Fireproof - Bonus Scene

Heather

For the rest of Thanksgiving, my eyes went over and over to the ring sparkling on my finger, and then they’d drift across the table to my brother. Ever since Mason had followed through on his suggestion, Kevin had worn an expression I’d never seen on his face before. I couldn’t decode it. Something was going on with Kevin, certainly, but the proposal had somehow amplified it or made it worse.

He didn’t speak much, but I found his eyes lingering on my hand, and then searching my face, like he was looking for something.

It wasn’t until the meal was over and Kevin excused himself to go sit in Billy’s backyard overlooking the dairy and the pastures beyond that I had the opportunity to talk to him alone.

“Kevin, hey,” I said, lowering myself to sit beside him in the old wrought iron chairs facing the farm.

“Hey, yourself,” he said, a smile flickering across his face and then disappearing again as his gaze swept back across the landscape.

“What’s going on, Kev?” I asked him. The best way to get my brother to talk was to be straight up with him. It didn’t mean he’d answer, but at least he had to acknowledge that he was ignoring the question.

He shook his head lightly, then leaned it back against the chair, his eyes moving to the darkening sky overhead. “Just . . . did you ever wake up one day and realize nothing was quite what you thought?”

I had. My life in DC had been that way at the end. “Yeah. I think so. After I figured out the senator was not who I thought he was, and I started having to live in fear.”

“Yeah. Like that.”

“Kevin . . .”

He turned his head to look at me, the familiar blue eyes I’d looked to for reassurance my whole life swimming with clouds. “I don’t know who I am anymore, sis,” he said, his voice a rough whisper.

“I don’t understand. What happened?”

I thought I saw something flick through those eyes then—a memory or a regret. “Not something I want to talk about.” He turned his head to stare back at the indigo sky above.

“You’re not getting off that easy,” I told him, my gaze fixed on his face. “Tell me.”

He shook his head.

“Are you still in the Marine Corps?”

He shook his head again.

“Are you going back?”

“Only if they court-martial me.”

“Did you have permission to leave?” I asked, starting to worry more than I already had been.

“This time I did, yeah.” He glanced at me then, eyes full of sorrow.

“I don’t understand,” I told him.

Finally, he sat up and turned to me. “I know,” he said slowly. “And I’m sorry if I made you worry.” He dropped his head for a second and then looked up at me again, the shadows from the fading light making his face more angular and sharp. “Don’t worry about me, okay? But I do need to ask you something.”

“What?”

“Is it okay with you if I stay here?”

I felt the frown crease my face. “Here? In Vermont?”

“Yeah.”

I glanced around, confused. My brother had never stayed anywhere in his life. He was a rolling stone, untethered and always moving. Part of it had been his job, but much of it was his nature. Sometimes I wondered if Kevin was a lot like my dad—unsatisfied with what was in front of him, always searching. Only in Kevin’s case, he searched geographically, not by going through woman after woman. At least not that I knew of. “Of course,” I said. “For how long?”

He shook his head, dropping his eyes. “I don’t know. Until I figure some things out, I guess.”

I reached over and took Kevin’s hand in mine, an act that felt strange and backward. Kevin had taken care of me my whole life. Looked out for me, talked down bullies and boyfriends, and physically protected me more than once. Now I sensed it was my turn to repay the favor.

“I’ll talk to Mason,” I said. “But I’m sure you can keep the cottage. It was just going to sit empty anyway. He was going to use it as a guesthouse. You’ll be the first official guest.”

“I’ll get an apartment or something.”

I shook my head. “He won’t let you.”

Kevin met my gaze again then and held it for a long minute. “Thanks,” he said, his voice quiet and husky. “I mean it. And Heather? I’m really happy for you guys. I’ve never met a better guy than Mason.”

“I know,” I said, leaning into his side.

Kevin wrapped an arm around me, and we sat that way a long time, two kids who’d relied completely on each other growing up doing the same now as adults. I felt gratitude roll through me in swollen waves, almost overwhelming. Gratitude for my family, for the sweet man who’d proposed to me tonight, and for the ability to be the strength I believed my brother needed now.

“Whatever it is, Kev,” I whispered. “We’ll figure it out, okay?”

My brother’s voice was sad as he answered me, but he squeezed my shoulder firmly, giving me hope that my words were true. “Yeah, we will. One way or another.”

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