Dr. Andrews looked from brother to brother and then to their parents. Johanna was quiet, dabbing her tears, while George sat stone faced.
“Grady, is there anything you’d like to say?”
He was quiet for a long time. The whole room was silent except for the sound of the second hand moving on the old analog clock attached to the wall. Grady’s legs swayed back and forth; he looked agitated, uncomfortable.
“Grady?” his therapist nudged.
“I resent Graham for always thinking he’s perfect.”
Graham scoffed. “Are you serious right now, Grady? You resent me? I harbor so much ill will toward you for not pulling your life together and moving on. I gave up my life, my chance at happiness, for you. And all you do is shit on me constantly. You stole from my business and won’t even admit it. I defend you to everyone in town when they call you a lowlife, a bum—it’s me telling them you’re trying to find your way again. But the only path you’re following is the one that leads to the next bottle. I came back for you, Grady, because you needed me, and look where that’s gotten me.”
“Graham,” Johanna said his name quietly as she rested her hand on his arm.
“I’m sorry, Mom, but it’s true. I was happy in California, and I should’ve stayed. I lost my girlfriend because of him. My job, my friends. Everything. I put Grady first, thinking he’d snap out of it, that he’d realize what he was doing to himself. He had a company to run and people who depended on him. Instead, he let it all go. He gave up on himself, his dreams, and took us down with him.”
Graham was frustrated, and yet he felt relieved. When he glanced at his parents, they were crying. He held his mom’s hand tightly in his while Grady rocked back and forth, mumbling. “Say something, Grady,” Graham demanded. “Don’t waste our time anymore. Prove to us this therapy session is worth us driving all the way over here.”
Grady looked at his brother. His eyes were still hollow and void of emotion, but the whites of his eyes were no longer bloodshot, and he was looking more like Graham than he had in years. “You think I want this? Do you think I want to sit here and listen to how much of a loser I am?”
“Then fix it,” Graham challenged. “Take the opportunity to fix your life before it’s too late.”
“Easier said than done, brother. You’ve always been the one with goals; all I wanted to be was a fisherman with my best friend, and now he’s gone.”
“And why is that, son?” George asked. “Why didn’t you stop him that night? You knew the risks, and yet you did nothing to stop him.”
“You don’t think I tried, Dad?”
George stood and threw his hands up in the air. “We don’t know because you won’t talk to us. No one knows what happened—not the full story. You’ve kept it bottled up, and it’s eating you alive. Tell us so we can help you.”
“Grady,” Johanna interrupted as she looked from her husband to her son. She took a deep breath and turned toward him. “Austin has been gone for a long time. It’s time you move on. It’s time you grow up and stop blaming him.”
“Mom . . .”
“I’m sorry, son. I am, but I’m tired. I’m so tired of all of this. The late-night phone calls, the sleepless nights wondering if you’re coming home or not—and if you’re not, whether you’re safe. I’m old, and I shouldn’t be. I want to take vacations with my husband. I want to be a grandmother and have babies all around me—none of which will ever happen if you stay like this. Our family, it’s broken, and it needs to heal. We need you to heal. We can’t keep doing this. I know you have nightmares about that night, Grady. We all do. We were there when you were pulled from the water. I held you, cold, shivering, and crying out for Austin. I watched day after day while my husband, sons, and friends went out into the water, searching. I prayed with the moms, cooked the meals for the volunteers. I will never forget those days and weeks, the look on Carly’s face . . . or yours . . . at Austin’s funeral. And I’m not asking you to forget, but I am asking you to move on, to see past that night. You need help, Grady. Maybe we all do. I am begging you because I want my son back.”
Johanna got up from her seat and walked out of the room. George, Graham, Grady, and Dr. Andrews sat there, stunned, until George stood, called after his wife, and asked her to wait. When the door shut, everyone jumped.