I scoffed a little and laughed when I leaned back so far that my hair touched the ground when the swing swooped past her. “The only reason he always got the babysitting gigs was because I was so unreliable. He was boring, and I was the fun one.” I dragged a foot to slow myself down and turned my head to look at my cousin. “He’s closing in on thirty. It would probably be even weirder if he wasn’t settling down and having kids at this point in his life. The process has just been harder for him than for most guys his age. That’s the way it always seems to work out for the Fullers.”
“If he’s closing in on thirty, then so are you.” Her pale eyebrows lifted in a taunting manner. Once again, I had to remind myself not to let her rile me up. She was doing it on purpose because she wanted an excuse to fight. But her aim was off, and she should know enough about me to know I was never an easy target. “Isn’t it about time you started acting like an actual adult?”
“What’s an actual adult? Someone who pays taxes and goes to work every day? Someone who does the dishes and separates their laundry? Someone who locks the door and remembers to pay the parking meter when they go out? I do all of that, but I’m still fun. Being an adult doesn’t mean you have to stop being who you are or forget about the things in life that you like. I’m just a different kind of adult, is all.” I reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a push, so she swung sideways. She didn’t catch herself when she swung back into me, knocking into my side hard enough that it hurt and rattled my teeth together. “I’m the one adult in your life who has been where you are right now in your head, Daire. I’m the adult who gets what you’re going through with painful accuracy. I’m here if you need anything, and when you’re ready to fix what’s wrong, you will get absolutely no judgment from me.”
Daire pushed out of the swing and got to her feet. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her dirty jeans and glared down at the ground in front of her. A very loud crack of thunder rumbled across the sky and raised the hair on my arms. It was almost as if nature was reading the mood of the Archer girls and reacting accordingly.
I looked up just as a raindrop landed on the end of my nose. I wrinkled it out of reflex as Daire practically growled, “I’m fine. Everything is fine. I wish everyone would stop acting like there is something wrong with me. So what if I’m pissed Ry up and decided to leave for some girl? They could break up any day, and it’s not like Bowe was ever particularly nice to him. He was much better off with Aston.”
I heard her sniff and watched as she dragged the back of her hand across her nose. She looked like she was going to break into a million pieces at any moment. I climbed out of the swing as the sky opened up. I was almost instantly drenched as I moved to my cousin, who was visibly shaking as she wrapped her arms around herself. I knew what it was like to want to physically hold yourself together. I also knew how hard it was to ask for help when there was simply too much damage to contain in your own arms.
I hugged Daire even as she struggled to break free. I’m sure it was quite a sight to see since I was three inches shorter than her, and we were both now soaked to the skin, our clothes plastered to us as it continued to pour.
“I didn’t say there was something wrong with you or that you need to be fixed, Daire. I said I would help you fix what is wrong in your life right now. Your mind is a tangible thing, something that can be injured, or even broken, considering the trauma you’ve been through. It can also get better.” I tightened my hold on her as she continued to fight and told her seriously, “You can be mad at Ry for whatever reason makes sense to you. You can feel bad because he left you here alone when you needed him. You can even blame him for picking a path that took him closer to the girl he likes and away from you, if you want, but at the end of the day, none of that is going to make you feel better. You’re going to get madder and madder. You’re going to find more reasons to push the people who love you away. You’re going to convince yourself you’re better off alone because no one understands, but you are wrong. I understand, and if you think I’m going to let you follow in my footsteps without fighting you every damn step of the way, then you are sadly mistaken.”
She managed to wiggle out of my hold, mostly because we were both so wet, but she didn’t run away when she was free. Instead, she looked at me, and I could see her internal struggle clearly outlined in her bright eyes.
She puffed out a breath and looked me up and down. “You look like a wet poodle.”
I shook my soggy curls away from my face and laughed. “And you look like a fairy princess who went on a bender. Seriously, you need to take a shower and brush your hair. If you don’t want to do more than that today, if anything else feels too hard, that’s okay. Just do what you can do. I’ll help you.” I looked across the now drenched playground to where I’d parked one of my brother’s less scary motorcycles. I was a competent rider, and confident I could handle the machine, but not in the rain. It was a good thing my aunt and uncle’s house was close by. It was also a good thing that Daire hadn’t left for college at the start of fall like she originally planned. Where she was at mentally right now would’ve led to a disaster if she’d stayed enrolled.
I kept an arm around her even though the height difference made it a struggle as we silently walked toward her house. Right when we were about to reach her front door, Daire pulled to a stop and gave me a serious look. It was still a lot sadder than her usual looks, but I no longer felt like she was trying to stab daggers into my soul with her eyes.
“How was it really? Seeing Hyde and the baby. I know you’ve seen him here and there when he was home on leave, but you always knew he would be gone any minute. It had to be different this time.”
I sighed heavily and rested my cheek on her damp shoulder. “It was different. I mean, I didn’t see the baby, just a lot of frilly pink stuff and a sign with her name. Hyde looks different. Kind of like you. Like a battered, kicked-around version of the person I remember. He’s thin and looks a little bit like he might break at any moment. It’s obvious he’s been through a lot.” His red, swollen eyes were firmly implanted in my mind as a stark reminder that he had recently lost the woman he loved and was not only adjusting to being a new parent, but also grieving the loss of a loved one.
I made another sound as she pushed open the front door. “He’s still ridiculously handsome, though. That face of his never seems to have an off day.”
He had high cheekbones and a mouth that was always a little pouty and full. He always looked like he was getting ready to lay a big ol’ kiss on someone, which was good since he didn’t smile much. His mouth was his one friendly and soft feature. The rest were all sharp and pronounced. His looks suited his serious personality. His green eyes were so intense under his thick, dark brows, and even with his hair shaved so close to his head, he looked cool and trendy. Instead of being perpetually tan and swarthy like his dad, Hyde was on the paler side, and even after all the years spent in the military, he was still tall and lean, rather than built like a linebacker. His strength wasn’t super obvious at first glance, but once you got to know him, you could see the steel that lined his spine and the iron he kept wrapped around his heart.