“No, not a shot.” Evan shook his head, giving Everett what felt like an admonishing look while grabbing a bottle of Artemis Tull from the bar.

  “I don’t think I like whiskey.”

  “Have you ever tried it?” Evan asked.

  “I’ve had a—”

  “Without adding anything to it?”

  “No.”

  Evan finished pouring the whiskey, then gave it to Everett. “Neat means no frills, not even rocks. You can sip the alcohol slowly enough to appreciate it. You’re not trying to get drunk … you’re savoring the drink’s complex flavors.”

  Everett placed the glass underneath his nose and took a whiff. He didn’t hate it, but he didn’t love it either. “How do you know I’ll like this?”

  “Because it’s my favorite.” Evan grinned and poured a glass for himself, which he raised it in a toast. “We are twins, aren’t we?”

  Glasses clinked and Everett felt a spark of something true and wonderful.

  This was what he’d been waiting an entire lifetime to feel.

  A half hour passed in a flash as he told Evan a sanitized version of his life story, focusing on the similarities between them: the sibling rivalry without the bullying, Mom’s lessons in the kitchen without Dad’s contempt, his son’s birth and the divorce he pretended had been amicable. Everett’s description of Java Joe’s was rosier than the café deserved, even when it was at its newest and most successful. The rest could come later, once Evan knew his brother better.

  Or maybe never — now that his life was turning around, maybe he could just share his successes going forward.

  He expected Evan to brag about his own personal triumphs, but when Everett asked about Señor Sushi and Tequila Mockingbird, his brother changed the subject.

  So he tried something easier. “How do you like living in Texas?”

  “Austin or Texas?”

  “What’s the difference?” Austin was in Texas.

  “It’s different.” Evan laughed.

  “That’s not very specific.”

  Evan shrugged. “Well, let’s see … some people say we’re a blue dot in a red state, and others say the same thing by calling us ‘weird.’ We’re the live music capital of the world.”

  “I heard that!”

  “We have our own culture. People here really care about food and technology, the environment and—”

  “Sounds like California,” Everett said after a sip.

  “But without the Californians.” Evan laughed.

  So did Everett, but he wasn’t sure if that was an insult.

  “Plus, it’s cheaper to live here, right?” Everett still couldn’t stop thinking about that 1.7-million-dollar mansion just two blocks away.”

  “It’s not San Antonio cheap, but compared to LA or New York or Boston, it’s not even close. But … it is getting more expensive all the time.”

  “Oh yeah?” Narrow the gap in housing costs, and California might look more attractive.

  “Great schools where we live, especially for the money, but our house value has doubled since we moved in.”

  “How long ago was that?”

  “Ten years. But we’ve also done a lot of work. Added the pool, and our guest house out back.”

  And it all looked brochure-handsome. Surely he’d be able to sell it for a huge profit, which would make it easier to get into a great place in Las Orillas, once Evan got a taste for California.

  “Traffic keeps getting worse,” Evan said. “But it’s still not as bad as some of the concrete jungles in Texas. No natural disasters like all your fires and earthquakes.”

  “They’re not mine,” Everett laughed, and took a sip of his very delicious whiskey.

  “Fair enough. I met Klair like a million years ago, but from what I understand, the dating scene in this city is terrific.” Evan shrugged. “It’s a great place to live.”

  “Have you been in Austin all your life?”

  “My parents moved us here when I was ten.”

  “Us?”

  “My older sister, Samantha. She’s in Kenya right now.”

  “Kenya? What’s she doing there?”

  “Building roads,” Evan said.

  “Oh. Are you close?”

  “Too close.” Evan laughed. “She’s always telling me what to do.”

  “Was your sister adopted too?”

  “Three years before me, and she was four when I was only a baby. I’ll never catch up — she still thinks I don’t know anything.”

  Everett couldn’t help feeling a little hurt. Bill and Dorothy had wanted two children, but somehow not him?

