Starting Over (Treading Water Trilogy) (7 page)

“Hi, there.” He reached out to shake Colin’s hand. “I’m Hugh. Come on in.”

“Colin. Nice to meet you.”

“First time?” Hugh asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Shows, huh?”

“No worries. Everyone’s welcome here. Hey, guys,” Hugh called out to the others. “This is Colin.”

“Hi, Colin,” they said in unison.

Minutes later, he was in possession of a steaming cup of coffee and a home-baked brownie. The group slowly made its way to the table in the middle of the room. A pretty brunette who Colin figured was in her early thirties appeared to be the leader. She said her name was Meredith. After she went over the meeting procedures, she asked who would like to go first.

Hugh raised his hand. “This has been a good week, but I’m worried about my friend.” For Colin’s benefit, he added, “I ran a business with my best friend from childhood until his alcoholism made it impossible for him to work anymore. I did everything I could to keep him out of trouble until he landed in jail, and I ended up with an ulcer. I’ve come to realize, thanks to these people right here, that I couldn’t do it anymore.” Hugh paused and cleared the emotion from his throat. “He’s homeless now, and I’m not even sure where he is, but I’m as powerless over his alcoholism as he is. I realize now I can’t help him. So I’m doing what I can to help myself.”

Meredith’s soft brown eyes were full of empathy as she listened to Hugh, and Colin wondered what—or
who
—had brought her here.

“Thank you,” Hugh said when he was finished.

“Thank you, Hugh,” the group replied.

Listening to five other people share their stories, Colin was fascinated to notice that few of them talked about the alcoholic—or their “qualifier” as some referred to it—in their lives. Rather they focused on themselves and how alcohol affected them.

Colin’s gaze traveled to a sign on the wall: “I didn’t cause it, can’t control it, can’t cure it.” He’d seen the saying in Al-Anon literature, but the words took on new meaning as he listened to the group talk about the challenges they faced in their lives and the role alcohol and alcoholism played.

The ninety-minute meeting went by quickly, and Colin was surprised when Meredith said they were almost out of time. “Before we close tonight, we’d like to welcome you, Colin. I hope you found the meeting helpful.”

“Very much so. My brother is in rehab, and everyone in our family is anxious about how he’ll be when he gets home. I heard a lot of myself in what you all were saying tonight—about trying to keep the really bad thing from happening. Well, it did anyway, and I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of what myself and other family members have been doing can’t continue. So that’s why I’m here.”

“Keep coming back,” an older woman named Leslie said. “It helps.”

Colin nodded. “Thanks. I will.”

When they stood in a circle around the table, the people on either side of Colin reached for his hands to recite the Serenity Prayer. While he was helping to put away chairs, he watched Meredith place a comforting hand on Hugh’s shoulder and whisper something to him.

After the meeting, Colin called Declan. “Hey. Are you home?”

“Yep.”

“Alone?”

“No,” Dec said with a chuckle. “But you’re not interrupting anything. Yet.”

“Spare me the details. I was going to come by, but I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Come on over, Col. We’re just hanging out.”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive.”

“I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Colin drove the Harley through the deserted town. White lights twinkled in the windows along the winding row of shops and restaurants that made up Chatham’s quaint Main Street. The winter had been cold, but so far there hadn’t been much snow, and the streets were dry or he wouldn’t be on the bike. He loved the big, powerful motorcycle and the way its rumble vibrated through his chest. Chatham’s seven thousand year-round residents tended to hate noisy motorcycles, but the dark face mask on his helmet allowed him to roar around in anonymity.

Declan lived in a new townhouse in North Chatham, almost to the Harwich town line. He had turned on the porch light for his brother.

“Hey,” Dec said when Colin walked in. Declan and his girlfriend Jessica were sitting together on the sofa and had paused their movie. “Did I hear the bike?”

“Yeah. I went to an Al-Anon meeting tonight, and in the spirit of anonymity, I left the truck at home.”

“Watch out for ice,” Dec warned.

“It’s too warm for ice tonight.”

“Want something to drink?”

 
“No, thanks,” Colin said.

“How was the meeting?” Jessica asked. Dec had been seeing the cute, friendly physical therapist since Christmas.

“Good. It’s amazing how many people are in the same boat we are.”

“Da said Brandon seemed really good when they saw him,” Dec said.

“Yeah, but the real test begins when he gets out of there,” Colin reminded his brother.

“I hope he can do it.”

“I think he knows by now that he has to, but whether or not he will remains to be seen.” Colin paused before he said, “So, you talked to Da?”

Declan nodded and took a sip from his bottle of Sam Adams. “I hear there’s going to be a changing of the guard, boss man,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Colin groaned. “Don’t start that crap. I’m counting on you and Tommy to help me out. We’re going to do this together.”

“Of course we are.”

“So you’re not mad?” Colin asked, relieved that Declan didn’t seem to begrudge him the promotion.

“Hell, no. My first thought when Da told me you were taking over was better you than me. You’ve earned it, Col. No hard feelings from me.”

“I appreciate that. What do you think Brandon will say?”

Declan snorted. “He’s gonna be pissed, but what does he expect? No way any of the guys would work for him, the way he’s been the last couple of years. But he won’t like coming home to discover his little brother is his new boss.”

“True,” Colin said. “But I’m glad to know I can count on you to back me up.”

 
“Always.”

With that one word, Declan reminded Colin of the close bond they’d shared since childhood. As close as they were, though, they were as different as two people could be. While nothing seemed to faze the laid-back Declan, Colin took everything to heart, which had caused him nothing but grief where Brandon was concerned. But those days were over now. They had to be.

“Well, I’d better get going. Are you guys going to dinner at Erin’s on Sunday?”

