Page 64 of The Fall Before Flight

My jaw drops. “What the fuck for?”

She smiles, shaking her head. “You don’t see it, but we do. Your problem—if you have one—is that you’re too alive. When the rest of us tried to hide and ignore our broken wings, you tried to fly with them.”

I’m so stunned, I just stare at her. My heart thunders in my chest. “I slept with him,” I blurt. “With Leo. The night we went camping. That’s why he bailed, not because of his kid.”

Kinsey blinks rapidly, processing, then squeals in laughter and shoves me hard, rocking me on the stoop. Then she falls onto her back, laughing so hard tears stream from her eyes.

“Oh my God, I’m dying,” she gasps. “Dying of how awesome this is.”

“It’s not awesome,” I hiss. “I broke the poor man and now he hates me and probably himself. Who does that? Who sleeps with their therapist? And keep your voice down, will you? This is fucking top secret.”

Wiping her tears, Kinsey sits up and crosses her heart. “I won’t tell anyone, Mia. Promise.” She sobers—a little. “Are you going to look him up when you get out? His practice is in L.A.”

“No. Fuck no. What could I possibly say? Hey, Doc, sorry I almost destroyed your credibility and career. How do you feel about dating ex-patients?” I shudder. “I’d rather stay in Oasis for the rest of my life.”

Kinsey’s arm wraps around my shoulders. “Hey, you do get that he’s equally responsible for what happened, right? He’s a grown man. He could have told you to get lost.”

Her words, though welcome, do little to soothe the storm inside me. Covering my face with my hands, I mumble, “I don’t even know if what I feel is real or some side effect of the therapy. I’ve never been that vulnerable with anyone who wasn’t my brother. It probably messed with my head.”

“I don’t know the answers, Mia,” she murmurs into my hair. “All I know is we aren’t the same people we were when we got here. And that you’re meeting me for coffee next week. Regret lives in the past and fear in the future, but neither exist in the present. Let’s live in the moment, one day at a time.”

My hands falling, I glower at her. “I don’t even know where to start with that pseudo-spiritual mashup of bullshit.”

She smirks. “That’s my girl. So tell me, is Leo hung or what?”

I groan. Then I tell her about the freakiest, best sex ever. She listens with wide eyes and when I’m finished says succinctly, “You’re screwed.”

Tell me something I don’t know.

27

GOODBYE

DAY 28

Early Monday morning, I’m roused from weird dreams about surfing on a sand dune by a pounding on the door of my cabin.

“Mia, open up!” shouts a familiar voice.

Stuck in that viscous moment between sleep and waking, I decide I’m still dreaming. The curtains are still dark with night. There’s no way Jameson is outside right now.

The door rattles, and his low voice snaps, “Give me the damned key!”

The sound of the door swinging open brings me fully awake. I snap upright, yanking the sheet over my bare chest, to see two dark figures standing in the doorway. One of them flips on the overhead lights.

My eyes bug out. “Jaybird? What the…” My voice fails as I see the man beside him. “Le—Dr. Chastain? What’s going on?”

Jameson is across the room in seconds, blocking my view of Leo. My brother reaches for me, then frowns. “I forgot you sleep naked. Get dressed. We have to go, Meerkat.”

I blink dumbly. “Huh?”

A drawer opens and Leo tosses a shirt onto the bed. Feeling like I’m in the Twilight Zone, I watch him move to the closet and pull out my suitcase, then start tossing all my clothes inside. His shoulders are tense, his gaze never once veering my way.

The last cobwebs clear from my mind. “What the hell is going on?” I snap at Jameson. He hands me the shirt, then meets my gaze. What I see in his eyes makes my stomach bottom out.

“Jaybird?” I whisper.

He nods, swallowing and rubbing at his eyes. “It’s Dad. He had a massive heart attack last night. He’s stable right now but is scheduled for bypass surgery in two days. I couldn’t get ahold of anyone here, so I called Dr. Chastain. He was kind enough to drive out with me.”

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