Page 53 of Steadfast

“What?” Aunt Ashley’s head jerked back like she’d been slapped.

“Jesus, Cian,” I hissed.

Yeah, our mom had been a shit show. Yeah, we had mixed feelings about her being gone—mostly fear—but a lot of grief,too. But Mom was Aunt Ashley’s sister and siblings were different. Our grandparents were gone, so Mom and Aunt Ashley were the only two people in the world who knew their shared history. They had a bond that went back almost forty years. I couldn’t imagine losing one of my siblings—they were a part of me.

At the very least, our aunt deserved to have the news broken to her with a bit more sensitivity.

“There was a car accident,” I said quietly, keeping my back to the windshield of my car so Ronan couldn’t eavesdrop.

“What happened?” Aunt Ashley asked, her entire body seeming to shrink a little.

“We’re not sure—” I replied slowly.

“But she was hammered,” Cian cut in unhelpfully. “So, I’m guessing that had a lot to do with it.”

Aunt Ashley grimaced like she was in physical pain, her eyes closing as she shook her head slowly from side to side. “Dammit, Mandy.”

I elbowed Cian in the side.

“Ronan and Aisling don’t know yet,” I said, glancing at the faces staring at me through the car window. “I thought we should wait until we got here before we told them.”

“Come on up to the house,” Aunt Ashley replied, pulling me in for a tight hug.

She reached for Cian. “God, you’re huge.”

“Four years’ll do that,” he mumbled, but he hugged her back.

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled back. “Thank God you guys got here when you did. You caught me on my way out of town.”

“Where were you going?” Cian asked as she rounded my car.

“Month-long road trip,” Aunt Ashley replied. “National parks.”

She threw open Saoirse’s door and leaned in to hug her. We couldn’t hear what the kids were saying inside, but whateverit was kept Aunt Ashley bent halfway into the car for a few minutes.

“Is she loaded?” Cian asked me quietly. “Nice RV, month-long vacation, huge ass property…”

“I don’t think so,” I replied. I couldn’t remember anything about Aunt Ashley having a lot of money. “She just doesn’t have kids. Expenses are probably low.”

Cian laughed under his breath.

“Ronan’s going to ride with me up to the house,” Aunt Ashley announced as Ronan threw open his door.

The way she said it, like it hadn’t even occurred to her to ask me if it was okay, made me bristle. Cian’s shoulder brushing against mine was the only thing that kept my mouth shut as Ro went racing toward the RV.

“We’ll meet you there,” I agreed.

It was disorienting following her back to the house because the road was so narrow there was nowhere for her to turn the RV around. She reversed all the way back to the house and I was torn between being impressed with her driving skills and nauseous from driving toward a massive RV that gave the illusion that it was coming right for us. Aisling and Saoirse spent the time quietly discussing everything from the color of Aunt Ashley’s hair to wondering if she had a swimming pool.

The house wasn’t huge or small, but somewhere in the middle, and it sat in the center of a large clearing. Behind it and to the left was some kind of outbuilding with a fence all the way around it. There were a million potted plants on the large front deck and a tall carport thing attached to the garage that must’ve been where she kept her motorhome, but she didn’t bother to use it and parked in the driveway when we arrived.

“It’s nice,” Saoirse said quietly as we climbed out of the car.

“You good?” I asked Aisling, helping her out of her booster seat.

“Yeah,” she replied distractedly, her eyes darting around the property. We were surrounded by massive trees that kept everything a little shaded and secluded. I had to admit, Aunt Ashley’s home seemed like an oasis.

“Come on in, guys,” she called, leading us up the front porch steps.

---