Sawdust and Berries

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2

Liam’s nephews had been hollering about Spiderman’s favorite gum flavor for the last five minutes. Meanwhile, in the passenger seat, Liam was fighting off a headache. He eased himself up. “Where’s this park anyway?”

Rye leaned in to catch Liam’s sentence. “What’s that?”

“The park,” Liam shouted. “We almost there?”

“Yeah, man. You okay?”

Liam nodded and sunk back into his seat. The boys had now unexpectedly quieted down. He adored his nephews. Those boys were the light of his life, but today had been a particularly vicious day, and his patience was thinner than rice paper. He hadn’t been able to take a deep breath since yesterday.

Liam turned his face to the window and stared at the blushing evening sky. For the thousandth time today, he couldn’t help wondering what that young man, Kieran, was doing.

Kieran Miller.

Kieran.

The name kept playing around in his head.

Rye pulled into the parking lot and let the excited boys out of the car. “Say bye to Uncle Liam! Austin, your shoelace is untied!”

The blond tornadoes ran off in a twister of youth, shouting their goodbyes over their shoulders. Their mother Angie was standing by the bleachers waiting for them. She welcomed the little Beckmans and Rye and then waved hello to Liam while rubbing her enormous belly. Liam watched on with a smile. Rye gave Angie a quick kiss and ran back to the car.

Rye was thirty-three years old, but didn’t look a day over twenty-five.

It’s the kids. The married life. The running around.

His brother got back into the driver’s seat, turned to him, and winked. Rye’s pale eyes sparkled like blue topaz against the sky.

“Here.” Rye handed him a Tupperware container. “Angie made some strudels. They’re cold, but they’re good.”

Liam accepted the food, knowing Rye would insist if he didn’t. ‘‘Thanks. And thank Angie for me.’’

Rye rolled his window down to blow a kiss to Angie, and then playfully smacked Liam’s thigh. “So, you got a date with Netty?”

“She told you? It’s not a date.”

“Oh, my bad. I guess I’ve been married too long. In my day, having a girl over for dinner on a Saturday night was called dating. What do you call it now? Just so I know.” He winked again. “She’s a sexy girl, Liam. Good for you.”

“It’s not a date though. It’s more like, you know, we’re friends.”

“Well, she likes you. I don’t know why she likes you. She’s a little too young for cataracts, but she likes you.”

Liam glared at his wisecracking brother.

“Don’t gimme that look, bro. Or I’ll tell Mom you have a girlfriend. She’ll be knitting you baby slippers before you even have a chance to deny it.”

Liam chuckled and the pain in his lower back flared up again. He clenched his jaw, checked his posture, and sat up straight.

“Liam, you okay there?”

“Nothing a good night sleep can’t fix.”

“And when was the last time you had that?”

“In 1977.”

Rye’s laughter was a miserable thing to witness. It sounded like a pig trying to speak Japanese, but Liam couldn’t live without it. From the moment his mother had brought home the golden haired demon wrapped in a baby blue blanket, Liam had loved Rye blindly.

He only wished he could tell Rye who he really was.