She felt the weight of a thousand burdens slide off her shoulders and land on the porch boards at her feet. “I really don’t have to fix everything?”

He shook his head. “Only the things you break.”

72

They unanimously decided to leave the dishes for later and run off some of the food with a friendly game of football. As with all Garrison games, the friendly pick-up fun quickly turned into a skirmish.

Aldo was used to the way things operated. He hoped that a quick game of flag football would help pull Harper and Luke out of whatever funk they were in. Not just because he didn’t want to see them at odds with each other but because it bothered Gloria. If he wasn’t careful, he’d start running in front of Gloria trying to neaten and tidy everything and everyone up.

Aldo, Gloria, Luke, and Harper squared off in the backyard against Ty, Sophie, and James. He and Luke quickly fell back into the groove of calling plays and dodging defenders. Gloria and Harper were laughing at Sophie’s trash talk.

Claire was safely out of earshot, so the siblings let loose all the “fucks” they’d kept bottled up during the nice family meal. With the trash talking, the action intensified, too. After Luke criticized Harper’s lackluster defense, she jumped on James’s back and hung on for dear life as he caught the long bomb Ty threw.

James, always one to show off, spun her around to his front and tossed Harper over his shoulder, running the length of the “field” with Harper laughing and threatening to throw up on him.

The fun ended there. When James put Harper on her feet, Luke hit him full speed.

“What the hell, man?” James shoved back. In the span of a second, they were on the ground wrestling.

“Fuck,” Aldo muttered.

“Luke!” Harper’s sharp tone didn’t register to the grown men acting like idiots grappling on the ground.

Sophie smacked Ty in the chest. “What are you waiting for, Mr. Law and Order? Get in there and break it up.”

“Soph,” he said mournfully. “I just ate three plates of turkey in there. I can’t bend over.”

Aldo took one look at Gloria’s stricken face and waded in. “Knock it off,” he ordered, dragging Luke off his brother and shoving him toward the patio. “Cool off before you make a bigger ass of yourself.”

“What’s your problem?” James called after his brother, looking more confused than pissed off. Aldo pulled him to his feet.

Harper crossed her arms against the November chill, and Gloria put an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “He’s been drinking. A lot,” Harper told them. “I don’t know what’s going on with him.”

Sophie shook her head. “You better find out before Mom catches wind of this. She’ll want to hook him up with a therapist next.”