He’d checked to see if she had a wedding or engagement ring on and was surprised that she didn’t. He knew she was a lawyer, and lived in D.C., but she hadn’t given much away when they were speaking. She was a forbidden topic in the Riley household, out of respect for his brother, and to keep the peace. Steven had always liked her, even when he knew he shouldn’t. Steven got up the next morning and drove toward the mountains to find his brother. He didn’t know if he was doing the right thing or not, but the urge to check on his kid brother, after seeing Christina, was overwhelming. He pulled into the small town of Lift and drove to the buildings his brother was working on. He couldn’t see him anywhere, so Steven honked the horn, called out “NICK” and waited.When Riley heard the horn blast and someone calling “Nick,” he knew it must be his brother. Riley’s immediate family were the only ones who called him by his actual Christian name. He’d been given two: Nicholas and Xavier but went by his surname. It had started as an in-joke. He’d been reprimanded so often by authority figures and addressed as “RILEY”
