Brianna did. Just like all our cousins did, except for Henry, but he’s too young to remember his former life.
There’s still a part of Brock that isn’t quite accepting what we’ve stumbled onto. He can’t, because he’s never had anything horrible happen in his life. So of course he’s thinking about getting some ass tonight. Hell, a month ago, I’d have been thinking the same thing.
“Just go easy on Rory,” I say. “Breakups aren’t easy.”