“Fourth place?” I exclaim.
“I’m still pissed. I would’ve won it if I hadn’t lost control of my inner tube after I hit a rock in the water.”
“Do you do a lot of races?”
“I do normal races all the time, but I haven’t done an Adventure Race in a few months,” he says in a soft drawl.
“Why not?”
“I promised my mother I wouldn’t.”
“Huh? Why? If you were doing well…”
“She said I was addicted…I dunno.”
Jere turns down 6th Avenue in silence, glancing at me. He hasn’t said a word in a few blocks. He kinda went gloomy.
I can’t just sit here. “So did you train somebody today?”
“Yeah. I paced for this guy who’s training for the Ironman Triathlon in Wisconsin this fall. We only did fifteen miles. It was a rest day.”
I swear, these genetically enhanced brothers are gonna be the death of me.
He drums the steering wheel. “I’m thinking I’ll do a ropes course this afternoon.”
“Don’t you ever get tired?”
“Oh yeah. I’m so beat at night, it takes like five minutes for my parents to wake me up in the mornings. Alarm clocks don’t work for me.”
The image of his parents shaking him awake makes me giggle. “Your parents have to wake you up? How old are you?”
He turns left, grinning. “Twenty. You?”
“Eighteen. Did you run downtown where we did today? I didn’t see you.”
“No, the Stones River Greenway. We needed room to stretch the run out.”
“But then Matt asked you to drive downtown?”
“No.” He glances over at me. “I came down here ’cause… I wanted to say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable last week or whatever. With the blister and the Band-Aid. I saw the look on your face when you left.”
“No, no. Everything’s good.” I’m such a liar.
“I don’t believe you,” Jere says with a smirk. “I realized later it was weird that I gave you first aid when you didn’t even know who I was.”
“I thought it was nice of you.”
“Yeah?” He grins widely. “I can’t wait to tell my brother that I didn’t traumatize you. He said that I did.”
“Do you really not get along with Matt?”
Jere pauses. “He’s my best friend. I love him. He’s giving me a chance… you know, with this job and all.”
I wait for him to elaborate, but he goes silent again. “But do you guys seriously fight a lot or something?”
“We’re brothers—we fight all the time. But I’ve heard that if you fight about all the little stuff, then you’re less likely to blow up big time.”
“Doesn’t that more apply to couples?”
He shrugs. “I think you can apply it to all friendships.”
I gnaw on my pinky, pulling the skin away from the nail. I told Kyle so many times that I didn’t want to settle down right after high school, that I had a lot of things I wanted to do before marrying him. But we never had a big fight until I refused his proposal. If we had had more arguments, would things have turned out differently? Would we have understood how to move past our problems without Kyle having resorted to a full-on breakup?
The five-minute drive goes by in a flash. Jere pulls up alongside my ancient Audi and puts his Jeep in park. He hops out, jogs around to the passenger side, and opens my door. Hello, über gentleman.
“I hope you have a nice rest of your weekend,” he says, helping me down.
“You too.”
He waits until I’m safely in my car and backing out of my parking spot before waving and climbing in his Jeep. I return the wave, flick on the radio, and crank down the window for some fresh air.
•••
It’s brunch time at the Roadhouse.
Sundays before and after church are always busy. Besides Saturday nights, this is when I make my best tips. And I need every cent I can get before college. Financial aid from the government will cover my tuition and my dorm room, but I have to cover my meal plan and incidentals. As it stands right now, I might be able to afford one book.
I refill the coffees of this little old couple that comes here every week. They must be in their eighties, but they always sit on the same side of the booth to work the crossword together. He pats his wife’s spotted brown hand and smiles down at her. I used to wonder if that would be me and Kyle one day.