Free Can't Get Over You (Fortune's Island, Book 2) by Shirley Jump Page A

part of the family.”
    “Thank you, ma’am,” Brian said.
    “Suck-up,” Carter muttered. Brian just grinned.
    “I hear The Love Shack has some of the best clams on the island,” Sophie said. “I’ve been looking forward to those the whole trip out here.”
    Grace beamed. If there was anything she was more proud of than her kids, it was the restaurant. Sophie had unwittingly won major brownie points by praising it. “We do indeed. If you three want a clam bake, we can set that up on the back porch. Weather is nice today, and the tide’s coming in, so the view is spectacular.”
    “That sounds great,” Brian said. “You up for that, sis?”
    “Steamed clams, corn on the cob?” Sophie made a small mew. “Definitely.”
    Carter heard that sound escaping Sophie and, for a second, he completely forgot his promise to Brian. Sophie had let her hair down, and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse in the warm interior of The Love Shack—and that had Carter’s mind traveling down some definitely bad paths. Brian was his best friend, but the one thing his best friend had asked of him seemed to be the most impossible thing in the world right now.

EIGHT
    Zach’s cell phone rang just as he was getting into the car after a quick pre-performance night practice. Maybe it was because he was so used to just clicking answer and getting Jillian, or maybe because he was still walking around distracted and frustrated and mad at himself for last night, but he answered without checking the Caller ID.
    A robotic voice spoke into the phone in flat, lifeless notes: “An inmate from Cedar Junction State Prison is calling. To accept this call, please press one.”
    Zach’s finger hovered over the End Call button. Every time before, for the past six and a half years, he had done just that. Hung up without answering. After a year, his brother had stopped trying to call, except on Zach’s birthday and around Christmas. Then, six months ago, Keith had started calling again. Maybe hoping to reconnect before his release date.
    Zach did miss his brother—the brother he used to have. The one who hadn’t been this angry, rebellious hothead who had alienated almost everyone in his life. The brother who had let drugs and alcohol rule his choices, and derail him from the plans he’d made years ago with Zach.
    For just a moment last night, Zach had emulated the worst behavior of his older brother. He had let his anger dictate his choices—something Keith was famous for doing. That scaredZach—and made him want to redouble his efforts to keep Keith from having any influence over him whatsoever. But there was still a part of Zach, a foolish, sentimental part, that missed the brother he remembered from childhood. The one who would stay up late at night and tell him corny jokes and have farting contests.
    The phone was heavy in his hand, waiting for his response. One button to answer, another to avoid the call. At the last second, Zach’s thumb shifted left and up, then he pressed a single digit, and put the phone to his ear. “Yes, I accept the charges.” A few clicks, a moment when it sounded like the phone was in a tunnel, then Keith’s voice.
    “Wow. You…you picked up,” Keith said. “I mean, I didn’t think you would. All this time…”
    His brother sounded older. His voice was hoarser, harsher. Like he’d spent a lot of time yelling. In the background, there was shouting and arguing, and the constant sound of buzzing. Zach imagined his brother in a hallway somewhere, jostling for space among men three times bigger and five times meaner.
    “Yeah, well, I can’t talk long,” Zach said.
    “That’s okay. Whatever you got, man. I…” A pause. “I miss you, dude.”
    “You’ll be out soon.” It wasn’t saying he missed Keith, too, because he wasn’t sure he did. He missed the Keith he used to know, the big brother who would let Zach tag along on runs to the corner market to get a push-pop in the summer, or go on a