Susan Mallery - Christmas on 4th Street

Gabriel understood the concept of family. He’d been in one, had friends with families. He got that people loved each other. Some bonds couldn’t be avoided, but romantic love? It wasn’t worth the trouble. Life was tenuous. It could be over in an instant, so why bother?

“You’ve come a long way,” he said instead.

“I didn’t think I could make it,” Gideon told him. “But this damned town healed me. I can’t say how, but it did. I started to get involved.” He chuckled. “There are festivals practically every weekend. Wait until you see how they celebrate Christmas here. It’s an eye-opener.” He turned to his brother. “I know you only came because you got injured, but I’m glad you’re here.”

Gabriel was having trouble keeping up. As a kid Gideon had been open and friendly, but his time in Special Forces had changed him. The adult Gideon he knew was a taciturn soldier—a man who would rather cut off his right arm than discuss his feelings. Yet here he was, talking about belonging and love and connection.

“I should check the back of your neck for some kind of pod,” he mumbled.

Gideon laughed again. “I haven’t been taken over by aliens. I’m who I always was. Before everything else happened.” His humor faded. “Sometimes it’s hard, but Carter and Felicia are patient with me. I get through.”

Which sounded rational, Gabriel thought. Not like his brother, but healthy. “What happens next?” he asked.

His brother took a swallow of his beer. “We survive the parents’ visit.”

Something Gabriel didn’t want to think about. “How long will they be here?”

“Through Christmas. They have a vacation rental in town. They won’t be living here.”

“That’s something.” He couldn’t take too much of their old man.

“How you feeling?” Gideon asked.

Gabriel was about to point out that not everyone wanted to share at this meeting when he realized his brother was looking at his hand.

“It hurts.”

“What happened?”

Gabriel settled deeper into the chair. “A bunch of nineteen-year-olds got drunk.”

“It always starts that way.”

“You know it. My patient and his buddies got in a fight and one of them went through a plate glass window. They drove him directly to the hospital, which saved his life. There was a large piece of glass and I forgot I didn’t have superpowers and pulled it out bare-handed.”

The move had been stupid. He knew it and everyone in the E.R. had known it, too. One second he’d been a rational doctor, doing what had to be done to save his patient, and the next he’d been spurting blood everywhere.

Gideon raised his bottle. “We all have moments.”

“Not like that.” He’d tried to keep working on the teen, but there was no way. His team had stepped in and another doctor had seen to the kid. Gabriel had stabilized his own bleeding until the crisis was over and he could be looked at without endangering anyone. Unfortunately, he’d lost more blood than anyone had realized.

“I ended up having to be admitted myself,” he grumbled, then swore. “What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t,” his brother reminded him. “You were reacting.”

“Not well and not in the right way.” There was no point in reliving a past he couldn’t change. “I was lucky—there’s no permanent damage. It hurts like a son of a bitch. My CO told me it was time to go home on leave, so here I am.” Otherwise he would have worked through the holidays, like he did every year. He always volunteered to stay so others could be with their families. This time he hadn’t had a choice.

“I’m sorry you got hurt, but I’m glad you’re here,” Gideon told him.

“You want someone to take the pressure off with Dad around.”

“That, too. Although I figure we can throw Carter in his direction. From what everyone tells me, grandparents can’t resist grandkids.”

An interesting plan. “You’re not worried about what the old man might do to your kid?”

Gideon smiled. “Nope. Felicia will protect him. She’s tough and fierce. I wouldn’t want to go up against her.”

“Good to know. Then I’ll stay out of her way.”

“Just don’t threaten Carter and me and you’ll be fine. Oh, I guess the dog falls under that umbrella now.”

Gabriel started to say something, but the word umbrella reminded him of the woman he’d met earlier. Noelle, who’d been willing to defend her friend’s house with nothing more than bravado and an umbrella.

He was glad she’d seen the error of her attack. Had there been a real intruder, she would have been in trouble. But he’d been no threat and he had to admit she’d been an unexpected distraction.

For a moment he allowed himself to wonder how his evening would have been different if she’d been the one sitting out here with him instead of his brother. He grinned. For one thing, they wouldn’t be so far apart. And they sure wouldn’t be talking.

“What are your plans for after the holidays?” Gideon asked. “Staying in?”

By in his brother meant the army. His smile faded.

“I don’t know,” he admitted.

He’d always planned to stick around long enough to get his twenty years. He would still be young enough to move into a regular job at a hospital. But lately, he wasn’t sure he wanted to. Or could.

It was the flights, he thought grimly. Those years of shepherding injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. They were in no position to be moved, but needed the more intense care only a permanent military hospital could provide. So they were patched up and flown out. He and his team spent the hours dealing with one crisis after another. The conditions were cramped, the patients critical. Space and weight limited the equipment.

When he hadn’t been on the flights, he’d been working in field hospitals. Those on the front line suffered from PTSD, while those who cared for them battled compassion fatigue. Watching the endless parade of injured, continually fighting against impossible odds without ever knowing who lived and who died, left a person drained. Even his rotations to the hospital in Germany didn’t provide much relief.

Gabriel knew that was where he was now. Exhausted and empty. Which increased the likelihood that a person made mistakes and he had the hand injury to prove it. He needed to get away. His brother’s invitation had provided a place. Going to spend time with the family at the holidays required no explanation.

The door to the house slid open. Felicia stepped out into the night. She crossed to Gideon and placed her hand on his shoulder. He put his fingers on hers.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, her voice quiet. “I wanted to give the two of you plenty of time to connect. A strong relationship between brothers would be beneficial to each of you and it would provide Carter with a view of how siblings interact.”

Gideon smiled. “How could I have resisted you?”

Felicia smiled. “You didn’t—at least not physically. It was your resistance at giving your heart that was the cause of your delay in admitting your feelings. I’m glad you’re more open now We’re going to have children and I want Carter to be comfortable as a brother, but also a member of the family. I don’t want him to worry he’s being pushed out.”

“Which is not what you came out to tell us.”

“No. Your parents just called.”

Gabriel felt the tension in his shoulders. “Giving us an ETA?”

Felicia looked at him. “Yes. They’re so excited about meeting me and Carter that they decided to drive straight through. They’re only an hour or so outside of town.” She returned her attention to her husband. “I knew you’d want to mentally prepare for their arrival.”