Page 113 of Help Wanted

“You are. You want to take care of him as penance for not being there to take care of him before the accident. But you’re suffocating him. You need to let him go and let go of the guilt. He’s happy here. Please just see for yourself with an open mind before you drag him back to a half-life in some home.”

He blinked a few times and walked in a slow circle. When he was calm he came to stand in front of her. His lips were pressed together in a firm line, but he nodded once.

He was listening. She took a breath. This was her chance.

“He doesn’t have a lot of furniture right now. I redirected your last payment to Elmhurst into a checking account for Hunter. We went furniture shopping, but he insists on having furniture like he had at home, and we haven’t been able to find the right thing yet. We moved the bed from my spare room, and he has a card table in the dining room for now.”

Brady said nothing as he followed her into her kitchen and through a door that led into Hunter’s new home.

Hearing her enter, Hunter glanced up and said, “I still have four hundred ninety-two dollars and forty-six cents after I paid this bill.” Hunter happily held up a check before he noticed his brother. “Brady! Look! I’m paying bills.”

“You have bills?” Brady’s voice was tight.

“Yep.” She still found his excitement over bills amusing.

“When he decided to move in, he had two requests. That he get to pay bills like you, and that he could have you over for dinner.”

Brady swallowed, but remained silent.

“I promise you, his bills are minimal. Enough to give him his independence and build some credit without being overwhelming.”

“I also paid for my bus pass,” Hunter announced while holding up another check. There was no way Brady could misinterpret the excitement on Hunter’s face. “Brady, can you stay for dinner?”

“Sure thing. What are we having?” Brady’s voice wavered as he moved closer.

“I’m not allowed to use the stove. It’s not even plugged in. But I have meals ready.” Hunter opened the refrigerator. “You can have barbeque chicken with rice and broccoli. That one takes four minutes to make. Or you can have fish with roasted potatoes and green beans. Or there’s a turkey salad wrap. Or we can get pizza.”

He moved to the envelope hanging on the refrigerator with the correct amount of cash for the delivery and tip.

“I can only get pizza once a week. The rest of the time I have to eat healthy.”

Brady choked down his obvious emotion in order to answer. “I think the fish sounds good.”

“That takes five minutes.” Hunter nodded and removed the fish dinner. He opened the lid and held out the directions. “Then I will let it set for a minute before you can eat it.”

Brady remained silent as Hunter put the meal in the microwave and said. “Five-oh-oh, and start.”

When Hunter got two plates out of the cabinet and put them on his temporary card table, Brady sucked in a breath and stepped back.

“I’m going to go wash up,” he managed to get out before he fled down the hall.

“The soap in my bathroom smells like apples!” Hunter called.

He hadn’t shut the bathroom door completely, so she pushed it open to find Brady bent over the sink sobbing. She moved her hand over his bowed back and he turned in a quick move to pull her into his arms.

“I’m so sorry. I’ve been such an ass to you and you’ve been so wonderful. He’s so happy, Mick. I have been holding him back. I guess I did want him to need me, but that was a dick move. I shouldn’t want him to need me or anyone. I’ve been so selfish.”

“Shh. You’ve done everything you knew to do to take care of him.”

“It was all wrong.”

“It wasn’t. You love him. And that can’t ever be wrong.”

“But look at him.” Brady pointed toward the kitchen as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. “He’s making me a fish dinner, and setting the table.”

“And he still needs you to be his brother.”

Brady choked up again and then ran some water to splash over his face. He dried his face and hands on one of the towels Hunter had picked out because they were the same color as Brady’s.