“That’s not what you’re doing. You’ve been a huge help to us with the baby and the hotel. You’re part of our family, Shane. We like having you here. I really don’t want you to go.”

“Owen probably doesn’t like having your brother around all the time.”

“That’s also not true. He loves you—almost as much as I do. Watching you two become good friends has been such a pleasure for me. ”

“If that ever changes, you’ll tell me, right?”

“It’s not going to change.”

“Laura…”

“Fine, I’ll tell you, but I’m not going to change my mind and neither is Owen. This is your home now. Relax and enjoy it.”

“I do like being with you guys, and having the rest of the family nearby is cool, too.”

“It sure does beat sitting alone in your dark apartment.”

His smile faded at the reminder of how he’d spent a year after his marriage imploded. “It certainly does.”

“Can I ask your advice on something?”

“You want my advice? Wow, this is quite a moment for the little brother.”

“Seriously.”

His smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

“The trial.”

“What about it?”

“Owen doesn’t want me to go.”

“He came right out and said that?”

“Yes.”

“Did he say why?”

“The first time he brought it up, he made it about the travel and the baby and all that. But we just talked about it again, and he’s ashamed of airing his family’s dirty laundry in front of me. I’ve already heard a lot of it, but there’s got to be so much more I haven’t heard.”

“You can’t blame him for wanting to protect you from that.”

“I don’t blame him, but who will protect him? How do I let him go through that alone?”

“Maybe he needs to do this alone, Laura.”

“He’s been so there for me, you know? From the very beginning. Before there was even anything romantic between us, he was taking care of me. I want to take care of him, but he won’t let me.”

“Have you talked to Sarah about it?”

“Not yet, but I probably should.”

“It’s so hard to believe—when I see the way he is with Holden and with you—that he was fathered by a man like that.”

“I know,” Laura said with a sigh. “He doesn’t say so, but he worries his father’s character is lurking inside of him. I’ve never seen any sign of that kind of rage. Well, except for the night his mother arrived here last fall after his father had beaten her up. He wanted blood that night.”

“That’s a natural reaction any decent man would feel after seeing his mother abused.”

“What should I do about the trip?”