Wanting to Remember, Trying to Forget (Meet the Shepards, #1)

November

November, tenth. It was Kevin's twenty-first birthday today and Max had put off calling him the entire day. He rarely procrastinated, but Kevin was still mourning and Max did not want to say happy birthday to his brother when he knew this day would be anything but happy. It was his first birthday in fifteen years without Perry and Max didn't know if the phone call would make him feel better or worse.

He had called his mother earlier and she told him that Kevin had taken off a few days ago. He'd said nothing about where he was going or when he was coming back, but his brother leaving home was an indication that he wanted to be alone and this made Max second-guess giving him a call. Instead, he decided to text Jordan.

Max: Have you called Kevin yet?

Jordan: Nope. Not sure what to say to him

Max: Pansy!

Jordan: Ah, the pot and the kettle. Which one are you?

Max: The pot. I think you should call him first.

Jordan: NO WAY! I went into the room so now it's your turn.

Max groaned his frustration, knowing that even a text version of rock, paper, scissors would not convince Jordan.

"He's your brother, Max," Danny said from behind him. "You've been toying with your phone all day so just bite the bullet and call him."

Still feeling wary, Max scrolled down his contact list to Kevin's number. It rang twice before he answered.

"Hey, Max."

The light tone was not what he had been expecting to hear. "Hey, Kev. Happy birthday."

"Thanks."

"Mom says you're not at home."

There was a slight pause before he responded. "Yeah...I...uh...there's something I need to do...for Perry."

Max didn't ask what the something was. It was obviously personal. Instead he kept the conversation general. "So where are you?"

"I'm...hang on..."

Max heard shuffling and then the opening and closing of a door before Kevin's voice came over the line again.

"I just had to get out of there. It's the only way I can get some privacy."

"Where are you?" Max asked again.

"In the middle of nowhere," his brother shouted with exasperation, "stuck on this road trip with a girl who is literally fucking bat-shit crazy!"

"You have a low tolerance for people. I'm sure she's not that bad."

"Psycho is definitely bad. She's like Shane. She doesn't stop talking. Fucking Virgos!"

Max laughed. Even though they all hated it, their mother's obsession with star signs had filtered down to all of them.

"Her mouth runs on a motor," Kevin continued, "just on and on and on. I can't stand her! She's driving me fucking insane. I'm ready to strangle myself."

Kevin did not talk much but when he did, he cursed...a lot. Although his words were harsh, his tone was still light and Max couldn't help but wonder if this bat-shit crazy girl was the right kind of distraction for his little brother. Kevin's hurt was clearly overshadowed by his annoyance. The boy who hated talking was now stuck with a girl who didn't shut up and maybe that was exactly what he needed.

"So she took us on a like...a hundred thousand mile detour," Kevin complained, "and instead of this trip taking a few days, it's gonna take weeks. Weeks, Max! Fucking weeks alone with this girl, day in and day out. I won't survive—"