Her body jerking with a sob as she curled into me, her voice soft and small as she rambled, “Oh God, oh my God, how is this happening? Beau, she’s dying—Leighton’s dying.”
I stepped back until I hit a wall, then slid down to the floor while keeping her in my arms. “I know,” I said, voice tight as I lowered my head to hers.
“She’s so tiny, Beau. How did she hide that from everyone? And her parents just don’t care or don’t get it. Her mom opened the door and told me to keep it down while I was there since they were being forced to work from home now. I wanted to scream at her that, for once, their daughter needed to be more important.”
“They’ve always been assholes,” I reminded her gently.
“If they would just look at her, they would see how everything about her is so weak and fragile. She even—” Savannah’s head shook against my neck. “She fell asleep in the middle of a sentence,” she whispered as if it had terrified her.
I ran one of my hands up and down her shuddering back, trying so damn hard to be strong for my wife when the girl we were talking about had been a constant in my family’s lives since she and Sawyer were in preschool.
But there was nothing to say. We had all missed it because Leighton had wanted it that way, had manipulated it that way, and now we were too late. And my brother was putting that blame on himself.
“Did Sawyer get there?”
“Yeah,” Savannah said through shaky breaths. “He had a huge bag of food, and he looked—God, he looked so confident that today would be the day she kept something down. He’s so sure he can reverse what’s already been done. It’s breaking my heart.”
“I know.” I passed a kiss across her forehead before letting my head fall back against the wall as I continued that battle. As those flashes came faster and faster.
“I feel so heavy,” she mumbled a few minutes later. “My body, my heart . . . everything feels so heavy lately. How are we supposed to get through all this?”
“Together,” I said without hesitation.
Her fingers brushed against my cheek, and I turned my head to press my lips to them before climbing to my feet with her secured in my arms.
She didn’t protest or reveal her surprise. Just burrowed her head deeper against my neck as I started through the entryway and climbed the stairs, letting me carry her to our bathroom.
Setting her on the edge of the counter, I removed my arms from her slowly. Lingering. Holding and touching her to remind her that I had her. That I was still there.
That I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Stay,” I mumbled before pulling away and walking over to the tub. Turning on the water and waiting for it to warm up before putting down the stopper to let it fill.
An exhausted hum of appreciation sounded in her throat when I made it back to her, her golden eyes slipping shut as I stepped between her legs to hold her close.
“We’ll get through this together,” I repeated, lifting my hand to trail my knuckles down her jaw. “Just like we have everything else.”
“Okay,” she said softly, the corners of her mouth lifting.
Pressing a slow, lingering kiss there, I lifted the shirt off her body and let it fall to the floor before unclasping her bra and helping her off the counter. When I reached for her shorts, she grabbed the bottom of my shirt, but I stopped her.
“This is for you,” I explained when her stare met mine, all questions and need and pain.
“Will you stay?” she asked quickly. Eyes searching, pleading.
“Of course.”
Once the rest of her clothes were on the floor, I led her into the tub and watched as she slowly sank into the water. Each movement somehow graceful and sensual without her even trying.
Kneeling beside the tub when she rested her arm on the edge of it to look at me, I dipped my hand into the water to pour it over her arm and shoulder and breasts.
Another one of those appreciative hums sounded, her eyelids fluttering shut. “How did it go with your family?”
My hand paused just above the water before I cupped another handful. “My mom’s asleep in one of the guestrooms,” I said instead. When Savannah opened her eyes wide with surprise, I explained, “She said she couldn’t be there anymore. Too big, too painful. Said a few times on the way here and after we got here that she doesn’t wanna live there at all. That she thought it would be best for her and Sawyer if they got out of there.” I nodded, swallowing thickly as I tried to block out the image of my mom when I’d found her in the kitchen. “She might change her mind later. She needs to rest. Grieve. She went right into caring for Leighton—same as Sawyer. They’re both gonna break if they don’t slow down soon.”
Savannah nodded as she rested her head on her arm. “And if she decides to move out? What happens to the house?”
I focused on the water pouring out of my hand and over her skin for a moment before saying, “Hunter took it.”
“Took . . . what do you mean he took it?”
I heaved a sigh as I leaned forward to turn off the water, then sat back and held her stare. “Dad left the house—everything—to one of his sons. Well, Me, Hunter, or Sawyer, because Cayson wasn’t listed as one of his sons, and that slight had nothing to do with him leaving.”
Savannah’s mouth parted in shock, but sadness etched deep within her eyes. “Oh, Beau . . .”
“Whatever, he’s brought it on himself.”
“Beau,” she whispered, her hand reaching out to touch my free one at the pain in my voice.
I was pretty fucking sure I hated my brother.
His leaving after our party started a domino effect that was the cause of my world shattering. I was also pretty damn sure my dad would still be alive if Cayson hadn’t left.
But for Dad to have cut him out of his will over five years ago? I wasn’t even sure Cayson had gotten his first arrest five years ago, and even those had all been bullshit. If anyone deserved to be cut out, we all knew it was me for what I’d done and put my parents through.
As much as I hated Cayson, as much as I never wanted to see him again for what he’d done to our family, I’d felt bad for him during that reading.
With another weighted exhale, I told Savannah about the rest of the will reading. How everything had blown up between us when the orchard had been up for grabs and how we’d left it, then circled back around to how I’d found Sawyer and my mom when I’d first walked in.
“Maybe they should get out of there and let Hunter have it,” I said as I watched the water run from between my fingers and over her skin. “Might be too many memories for them to heal the way they need to.”
“How are you?” Savannah asked suddenly.
“I’m fine,” I responded immediately, stare darting to hers at the unexpected question. “I just wanna take care of you. Help you. And I need to find a way to help my mom and Sawyer before they break from all this, but I’m struggling to figure out how.”
“Because you need someone to take care of you too.”
I gave her an amused look, the corner of my mouth ticking up. “I’m fine.”
“You can’t take all this on by yourself, and no one expects you to. Together, right?”