He concentrated on his linked fingers again, and when he resumed speaking, his cadence was choppy, like a sea rocked by turbulence. “You know I came from a single-parent household. That we didn’t live in the best part of town. Putting food on the table was a struggle after my dad walked out on us when I was thirteen and . . . and Michael was eleven.”

The brother who’d died young, in an accident. The one he never talked about.

“Yes. You told me all that.”

Zeke focused on his hands again. “What I didn’t tell you was that Michael took Dad’s abandonment hard. We both did. Mom worked two jobs to feed us and keep a roof over our heads, leaving us on our own alone for long periods. Not the best situation for hurting kids. I started to hang with a rough crowd, and Michael wanted to tag along. For whatever reason, he viewed me through a lens of hero-worship. That fed my ego, so I let him join my group. By the time I was fifteen, I was out of control—and Michael had followed in my footsteps. We were smoking, drinking—and beginning to dabble in marijuana.”

The coil of tension in Cate’s stomach tightened.

Who could have guessed the honorable, stalwart, straight-arrow County detective she’d fallen in love with had spent his youth on the wild side?

And it didn’t take a genius to figure out where this story was heading—or why Zeke had never wanted to talk about his brother.

“One day, after I’d skipped out on school again and was close to being expelled, my mom dragged me to her church and turned me over to the youth minister. I had no intention of listening to whatever he had to say. But instead of lecturing me or quoting Scripture or trying to scare me into cleaning up my act, he talked about sports. He zeroed in on my interest in basketball and invited me to play a round in the gym. After forty-five minutes of heavy-duty exercise, he offered me a soda and chips, then got me to agree to come back the next night.”

“Smart man.”

“Very. The basketball games kept me off the street and became a pattern. I ended up liking the guy, which meant I became more and more receptive to his message—and more and more aware I was headed down the wrong path.”

Cate stroked a finger along the nubby upholstery that appeared rough but was soft to the touch. “So shooting hoops helped you turn your life around. Amazing how God often works through ordinary activities to bring about extraordinary results.”

“In light of where I was in my life, it was nothing short of a miracle.”

“What happened with Michael, Zeke?”