Page 114 of Come Back to Me

“Time slips away from you when...” Herubs the back of his neck. “I’m so fucking busy, man. We all are.”

“Does Theo know?”

“Of course he does. There’s no hiding how sick she is.”

I frown. “Why didn’t Colt offer to help then?”

“He did! Everyone thinks we’re too proud and stubborn to ask for help, but Theo’s the worst of us all?—”

“Perks of being the eldest,” I insert dryly.

“—then there’s Dad and a whole other level of prideful obstinacy. The only reason we paid last month’s mortgage was because Theo coughed up the dough for it, and I thought Dad was going to say no! That’s how bad things have become around here.

“It doesn’t help when we have to keep paying out for shit Mom intentionally breaks—four new phones? That’s the last kind of expense we need.” He rubs his eyes. “Thank fuck Theo works for you. He’s been covering for us a lot lately, and I don’t know how we’d have coped if he hadn’t.”

That Bast complimented his older brother tells me that the world is truly coming to a fucking end.

There’s a reason Theo is on our payroll—if he and his family had to work together for a day, they’d end up killing each other.

“Theo hasn’t told Colt how bad it’s…”

“Colt knows she’s sick. He sent over some home help, but how she was back then is nothing to now. She’s deteriorated real fast, Code. We’ve been trying to keep it under wraps.”

I think about the crowd at the store. “More people know than you realize.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t shoot the messenger, Bast.” The last thing I want is for our reconciliation to end so quickly.

“I won’t shoot. Just tell me, Cody.”

“She said something about Uncle Clay...”

Bitterness is etched deep into his next words: “What they don’t tell you about Alzheimer’s is that the family secrets ain’t so secret anymore. I already heard all about the great love affair she had with Clay. More than a son needs to hear too.”

My eyes bug. “She wasn’t... making it up?”

“No. I wish. Nearly killed Dad. He couldn’t...” His throat bobs. “Found him in the barn a few weeks back, bottle of whiskey in one hand, shotgun in the other. Fuck knows what he was thinking.”

“Jesus Christ!”

“He’d never have hurt her,” Bast defends. “I-I think he...”

I hesitate. “Wanted to end it?”

His lips firm before he blurts out, “This great goddamn love affair is part of why Dad wouldn’t accept Colt’s help.Korhonenhelp. Korhonen money.”

I grimace. “I get it.”

“I doubt it. You’ve always been flush.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t… if I learned my wife had…” I shake my head. “I’d have to be desperate to take that man’s money, and technically, that’s how it happened since he was the eldest brother and we only inherited because he died.”

“I get it too, don’t mean I have to like it. It’s fucking shit around here, Code. Bad news after bad news. This isjust the icing on the cake.” I clap a hand to his shoulder in commiseration, and he huffs out a broken chuckle. “Never figured that I’d get over my snit with you because my life’s gone to hell.”

“Whatever reason, I’m glad,” I admit.

“Samantha was a real bitch, wasn’t she?”

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