Leaning away from her, yet obviously unwilling to release her completely, he asked, “You feeling better?”
Although she felt impelled to answer him with a small nod, leaving the safe haven of his arms was the last thing she wanted to do. This hazy stupor held her a willing captive.
Then she began to tremble with some unnamable thing, something that had nothing whatsoever to do with fear and distress over her brother. A silent yet humming electricity seemed to crackle about them, snapping and sparkling like bare high-voltage wires.
How had this energy manifested itself so instantaneously? Or had it been there all along and she was only now comprehending it? And where, she wondered, was the vibrant current going to lead?
She studied his gaze as he studied hers. Of one thing she was certain—wherever it led, her drowsy mind reasoned, she was eager to follow.
Brian pushed his way through the front door.
“Hey.”
As he spoke the greeting, he lifted his chin at her and Nathan as if coming in this late was commonplace, as if he came home every day to find his sister in a man’s arms.
Immediately Nathan released Gwen, and without his nearness to warm her, she was hit with the sensation of being chilled to the bone. But the appearance of her brother caused her to be bombarded with numerous emotions all at once: relief that he was safe and sound, anger that he’d caused her such worry, irritation that he seemed untroubled by this whole situation. Heck, he acted as if there wasn’t a situation at all!
“Hey, man—” Brian grinned at Nathan “—I don’t know what brought the police here, but whatever it was, I didn’t do it.”
“You’re not in any trouble,” Nathan assured her brother. “I’m just here to check on your sister.” Solemnity knitted his brow. “She was worried about you.”
“Oh.” Brian looked from Nathan to Gwen, unspoken curiosity lighting his eyes. “As you can see,” he said to his sister, “I’m okay.” Then without another word he turned with the clear intention of making for his room.
“Hold it! Where have you been?” Gwen demanded.
Brian shrugged. “Out.”
“Out where?” She raised her hands, palms heavenward, her level of frustration impossible to contain. “Brian, you’ve got school tomorrow. You should have been here doing your homework long ago. Dinner is ruined. You left no message telling me where you were going or who you’d be with. What is going on with you? You’ve never done anything like this before.”
There was pointed accusation in her tone. She heard it. But there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. Anxiety had taken control.
His red hair, with its wiry texture, was sticking out in several directions. He was sweaty and grimy. But Gwen was too upset to remark on his physical appearance.
His face turned crimson. Being reprimanded in front of Nathan, whom he barely knew, embarrassed him, that much was evident.
“I’m going to bed,” he declared. “Like you said, I have school tomorrow.”
He moved to duck around her, but she planted herself in front of him.
“Oh, no, you don’t.” She glared at him. “You’re not walking away from this. You’re going to tell me who you’ve been with, where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing.”
“I don’t have to tell you nothin’.”
Correcting his grammar never even entered her head. She was too overwhelmed by the injury his disrespectful tone of voice caused her.
“You’re not my boss,” he went on. “I’m old enough to come and go as I please.”
For several seconds Gwen was so shocked she couldn’t get her tongue to work. But then it loosened. Oh, boy! Did it ever loosen.
“You’re thirteen years old. I’m responsible for you. Besides that, we’re a family, Brian. I don’t go off without telling you where I am, what I’m doing, when I’ll be home. I think I deserve the same consideration from you.”
Had that loud and angry lecture really spewed from her throat? What must Nathan think of her? She felt as if her mind and her body were no longer her own. Frustration and impatience had taken her hostage.
“I’m not talkin’ about this!” Brian asserted hotly.
Refusing to meet her gaze, he shouldered his way around her, and Gwen was aware of the stench of cigarette smoke clinging to him. She opened her mouth to call him back, but Nathan’s hand on her shoulder quieted her.
“Let him go,” he quietly suggested.
The gentle pressure of his fingers calmed her, and that idea was comforting to her. Strange. Unexplainable. Definitely out of the ordinary for her. Yet comforting, nonetheless.
Brian’s bedroom door latch clicked closed.
“That boy is going to make me lose my mind,” she whispered.
She turned, her gaze falling on Nathan’s face for the first time since her brother had returned home. Instantly she remembered the churning heat that had surrounded them as he’d held her close, and awkwardness descended on her like a thick, immobilizing fog.
Nathan, on the other hand, didn’t seem the least bit discomfited.
“Continuing this conversation with him now will only escalate the argument,” he said. “At least you know he’s safe.”
Gwen sighed. That much was true.
“Now that I know he’s okay,” she quipped, “how many years would I spend in jail if I strangled him for making me worry so?”
He laughed out loud, and the sound of it broke the tension pent up inside her. She grinned.
“Raising kids these days is tough,” he allowed.
“You don’t know the half of it.”
He looked at her quizzically and she knew he wanted her to elaborate. But she didn’t know him well enough to be laying out her life story for him.
“Let me just say that my brother didn’t have very good role models in his life.” After a moment she softly added, “I just hope he’s not going down the wrong path.”
Nathan’s brow smoothed. “It looked to me as if he was acting just like any other rebellious teen would.”
Oh, if only she could be certain that was true. “You really think so?”
“I do.”
He offered her a half smile, and Gwen was struck with the notion that it was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen in her life.
He continued, “I’ll bet my last dollar that tomorrow morning, he’ll apologize for coming in late. You mark my words.”
His face brightened and he reached around to pull his wallet from his hip pocket.
“One of the first things I did when I came to the rez,” he told her, “was to start a single parents group. We meet at the Community Center.” He handed her a card. “You’re more than welcome to attend the meetings.”
She balked. “But I’m not Brian’s mother, I’m his sister—”
“Doesn’t matter,” he cut her off. “You said it yourself just a moment ago. You’re responsible for him. You’re raising him on your own.”
“Well…”
“Just think about it,” he said. “It’s good to have others to talk to.”
Silence tumbled down around them as they exchanged a long, silent look. The stiffness Gwen had felt before returned full force.