Chapter 14A warm, gusty wind parted my lips and flushed my cheeks as Gabriel's motorcycle instinctively navigated the highway heading northbound through the Wharton Mountain range. When we were teenagers, he used to ride his two-speed bicycle to Crilly Lake to escape the monotony of family life. He always preferred to be alone when he needed to think, and I speculated that he was taking me to the place where he'd once made all the major decisions in his life. I wrapped my left arm around his chest to keep myself steady and let the other loosely grip the side of his waist. Somehow, it felt wrong for me to depend on my brother for support. It was supposed to be the other way around right now.
At the last exit in Wharton County, he slowed to take Dead Man's Curve at a reasonable speed. A kid
