One Step Too Far (Frankie Elkin #2)(56)

“Briefly.”

“But you’re married to her now.” He points to Scott, who nods shortly. Next Bob turns to Miguel. “What about you?”

“Three out of five of us is enough!”

Bob nods. “And your other friend, Josh?”

“Josh doesn’t date much. Or at least, he’s not one to talk about his love life.”

“He’s not one to talk,” Neil mutters. The three friends exchange glances again.

Miguel closes his eyes, takes another deep breath. “Speaking of which, Tim’s apology to Josh.”

Now I’m interested.

“Tim’s best man,” Bob clarifies, which also grabs my attention. I’d never thought to ask that question. They were all Tim’s groomsmen, but of course, one of them had to be the best man. Presumably, the one Tim felt closest to. The man now detoxing in a Wyoming hospital.

“Josh has a sister two years younger,” Miguel is explaining. “She started at OSU our junior year. She’s pretty.”

“How Josh ever ended up with a sister who looked like that . . .” Neil shakes his head.

I can’t even remember what Josh looked like before his collapse. Dirty-blond hair, sweat-covered face. I noted his symptoms, not the man, which leads me to believe he wasn’t that striking. Another backdrop piece to Tim’s larger-than-life personality.

“We helped Julianna move in,” Scott picks up the story. “She immediately starts making googly eyes at Tim while he’s doing his whole big-man-on-campus routine. Second Tim ducks out of the room, Josh exits right behind him. I walk out into the corridor in time to find Tim shoved up against the wall. Josh, who, for the record, is four inches and thirty pounds smaller, has Tim pinned in place, staring him right in the eye. ‘No,’ he says. ‘Touch my sister and I will kick your ass.’

“Tim laughs it off. ‘Of course. No problem, bro. Never mess with family. Got it.’?” Scott mimics college Tim’s placating tone. “Tim untangles himself, walks away. But I can tell Josh is still worried. Before Latisha, Tim was a player. Never knew which gorgeous girl was going to walk out of his bedroom Saturday morning, never to return again.”

Neil and Miguel both nod.

“Classes got going and that was that. Sometimes Julianna would come over to our place to hang out, but not often. She had her own friends, social circle. I never even saw Tim and her interact much.” Scott looks at Neil and Miguel.

“I never noticed anything,” Miguel agrees.

“I certainly never put two and two together.” Neil shrugs.

“Tim hooked up with Josh’s sister,” I fill in, trying to skip to the punch line. “But Josh never knew about it.”

Scott stares at me from across the fire. “Julianna dropped out for a semester her sophomore year,” he says quietly. “She was pregnant. Ended up getting an abortion. She never told anyone, including Josh, who the father was.”

My eyes grow wide. I glance at Martin, who appears equally stunned.

“Are you saying”—Martin speaks up slowly—“that Tim got Josh’s sister pregnant?”

“Tim never said anything at the time,” Miguel says, “not even when Josh was going out of his mind over what had happened. His parents took the news hard. They didn’t approve of abortion, but they also didn’t want their daughter dropping out of college. It was a big mess. Josh spent the first half of senior year trying to console his parents one moment, then support his sister the next. He personally drove his sister to the clinic, held her hand while what was done was done. Afterwards, he shut himself up inside his room, didn’t emerge for a week. We were all wondering if we should start sliding food under the door when he finally stepped out. Looked like hell. He never brought up the subject again, so neither did we, but then, that was Josh for you. Still waters run deep.”

“Tim never came clean?” I push.

“Never.” Scott this time. “He was all ‘Let me help you with this, Josh; hey, I can take care of that, Josh. Here are my notes for the exam. Don’t worry about the latest homework.’ Maybe he was too nice? But then, Tim was the guy who stepped up when you needed him most. Gave you a home away from home for the holidays—”

“Planned your sister’s funeral,” Neil murmurs.

“Loaned me a thousand bucks to fix my car.” Miggy’s turn.

“None of us suspected a thing.”

“I don’t understand,” Martin says, but I can tell by the bleakness in his tone that he does.

“We never should’ve opened the Maker’s Mark,” Scott mutters thickly.

“Tim never should’ve opened his damn mouth!” Miguel states more angrily. “Seriously. Ten years later, he magically wants to come clean? Repent his youthful indiscretions? Walk down the aisle with a clear conscience? Did he think about Josh for one second? How Josh would react to learning his best friend had not only gone behind his back and screwed his sister, but had also gotten her pregnant, and never said a word? Of course Josh lost his shit.”

“Tim apologized for his past wrongs against each of you,” I say slowly. “Most of which you already knew, so whatever. Until he got to Josh. Who had no idea about Tim and his sister. What did Josh do?”

“What did Josh do?” Miguel asks incredulously. “What do you think he did? He tried to kill Tim with his bare hands.”