But Eli realized now that it didn’t matter. He was essentially family. Had always been family.
He was stuck with him.
And if he pulled any shit like that again, Eli would arrest him again.
Jonah was staring at him shrewdly.
“You got something on your mind, Barlow. You’re not just here to soak up the ambience. Or my pretty face.”
Eli figured he might as well come out with it.
“Yeah. I came to tell you I’m in love with your sister.”
Jonah went perfectly still. Oddly, his expression didn’t change.
“You mean Glory,” he said neutrally. Finally.
“Yeah. I mean Glory.”
He was silent for a long time.
“Well, yeah, I knew that.” Jonah sounded faintly puzzled.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the sun rises in the east, the earth revolves around the sun, and you’re in love with Glory. I think I’ve known that for at least as long as you’ve known it. Not consciously, but it was just sort of always there. I just didn’t know if you’d ever find the right time to do something about it.”
Eli didn’t know what to say.
“Shit,” Eli finally said, eloquently, in surprise.
Jonah laughed.
“Better you than that dip Mick Macklemore.”
“Flattered.
“She loves me, too, by the way,” he added, a moment later.
“Yeah. I guess I kind of knew that, too.”
Jonah was smiling at him.
Eli felt himself blush. In a prison, and he was blushing. “I guess I wanted you to know. I’m going to marry her.”
Jonah went still again. And then he drew in a long, long breath, and released it. He nodded.
They didn’t bother saying all the stuff that was understood: that Jonah would miss the wedding. Would miss a lot of very important things, in fact.
“Congratulations, then, buddy,” Jonah finally said. Quietly.
“Thanks,” Eli said gruffly.
They were quiet a moment.
Jonah quirked the corner of his mouth. “Hey, I hear some movie star bought my old house.”
“Yeah. John Tennessee McCord. Good guy.”