Nate did have to go to Hong Kong. He texted Shay and told her he would be hard to get a hold of for a few days, but he would call her when he got back. There was a moment that Shay thought about flying over to Hong Kong herself, but if he was only gone for a few days, they might cross paths mid-air with the time difference.

The next evening, Shay was sitting in the kitchen at the counter working on some last-minute details for the trip to Africa when Sawyer and Sullivan entered together. Neither one said a word as Sawyer closed her laptop, took her by the arm, and led her to the comfy sofas in the living room, and as he pushed her into a couch, Sullivan made them all drinks.

"What's going on?" Shay asked as she looked suspiciously from one brother to the other.

"You know, I can't remember the last time it was just the three of us alone together," Sawyer mused as he accepted his drink from Sullivan.

"It was probably in the womb," Shay quipped as she accepted her drink from Sullivan, who sat in the chair across from her.

They were all very different from each other, not only in looks but also in personality. Sullivan was dark and brooding, Sawyer was light and handsome, and Shay was... well, she was... what was she? She had no clue how she would describe herself against her brothers.

"Is it Momma or Pops?" Shay asked, frowning.

"No, it's about you," Sullivan said as he swallowed some of his drink.

"Me? What about me? Am I dying or something?" Shay joked in an attempt to lighten the very heavy mood that hung over the living room.

"No, but we are worried about you," Sullivan watched Shay's eyes grow wide as she looked from one to the other. Even Sawyer looked serious for a change.

"Since when?" Shay knew it sounded harsh, but it had been forever, if ever, that they had shown any concern for her.

"We're always concerned for you, Shay," Sawyer said seriously.

Shay looked back and forth between them. She wanted to believe them, but up until this moment, they had never expressed worry or concern for her well-being before.

"You don't believe us, do you?" Sullivan asked in a quiet voice.

"Honestly, no. If you have been worried or concerned for me in the past, you've never expressed it." Shay shrugged. "But out of curiosity, what specifically are you concerned about?" Shay drained her drink and set it on the table in front of her.

"It's this Nathan Wright fellow. We've heard things," Sawyer drained his glass and set it on the table in front of him.

Shay tilted her head. "What have you heard?"

"He's a bit of a player. We don't want you to get hurt." Sullivan drained his drink, set it on the table then got up to get the bottle of whisky from the bar behind them.

"It's a little bit late in the game to start playing the worried brothers card." Shay snorted, thinking about Brody. If they had cared then, would that have turned out differently?

Sawyer and Shay watched as Sullivan refilled all of their glasses.

"Do we need to be drunk to have this conversation?" Shay queried as she knocked back her drink again, and her brothers followed suit.

"Probably wouldn't hurt," Sawyer choked as the whisky hit his throat.

"Wuss, I could always out drink you," Shay insisted as she pushed her glass toward Sullivan for another refill.

Did they really think that Nate was a player? The idea of it, now that she knew Nate tickled her sense of humor, but perhaps that was the whisky.

"Not true!" Sawyer objected as they looked at each other and downed another round.

"That's three!" Shay pushed her glass back toward Sullivan, who hadn't had a third one.

"No more," Sullivan said as she put the whisky decanter on the floor beside him.

"Nathan?" Sawyer demanded, leaning back into his chair. "You're no longer working for him, but you're still having dinner with him. That suggests a relationship of some sort."

"Does it? I think it's a little two-faced of you to judge Nate for dating so much when you do the exact thing. You always seem to have a new girl on your arm, and now you have Paloma. What's that all about?" Shay leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.

"Are you in love with him?" Sawyer demanded.

Sullivan was watching his triplet sister closely. "Let's back up a minute." His eyes drilled into Shay as if trying to read her soul, making her nervous.

"You have now eluded twice to the idea that we didn't care when we should have. What are we missing?" Sullivan leaned forward, and Sawyer followed his lead as they both stared her down.

"Nothing that matters anymore," Shay shrugged again.

"But it did matter, and we missed it?" Sullivan asked, leaning wearily back in his chair.

Shay shrugged again, and both men considered her silently, realizing for the first time that her life hadn't been a bed of roses like they had thought.

"Was it bad?" Sawyer questioned as he watched her with concern.