“We’ll be there,” Dec said as he got up to walk his brother to the door.

“See you, Colin,” Jessica said.

“Bye, Jess.”

“Hey, Col,” Dec said quietly when they reached the door. “Everything’s going to be okay. He’s gonna make it. The Brandon we know would never do what he did to a woman. That’ll stay with him. It’ll keep him straight.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Colin wiped mud smudges off the chrome fender, stashed the Harley under a tarp, and pushed the button on the wall to close the garage door. He entered the house through the kitchen, where the dim glow over the stove created a narrow swath of light. Moving through the dark, he flipped on a lamp in the living room and sank into an easy chair to pull off his boots.

The house was small, but when Colin thought about the wreck it had been when he found it, he was deeply satisfied by how it looked now. He’d spent two years working nights and weekends—while living in the midst of chaos—to renovate the place. There wasn’t an inch in the house that he hadn’t stripped, sanded, painted, or polished. He still felt like there was something he should be doing when he was home, but it was finally done. With some help from his mother and sister, he had comfortable furniture and tolerable curtains that he’d agreed to under tremendous female pressure. He usually kept them open to maximize his view of Oyster Pond.

He sat back and flipped up the recliner’s footrest, suddenly tired down to his bones. At times like this, the house was too quiet. He’d expected to be married with kids by now. Six years earlier, he’d come close, but his fiancée Nicole called off their engagement a month before the wedding. The blow had devastated him, but in time, he’d come to see that she’d done him a favor. Something had been missing between them. He didn’t know what it was, but he hoped he’d recognize it if he was ever lucky enough to find it.

His mother lamented that three of her sons were late bloomers in the love department. Only Aidan had been different. He’d been married at twenty-two and widowed at twenty-nine. Colin had known of no other woman in his brother’s life until Aidan brought Clare home when their father had the heart attack.

He wondered if Declan had finally found his mate in Jessica. She was a nice girl and seemed well suited to Dec, but it was still hard to imagine his younger brother married with a family. He was still such a big kid in so many ways.

The whole family had been disappointed when Brandon’s lovely girlfriend, Valerie, left him, but they couldn’t blame her. She’d hung in with him much longer than she probably should have. His drinking got much worse after Valerie left, and without her keeping tabs on him, Colin had been sucked more and more often into the daily drama of Brandon’s life.

As Colin gave in to the exhaustion and closed his eyes, he thought of Meredith, the woman he met at Al-Anon. She’d been so sweet and sympathetic to everyone, and it was clear they all adored her. There was something so comforting about being on the receiving end of that kind of empathy from people who’d been there and understood. His last thought before sleep took over was that he looked forward to going back for more.

Chapter 7, Day 28

On the last weekend before Brandon was due home, the O’Malleys invaded Boston to celebrate Aidan’s fortieth birthday. His girlfriend Clare surprised him by inviting his family to meet them in the city for the weekend.

After dinner on Friday night, Colin sat with Aidan and watched the others tear up the dance floor in the hotel’s nightclub. Erin’s five kids were right in the middle of the action, and Aidan smiled when eight-year-old Josh spun his grandmother around. The expression on Colleen’s face was priceless.

“Looks like Mum’s met her match,” Colin said, taking a sip from his bottle of Sam Adams.

“He’s going to be a heartbreaker,” Aidan said.

“For sure. It was nice of Clare to do this.”

“I was so surprised when I answered the door and you were all there. She really got me.”

“That’s not easy to do.”

“I must be slipping in my old age.”

Colin thought his brother looked better than he had in years. Some of the hard edges he’d developed as protection in a world without his beloved wife had finally softened. His eyes twinkled as he watched Clare dance with her daughters Jill and Maggie and Erin’s seven-year-old daughter Nina. “You seem really happy, Aid.”

Aidan glanced over at his brother. “I’m going to marry her.”

Colin’s eyes widened. “Really?”

Aidan nodded. “If she’ll have me.”

“Why wouldn’t she?”

“She’s been through some tough stuff in the last couple of years. It’s kind of a long story, but none of it matters to me. All I know is I’m happy again, and she’s the reason—her and her girls. They’re great kids. You should see them ski. They came up after Christmas and wore me out, man.”

“How old are they?”

“Jill’s nineteen and a sophomore at Brown. Maggie’s thirteen, and there’s a third one, Kate, who’s eighteen. She’s living in Nashville, chasing the music dream.”
“Is she that good?”

“She really is. I didn’t believe it myself until I heard her sing. She’s hugely talented.”

“Wow. Well, I hope it all works out for you guys.”

“Thanks. What about you? No ladies beating down your door?”

Colin snorted. “Hardly. I’m so busy at work, I don’t have time for anything else.”

“Da told me you agreed to take over the business.”

“I heard you gave me a glowing recommendation.”

“I just told him the truth.”

Their father waved to them as he danced with his wife.

“He looks good,” Aidan said. “Much better than the last time I saw him.”

“He does,” Colin agreed. “Anyway, I appreciate the endorsement.”

“You know I’m just a phone call away if you ever need me, right?”

“I’ll need all the support I can get, especially when Brandon hears about it.”

Aidan’s genial expression turned stormy. “He can bloody well deal with it. It’s his own fault that he’s in the boat he’s in.”

“Are you ever going to forgive him, Aid?”
Aidan’s jaw clenched with tension. “I don’t know.” Colin watched Aidan seek out Clare on the dance floor. She was a petite blonde with dazzling blue eyes, and she’d had the family laughing over dinner with her jokes about being seven years older than Aidan—although she hardly looked it. She winked at him, and
his expression softened
. “After what he did to her, I don’t know if I can forgive him. I see red whenever I think about it.”