Page 89 of Hard To Stay

“Alexis told us everything you’ve done for her. Thank you for looking out for her and for keeping her safe. And thank you for helping Laney. Our family will forever be indebted to you.”

Brad squeezed my hand and glanced down at me. The lines around his eyes softened as he kissed my temple. “Sir, you don’t need to thank me. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for Lexi. Laney was a victim, too, and they both deserved to see justice served.”

God, my poor sister.

“Yes, about that.” My dad said, moving across the room. He pulled Laney into his arms. I dragged a hand through my hair and tried to calm myself down. I wanted to puke every time I thought about standing outside that door and doing nothing. I couldn’t even look at my sister because I was so ashamed.

“Hey,” Brad pulled back to look at me, His expression softened. “Are you going to be okay?”

I wiped the tears from my eyes and forced a smile. “I’m fine. I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

He let go, and I made my way through the house. I needed a few minutes to myself to process everything. I was finishing up washing my hands when I heard a light tap on the door. I pulled it open to see my sister standing in front of me. Her lip trembled as she leaned against the doorframe.

“Please don’t blame yourself. You had no way of knowing what really happened.” My heart dropped to my feet as I continued to stare at her. “It’s not like I screamed for help. I was so paralyzed by fear, I just couldn’t…”

She broke down into hysterics. I did my best to calm her down; the words she needed to hear didn’t seem like enough though. She was a mess, I was a mess. My heart bled for her. There was nothing I could say that would ever make it right.

“We’ve both been through more than two people should ever have to go through.” I kissed her head. She dropped her arms to her side and sobbed quietly as I stroked her hair. “We’ll get through this together. I promise.”

After we dried our tears and had our moment. We walked back out to the living room. My dad lifted himself off the couch when he saw us.

“Laney, I know you have an appointment tomorrow morning, but they just brought Colton down to the station for booking. The police called to see if you could come down now. They want to eliminate any chance of him getting bail.”

Laney sucked in a deep breath as her eyes flew to mine. For some reason I felt more nervous than she did. “I’ll go with you so you don’t have to face him alone.” It was the least I could do.

She smiled and glanced over to Brad who was being rather quiet. “No, that’s okay. You two have a lot to talk about. I’ll be fine. We’ll get together tomorrow.”

She was right. We had so much to talk about. I still didn’t know where we stood or what he was feeling. There were so many questions that I was scared to hear the answers to. But I needed those answers, regardless.

My dad cleared his throat and stuffed his hands in his pants pocket. “Thanks again for everything, young man. You’re more than welcome to stay here as our guest. We have plenty of room and would be honored if you would accept.”

“Thank you. But I actually have a room booked at the Marriott in Buckhead and it’s too late to cancel. I appreciate the offer. It was very kind.”

My dad walked over and wrapped me up in a hug. He kissed the top of my head and asked. “Will you be here when we get back?”

I could feel Brad’s gaze on me. When I glanced over and shared a look with him. I saw the worry lines forming around his mouth. He looked like hell and it made me angry when I thought about everything I had put him through. Plus, I still had to tell him about the baby.

“I’m going to go back to the hotel with Brad, and I’m not sure how long I will be. So please don’t wait up for me tonight.”

I ignored my mother calling my name as I ran up the stairs to my room. I opened my closet and pulled out my Vera Bradley weekend bag, which was big enough to hold a few days worth of clothes. After I quickly stuffed everything inside, I zipped it up and headed back downstairs.

Brad and my dad were both waiting for me when I reached the bottom. My dad eyed my overnight bag in my hand with a frown, but quickly schooled his features. Brad reached out his hand and took my bag from me. He placed it over his shoulder and smiled. He looked relieved.

We said our goodbyes to my family and left for the hotel. They were on their way to the police station. I really hoped that Colton paid for what he did. Thinking about all the years I wasted on him, ate away at me. I was so done. I was done being miserable. Done being scared. It was time to move on and put the past behind me once and for all.

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