Klair finally sent the children upstairs, with instructions to get ready for bed. Then she turned to their guest.
“It was really good meeting you, Rhett.” She gave him an awkward hug. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again.”
The word soon was conspicuously missing from the end of her sentence.
“I was hoping for a few minutes alone with my brother?” Everett didn’t need a lot, just enough to feel something there. He could come back tomorrow, or even the day after that. It wasn’t fair how he had surprised them. Definitely not his smartest move. Fair enough, lesson learned.
“Oh, of course.” A spot of color on her pale cheeks. “Don’t keep him too long.”
She turned to her husband with what he imagined as hurry up in her eyes, then went upstairs herself.
Finally, a moment alone.
But before he could thank Evan for his hospitality, Evan asked, “So, where are you staying?”
“Oh … um …” That caught Everett off guard, even though he should have been fully prepared. “I know this is really stupid, but I was just so excited about driving out here and meeting … well, all of you guys … I didn’t stop to book anything.” He offered Evan a brittle, awkward laugh. “One thing at a time, I guess.”
Evan stared at him, as if chewing on a thought.
“How long are you planning on staying in Austin?”
Everett didn’t know how to respond. His actual answer was, As long as you’ll have me.
But in truth, if Everett was paying for his own room, then he couldn’t really afford to stay a day. He needed to get back to El Paso and return the Mustang, pay for the work on his Aspire, then drive that piece of shit all the way back to California.
That reminded him of the unanswered texts and voicemail from Clara, plus the two messages from Devon and Derek that he still hadn’t answered.
“My only plan was to meet my brother … I just found out that you existed and got carried away. I’m really sorry about that … I don’t want to impose at all.” Everett straightened his shoulders. “I can be away from the restaurant for about a week — you know how it is — but I can also leave in the morning … if that’s better for you and everyone else.”
“Come on.” Evan clapped him on the shoulder, if not like a brother then at least like a buddy. “You can stay in the guest house if it’s just one night.”
“Really?”
“Really. That’s what it’s for. Follow me.”
His time was expiring. Klair was waiting for Evan upstairs. Long lost brother or not, Everett had a good idea what he was delaying.
If he had something to say, then he needed to say it.
Now, before their walk was over. Any second … they were already past the pool, a few feet away from the guest house. He needed an opening line, but his head was even emptier than his checking account.
Evan stopped at the guest house and opened the door. “After you.”
“Thanks.” Everett stepped past his brother and looked around the living room, which was bigger than his entire apartment. And a thousand times nicer.
But for Evan, this was all extra. Another little home in his back yard, just in case.
How could Everett be so jealous of the man he’d been waiting his entire life to meet?
Evan was dying to get out of there, Everett could see it in his eyes and the way he hovered in the open doorway, seemingly waiting for permission to go.
Everett had to remind himself that Evan hadn’t asked for any of this. While he’d had several days to think about this meeting, his brother had awoken this morning without any idea that he had a twin who would appear without warning at his party.
Evan would rest his head on a soft pillow beside his beautiful wife while Everett would spend the next several hours tossing and turning in the guest house alone. At least he wasn’t looking for a room at La Quinta. He should be grateful that Evan hadn’t kicked him out.
“You need anything else?” Evan asked.
“No, I’m good.” But then he shook his head. “Actually, I was really hoping we could stay up and talk a little. Maybe get to know one another.”
Evan sighed with what sounded like relief. Like maybe he’d been expecting the request and could put it to bed. “I understand, and I’m sorry, but it’s been a long—”
“Maybe in the morning?”
“There’s a lot to do at the restaurant. I’m an early to bed, early to rise kind of guy.”
“Me too. We move a lot of coffee in my restaurant. So, early hours.”
“Then you understand,” Evan said.
“Well, yeah, under normal circumstances. But it’s not every day you meet your long-lost twin.”
“I know. And I’m sorry.” Evan’s face softened. “I do get where you’re coming from, and I swear this isn’t personal. But I just found out that you’d be here a few hours ago, after my day and night were already planned.”
“I understand.” And he did, no matter how much it hurt.
“It’s been a long day, and tomorrow promises to be even longer. But I promise, we’ll figure out a time to catch up, okay?”
“Cool,” Everett agreed with a smile.
Evan surprised him with a hug. “Thanks for driving all this way.”
“Thanks for having me.”
Evan walked to the door, opened it, then turned back before leaving. “Happy birthday.”
“Happy birthday!”
The door closed, but Everett could still feel his smile.
He turned on the TV, then went to pour himself a drink at the small bar. Whiskey, neat. He tipped it back and gulped it like a shot, before setting the bottle of whiskey back on the counter and pushing his empty glass back toward the ledge. Then he turned off the TV, plugged in his phone, and set an alarm for six in the morning.
Drinking right now was dumb, and watching TV was even dumber.
He needed to sleep, so he could wake up fresh and early to talk with Evan first thing.
Then maybe he could be a part of his brother’s life.
Everett left the guest house, lost a couple of minutes trying to figure out the gate, grabbed his suitcase from the trunk of his rented Mustang, then brought it back inside to leave it on the guest house floor without doing anything else.
He got undressed, to hell with brushing his teeth, then collapsed on a queen-sized mattress that was better than the one he had at home in every conceivable way.
Moments later he was falling asleep, thinking about all the many ways tomorrow could go right.
If it didn’t go terribly, terribly wrong.