  Why was Evan wanted by everyone while Everett was wanted by no one?

  “Am I interrupting?” Klair asked.

  “Cake time?” Evan said.

  “Cake time,” Klair repeated with a nod.

  Evan gave his brother a glance: We’ll finish this later.

  Of course Everett was disappointed, but they’d bond later. Now that Evan had accepted him, surely the rest of his family would too.

  They followed Klair to the kitchen counter, where a cake now sat artfully centered amid all those presents. The cake looked like a wet burrito, with raspberry puree as ranchero sauce drizzled across the top and onto the plate below. A proud dollop of whipped instead of sour cream, and what Everett guessed was a large scoop of pistachio ice cream in place of guacamole. His mouth watered, imagining the sweet layers inside that cakey burrito.

  “We were going to put forty candles in it,” Harmony announced, “but we didn’t want to burn the house down.”

  Evan grunted. “Sure didn’t see that one coming.”

  “I’m surprised you can even remember what a joke is at your age,” said Jazz.

  Everett laughed, feeling younger than ever. But Evan shot him a grumpy look before pasting on a smile for his family

  “Hurry, there’s ice cream.” Klair lit the candles and stepped away from the cake. “Three … two … one …”

  Then the room was singing.

  But it stung when Evan’s name was the only one harmonized. And it stung a little more when Everett’s brother blew out the candles without inviting him to blow too. It would’ve been so easy to include him, knowing that it was his birthday too — but Klair was already cutting the cake.

  Habit, he told himself. They weren’t used to him yet. By Christmas, he’d be a member of the family.

  “What did you wish for?” Jazz asked his father.

  “I’ve never told you that before,” Evan shook his head, “and turning forty isn’t about to change my MO.”

  “Then tell us what you’re thinking, now that you’re over the hill.” Klair took his arm with a smile.

  “Forty is the new thirty, and I don’t know why you’re always on me about being older, since you’re only a year behind me.”

  “Because I will always be a year behind you, and therefore never as old as you.”

  “You’re both ancient,” Harmony muttered, but with a smile.

  Everett eyed the pile of gifts and wished for another whiskey to sip while hiding his discomfort. He hadn’t realized that showing up unannounced meant he’d be celebrating his twin’s birthday without anyone celebrating his.

  At least at home, the Ds would have made a big deal about the day and invited him over to play games all evening. Jessa would’ve made tacos and bought an ice cream cake.

  As soon as Bill and Dorothy left, Everett would suggest that they break in those gaming consoles.

  “Thanks, guys. For all of this.” Evan smiled. “Jokes aside, I have no fear of growing older. I was raised by remarkable parents who made sure I always felt loved. I have a gorgeous, supportive wife who I’ve loved for nearly half of my life now. And two remarkable children who I’m so incredibly proud of.”

  Evan looked at everyone before finishing, including Everett. “I’m proud of everything I’ve done in my first forty years, and even prouder to know that I’m just getting started.” He looked down at the burrito cake. “Can we start eating, or are we opening presents first?”

  It was hard not to feel envious, but Everett shut that part of himself off. He shouldn’t be seeing everything around him as “the life he never had” when it was so clearly “the life he could still achieve.” But he suddenly felt thirty pounds too heavy and ten years behind his older brother, instead of the few seconds their birth certificates claimed.

  He forced himself to smile while Evan opened his presents, feeling more and more out of place. He was used to being a third wheel. Or an unwanted unicycle lying unloved in the corner. But right now he felt like that unicycle getting dragged behind the train on its way to an entirely different circus.

  Evan unwrapped a set of drinking glasses and some sort of fitness tracker.

  The glasses didn’t seem all that special, but Evan’s expression was almost awed as he seemed to weigh them, moving the set with affection from one hand to the other.

  “These are gorgeous,” Evan said in admiration.

  Bill gave his adopted son an appreciative nod. “A whiskey is only as refined as the glass it’s served in.”

