"Jesus, Gus, can't you just be happy for her?" John pushed off the fence rail, releasing a huff as he straightened. A warm summer wind shimmered across the wheat fields and ruffled the hair around his face.

"I'm happy." Gus' hat was tipped down, shading his eyes as he contemplated the bottle of beer in his hands, his back sloped against the fence post. "She's happy. I'm happy."

John contemplated his brother a moment, then looked away. "Yeah. Right." He tipped his head back for a swig from his own bottle.

"He's a dock worker, John."

"Yeah, and he's a good man. Have you seen the way he looks at her?"

"He's got no future prospects."

"He's a bright guy, he'll figure something out."

"He's got no family to speak of."

"Neither does she."

The wind whipped the words away and a tense silence settled between the brothers. John turned aside, squinting his eyes towards the horizon. Gus stared at him. "She has us."

"Gus." John turned back to him, his blue eyes hard. "She's not your sister."

Another warm breeze sliced across the fields. Gus met his brother's eyes. The two of them squared off.

In the emptiness of Gus' silence, John repeated himself. "She's not your sister. She's not your wife, and she's not your sister."

Gus clenched his jaw. "She is my sister."

"No, she's not. She's my sister. She's your ex-wife." John held his brother with his gaze, refusing to let him look away. Gus narrowed his eyes beneath his hat. John jutted his chin. "You gonna hit me?"

"Thinking about it." Gus lifted his beer for a drink.

"Okay." John took a swig of beer as well and then looked out across the fields towards the house. Gus followed his eyes and turned to look with him.

The porch was shaded from the harshest of the afternoon sun. Eva slept, curled up on a bench, her head resting in Mason's lap, his fingers tangled in her hair. Jamie and Bran, Gus' little boys, played a racing game, back and forth across the porch, with Mason acting as referee. Their laughter carried across the fields to where Gus and John were standing.

"She had a nightmare last night."

"I heard it." John turned to look at Gus. "She had them when she was with you too."

"Yeah." Gus fell silent, watching his sons playing on the porch with Mason, watching the easy way he ran his fingers through Eva's hair, caressed her cheek, and kept her lulled into a gentle sleep. "Okay."

"You still want to hit me?"

"Yeah."

John watched his brother. "Want to hit him?"

"Yeah." Gus took another drink of his beer.

John nodded. "Better me than him. Alright, brother?"

"Yeah, alright."

"Come on." He reached out and slapped Gus on the back, pulling him into step beside him. "Let's go for a ride before dinner. You'll feel better."

Gus dragged his measuring eyes away from Mason and Eva and nodded. "Yeah, alright."