Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 97079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“How can we be sure she’s gone? What if she’s still here? Where’s Brody right now?”
“He went back to his room to sleep off his hangover,” Dad says.
“And Connor helped take care of the situation.” I swallow the pain. It’s too fresh. I’m too raw. Everything hurts.
Dad takes over, explaining what happened.
Tristan’s expression shifts from disbelief, to rage, to the deepest, most telling empathy. “Nate, man—”
“It was better me than you or Brody. I’m fine,” I grind out.
“You’re not fucking fine.” He curves his hand around the back of my neck, and I see it, his despair, like he’s reliving what it was like when she left us.
“I couldn’t have her ruin your wedding. I couldn’t let that happen.” I can feel his pain as deeply as my own.
Tristan’s face clouds with anguish. “I’m sorry, man. I’m so sorry.”
“She’s never going to fuck with us again,” I assure him, and maybe myself. “She can’t get to Brody anymore.”
“I wish I could have saved both of you from all of this,” Dad says brokenly.
“We can’t tell Brody.” Tristan turns his pleading gaze on Dad. “He can’t know she took money to stay out of our lives. We can’t make that his.”
“It stays between us,” Dad agrees.
“Rix knows she was here,” I tell Tristan.
“What? When did she find out?”
“Essie told her before the wedding. She was planning to tell you eventually, but she didn’t want it to taint the day.” It’s astounding how much pain one person can cause.
“I didn’t have the slightest clue.”
“That’s how she wanted it.” Everyone has been carrying the weight of this secret to protect each other.
His phone buzzes in his pocket. It’s Rix, based on the chime. “Bea’s looking for us.”
“You two head back.” I thumb over my shoulder. “I need a little breather.”
“You sure you’re okay, son?”
I nod. “Yes. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll check on you in a bit,” Dad says.
They both hug me before they head back up to find Rix.
All of this feels impossibly heavy, and the exhaustion is overwhelming.
We’re still keeping secrets, protecting Brody from more pain.
But I realize, as I head back to my room—alone, again—that if I don’t want history to keep repeating itself, I have to fix the problem. I have to fix myself.
CHAPTER 35
ESSIE
I’m bookended between my mom and Cammie as we board the plane, with Chase and my dad behind us. My stomach is in knots. We took a private transfer to the airport, but we’re on the same flight as Nate and his family. There’s security in being with my parents, and even my little sister, but it doesn’t stop the churning in my stomach or the sharp ache in my chest as we shuffle through first class. Gideon and Sophia are on the right, three rows back, and Nate and Brody are across the aisle on the left.
Sophia and Gideon wear matching empathetic smiles as we pass, and Brody waves at me, but all I get is the top of Nate’s head. His focus is on the phone in his hand. Brody elbows him, and he glances at his brother as we pass through into economy.
I changed my ticket so I could sit with my parents on the trip home. Tears prick behind my eyes, threatening to embarrass me in front of a plane full of mostly strangers.
I didn’t see Nate again after Isaac outed us yesterday. I kept it together when I talked to Rix, but as soon as I was alone, I lost it. I spent the rest of the day locked in my room, crying my heart out. My mom ended up staying with me overnight, leaving dad on his own for his last night in Aruba.
Mom takes the window seat, I take the middle, and Cammie starts to slide into the seat next to mine.
“You can sit with Chase,” I croak.
“We just spent the week together. He can handle sitting beside Dad for the next five hours.”
Tears start to fall again. Cammie drops into her seat, and she and my mom engulf me in a hug from both sides.
“It’ll be okay, honey,” Mom says softly.
That just makes me cry harder.
“I’m sorry you’re hurting,” Cammie mumbles into my hair.
“He can’t even look at me,” I sob.
Mom kisses my temple. “He has a lot going on right now. Give him some time to process it all.”
I swore her to secrecy before I told her what happened with Tristan’s mother, followed by Nate’s subsequent declaration and my insistence that he couldn’t possibly be falling for me. “What if when he processes it all, he still thinks I’m right? I don’t want to be right.”
“Brody told Chase that Nate hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday at brunch,” Cammie whispers. “And he wouldn’t leave his room at all yesterday.”
“I should have kept my stupid mouth shut.” I hiccup.
The flight attendant stops at our row and asks if everything is okay.