  Evan made a fuss over the fitness tracker too, which apparently recorded a lot more than steps.

  Harmony gave him a pair of sunglasses, and Jazz gave him a homemade mug that read World’s Greatest Dad.

  Evan was having the most boring birthday ever.

  Two boxes left, both from Klair, though she snatched the smaller one away, quickly and with obvious embarrassment. “Sorry, that one’s not supposed to be there.”

  “What is it?” Jazz asked.

  “Something gross,” Harmony said.

  “It’s for your father.” Klair put the smaller box into a drawer in the sideboard.

  The bigger box was a new espresso maker. Silver and black, better than the secondhand monstrosity that Everett had scrounged for Java Joe’s.

  “I know you’ve been wanting a new one,” Klair said.

  “It’s perfect.” Evan pulled the espresso maker out of its box, set it gently on the counter, and began to study it with an appreciative gaze. “I love it.”

  “This man adores his coffee,” Klair explained to Everett. “And our old maker’s been on the fritz for a while.”

  “Someone used milk instead of water,” Jazz said, with a sideways glance at his sister.

  “This one comes with a frothing pitcher, a tamping tool, and a measuring spoon.”

  “I think they all do, Mom.” Harmony looked like she was dying to roll her eyes.

  Klair laughed. “Well, they’re better in this model.”

  “Your mother’s right.” Evan gave her a kiss. “Thank you for everything.”

  “Are those from you, dear?” Dorothy asked Everett, gesturing to the Gameway bags still sitting on the table.

  “Oh yeah, they’re nothing.”

  “It’s not nothing,” Evan said, looking to Jazz. “It’s two Infinite Fidelity units.”

  “REALLY?” Everett had never seen a happier child. “I thought you said we couldn’t get that yet.”

  “I did.” Evan tousled his hair. “But it looks like I was wrong.”

  Jazz ran over to the bags and started digging for treasure.

  “What’s this?” Evan asked, pulling out a bag of Beaver Nuggets.

  “They’re from Buc-ee’s,” Klair explained, almost apologetically.

  Cake was served and quietly eaten, then the tiny crowd dispersed. Jazz went back to the pair of Infinite Fidelity units and began to unbox them. Everett tried to make small talk with Bill and Dorothy, but when even that felt like too much heavy lifting, he walked over and attempted to engage Harmony in a friendly exchange. She somehow managed to make him feel older, younger, and dumber than anyone else.

  After Bill and Dorothy bid their farewells, Klair and Evan retreated to a corner of the kitchen to whisper. Probably about Everett, or maybe about whatever was in Evan’s little box. Either way, he should get going. He just needed five minutes to talk with his brother first.

  Everett circled the living room, looking at pictures on the mantle displaying the life he could’ve had. Jealousy swelled, worse than before.

  Not the life he could have had, the life he should have had.

  The life he didn’t have, because Bill and Dorothy hadn’t wanted him.

  Was it chance that they had chosen Evan over him, or had they sensed a difference between the boys that made Evan a better fit for this life?

  Did Evan have something that Everett had lacked from the start?

  How could that be, when they were identical twins?

  Everett reminded himself that this was his family too. They just had to get used to each other. He would prove that he was just as good as Evan. Make them see what a mistake they’d made in choosing one twin while abandoning the other.

  But it still wouldn’t make up for everything Everett had missed out on in life by being second.

  Chapter Eleven

  Klair finally sent the children upstairs, with instructions to get ready for bed. Then she turned to their guest.

  “It was really good meeting you, Rhett.” She gave him an awkward hug. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again.”

  The word soon was conspicuously missing from the end of her sentence.

  “I was hoping for a few minutes alone with my brother?” Everett didn’t need a lot, just enough to feel something there. He could come back tomorrow, or even the day after that. It wasn’t fair how he had surprised them. Definitely not his smartest move. Fair enough, lesson learned.