Shay pursed her lips. "It was bad," she confirmed as thoughts of Brody chased their way through her mind. She pushed her glass once more toward Sullivan, who nodded and poured them all another drink.

"Did you get help from someone?" Sawyer's voice broke in concern, making Shay's eyes smart.

"Sure, I talked to a therapist a few years back, but all they do is tell you it's not your fault, blah, blah, blah. It helped a little." Shay sipped her drink this time, looking at the amber-colored liquid as if it held all the answers.

"What wasn't your fault?" Sullivan tried again, but Shay shook her head. She wouldn't tell them.

"Aren't you worried about Nathan Wright hurting you again?" Sawyer asked gently.

"No, therapy helped a little, but I think what will help the most is having a good man in my life who can teach me how good men treat women they value and respect. Until I experience that, I'll never fully understand the difference, no matter how many times a therapist behind a desk tells me." Shay drained her glass and set it down, and when Sullivan offered another, she declined.

"Tell us about Nathan?" Sawyer hadn't touched his drink.

Shay smiled at the thought of him. "He's kind and loyal. He's an obnoxious rule follower who has the strongest code of morals that I've ever experienced. Nate's an artist and a builder. He has a degree in engineering, which is what he really wants to do, but Wright Financial is the family business, so he trudges along, building on the side. He bought a building and fixed it up for all the tenants. They're all elderly, so he keeps the rent low. They love him."

"And so do you, by the sound of it," Sawyer smiled.

"What would you know about falling in love?" Shay snorted, embarrassed that he had seen through her.

Shay couldn't keep denying that she had fallen for Nathan Wright when everyone else could see that she had.

She watched her brother's smile fade as he reached for his glass and drained it. "More than you know."

"You're in love?" Shay was astounded at the thought.

"Yes, but she doesn't want me." Sawyer shrugged, but it was evident that he was hurting.

Shay couldn't help but wonder if a similar hurt lay in wait for her too.

"It's not Paloma?" Shay asked, looking from one brother to the other.

"No," Sawyer shook his head.

"As a woman, who wants very much to know that the man she is in love with loves her back, I don't think dating Paloma, even for convenience's sake, is the best way to prove yourself." Shay shook her head.

Although she knew Nate was going to go out with Danica, and while she was worried a little, she didn't doubt his interest in her because they were honest about it.

She did make Nate stutter, after all.

"It's more complicated than that," Sawyer leaned back in his seat and put his hands behind his head, closing his eyes.

"Promise us, you'll come to us if you need help," Sawyer abruptly leaned forward and looked at Shay with an intensity she had never seen before. "I'm sorry we weren't there for you when you needed us, but we're here now, and we want to be."

Shay nodded, fighting back tears.

"And I'm here if either one of you needs me," Shay returned. "However, I think Sully's got his love life pretty much figured out."

"I do, but it wasn't an easy road." Sullivan smiled.

"That's what Nate said last night. Nothing worth having is easy." Shay returned his smile through her tears.

"No, it's not," Sullivan agreed.

"Let's get drunk!" Sawyer sat up and reached for the bottle that Sullivan had sat on the table between them.

"I'll leave you two to do that. I'm going home." Sullivan stood.

"Phee has got you so whipped!" Sawyer hooted.

"Sully and Phee, sitting in a tree..." Shay started to sing, and Sawyer quickly joined her in mocking Sullivan. It was familiar footing, and the serious conversation was officially over.

Sullivan couldn't be baited as he placed his hand on Shay's shoulder and kissed her on the head. It was the first time he had ever done it, and it caught Shay off guard, but she managed to reach up and squeeze his hand before he stepped away.

"Don't drunk text me again!" Sullivan called over his shoulder as he left.

"Oh, we're drunk texting him, and maybe Pops too!" Sawyer snorted as he poured them both another round.

"Here's to love!" Sawyer lifted his glass and drank.

"Here's to good sex!" Shay toasted and watched as Sawyer started to choke.

"That's really gross, Shay, and a totally unnecessary thing for you to say!" He poured another drink.

Shay rolled her eyes. "Forgive me. I didn't know you were a prude!"

The rest of the evening was spent trying to one-up each other with only a little drunk texting involved.