“Yeah, yeah, I can do that.” Nodding, Will still looked furious as he suddenly snapped. “So, did you stand up for me at my wedding?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if you were best man to a stranger pretending to be me?” His eyes glinted with banked fury.
“No. You—they got married in Reno. The family wasn’t invited.”
Eyes wide, jaw dropped, Will asked, “And you didn’t think that was weird?”
“Yeah, I did.” Jesse met temper with temper. Damned if he’d take any more guilt heaped on him. Rich had fooled everyone. Did he like admitting that he’d been had? No. But the truth was, he hadn’t been the only one fooled. “Hell, you’d been acting weird for a long time, so I wasn’t surprised. Mom was hurt, but she wasn’t shocked at the lack of an invitation, either. You cut the family out of your life, Will. You were never here. Flying all over the damn world, never showing up for work, drinking too much when you were here—”
“Yeah,” Will interrupted, eyes flashing, “but that wasn’t me.”
“Well, we didn’t know that, did we?” Jesse countered, glancing into the empty glass on the table, wishing it was full. “Rich was smart enough to make himself scarce. He didn’t spend much time in Texas and almost no time at all at the ranch…”
Will pushed both hands through his hair. “This is like a nightmare I can’t wake up from.”
“What the hell do you want me to say?” The final threads of Jesse’s patience unraveled. “Rich screwed all of us over. We’ll get past it. I’m glad as hell you’re back. Sorry if everything’s not great, but you’re alive. And thinking you were dead nearly killed Mom.”
Will scowled as it looked like all the air left him.
Jesse took a breath and sighed. Voice softer, temper controlled, he said, “The whole family went through hell until you walked into your own damn funeral. If you expect me to feel sorry for you that you’re alive and have a mess to fix, then you got a long wait coming.”
Will’s gaze met Jesse’s. “Fine, but—”
“No.” Jesse braced his feet wide apart and crossed his arms over his chest. He stared at his younger brother until Will shifted uncomfortably under his steady gaze. “You had your say and you’ve had time to pull it together.”
“Yeah?” Will snorted.
“None of this is gonna be straightened out overnight.”
“It’s been two and a half weeks,” he reminded Jesse.
“You were gone nearly two years. Might take more than a few weeks to fix things.” Jesse narrowed his gaze on his brother. “So stop whining.”
Insulted, Will blurted, “I don’t whine.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Jesse said tightly. He knew his brother and sympathy wasn’t what he needed. “You don’t like being stuck on the ranch. I get it.”
“Wow.” Will nodded. “Thanks.”
He ignored the sarcasm. “But you don’t have a choice. You’ve got to keep a low profile. Don’t let anyone beyond those who were at the funeral and saw you already know you’re alive. Until we know if Rich is still alive and still pretending to be you—or if he’s the one in that damn urn…the cops are on it and they’ll find the bastard eventually.”
“Eventually,” Will repeated under his breath. “How long? A year? Two? Ten?”
Shaking his head, Jesse said, “Get over yourself. It’s not going to be that long.”
“Yeah. Hopefully not. It’s just that I feel so damn helpless,” Will admitted, his voice a low rumble. “That’s the hardest part to swallow.”
“I hear that,” Jesse said. “Felt the same way myself when I thought you were dead. Felt it again when you came home and we realized we’d been taken in by a thief and liar. Feel it now when I’m trying to talk my little brother off a damn ledge.”
A second or two passed before Will nodded. “I’m not on a ledge. I’m…okay, I’m whining. Fine. I get the message.” He frowned then. “And what’s this ‘little’ brother stuff? You’re one inch taller than me.”
“Don’t you forget it,” Jesse said with a grin. “Just like I’m the oldest.”
“Yeah.” Will nodded sagely and tipped his head to one side, pretending to study Jesse carefully. “You’ve got five years on me, and brother, it’s starting to show.”
“What?”
“Yeah. You’re getting old.”