  “Oh, of course.” A spot of color on her pale cheeks. “Don’t keep him too long.”

  She turned to her husband with what he imagined as hurry up in her eyes, then went upstairs herself.

  Finally, a moment alone.

  But before he could thank Evan for his hospitality, Evan asked, “So, where are you staying?”

  “Oh … um …” That caught Everett off guard, even though he should have been fully prepared. “I know this is really stupid, but I was just so excited about driving out here and meeting … well, all of you guys … I didn’t stop to book anything.” He offered Evan a brittle, awkward laugh. “One thing at a time, I guess.”

  Evan stared at him, as if chewing on a thought.

  “How long are you planning on staying in Austin?”

  Everett didn’t know how to respond. His actual answer was, As long as you’ll have me.

  But in truth, if Everett was paying for his own room, then he couldn’t really afford to stay a day. He needed to get back to El Paso and return the Mustang, pay for the work on his Aspire, then drive that piece of shit all the way back to California.

  That reminded him of the unanswered texts and voicemail from Clara, plus the two messages from Devon and Derek that he still hadn’t answered.

  “My only plan was to meet my brother … I just found out that you existed and got carried away. I’m really sorry about that … I don’t want to impose at all.” Everett straightened his shoulders. “I can be away from the restaurant for about a week — you know how it is — but I can also leave in the morning … if that’s better for you and everyone else.”

  “Come on.” Evan clapped him on the shoulder, if not like a brother then at least like a buddy. “You can stay in the guest house if it’s just one night.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. That’s what it’s for. Follow me.”

  His time was expiring. Klair was waiting for Evan upstairs. Long lost brother or not, Everett had a good idea what he was delaying.

  If he had something to say, then he needed to say it.

  Now, before their walk was over. Any second … they were already past the pool, a few feet away from the guest house. He needed an opening line, but his head was even emptier than his checking account.

  Evan stopped at the guest house and opened the door. “After you.”

  “Thanks.” Everett stepped past his brother and looked around the living room, which was bigger than his entire apartment. And a thousand times nicer.

  But for Evan, this was all extra. Another little home in his back yard, just in case.

  How could Everett be so jealous of the man he’d been waiting his entire life to meet?

  Evan was dying to get out of there, Everett could see it in his eyes and the way he hovered in the open doorway, seemingly waiting for permission to go.

  Everett had to remind himself that Evan hadn’t asked for any of this. While he’d had several days to think about this meeting, his brother had awoken this morning without any idea that he had a twin who would appear without warning at his party.

  Evan would rest his head on a soft pillow beside his beautiful wife while Everett would spend the next several hours tossing and turning in the guest house alone. At least he wasn’t looking for a room at La Quinta. He should be grateful that Evan hadn’t kicked him out.

  “You need anything else?” Evan asked.

  “No, I’m good.” But then he shook his head. “Actually, I was really hoping we could stay up and talk a little. Maybe get to know one another.”

  Evan sighed with what sounded like relief. Like maybe he’d been expecting the request and could put it to bed. “I understand, and I’m sorry, but it’s been a long—”

  “Maybe in the morning?”

  “There’s a lot to do at the restaurant. I’m an early to bed, early to rise kind of guy.”

  “Me too. We move a lot of coffee in my restaurant. So, early hours.”

  “Then you understand,” Evan said.

  “Well, yeah, under normal circumstances. But it’s not every day you meet your long-lost twin.”

  “I know. And I’m sorry.” Evan’s face softened. “I do get where you’re coming from, and I swear this isn’t personal. But I just found out that you’d be here a few hours ago, after my day and night were already planned.”

  “I understand.” And he did, no matter how much it hurt.

  “It’s been a long day, and tomorrow promises to be even longer. But I promise, we’ll figure out a time to catch up, okay?”

  “Cool,” Everett agreed with a smile.

  Evan surprised him with a hug. “Thanks for driving all this way.”

  “Thanks for having me.”

 

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