It wasn't the good kind of busy, though. She wasn't entirely sure he knew that himself, or if he did he had no idea how the hell to turn it around. It was so familiar that it hurt to think about.
"I wouldn't have noticed either, had Mum not owled everyone in the universe trying to figure out where Natalie was. It was heartbreaking, really. She kept asking for him and Mum didn't know what to say."
She probably shouldn't drain her beer so quickly while talking about her brother's drinking problems, but it reminded her too damn much about the past.
"Don't do it just yet," she said. "He got a bit cranky and - well, a bit pathetic - when I did it in his journal the other day. I'm going to stop by the shop next week, I think. Lock him in the stock room if I have to, until he talks to me."