Page 83 of Not Made to Last

Miss Turner’s eyes drop to where Dom and I connect. Then up to Max, opening our front door. “Ohana? What’s happening?”

I swallow another round of cries as Miss Turner steps forward. “I’m Belinda Turner,” she says to Dominic. “I’m the therapist at St. Luke’s.”

Dom shifts, turning to me, but I won’t look at him. “Ollie…”

My emotions wreak havoc on my stomach. On my heart.

Miss Turner motions to the police officer standing beside her. “And this is my fiancé, Curtis.”

Curtis.I know that name. Know the man wearing the uniform. But…

“We’ve met,” Curtis says, and realization dawns when he adds, “Hi, Olivia.”

The first time I met Curtis, I was sitting in my car with Rhys beside me and Max fast asleep in the back seat. We’d just spent the night at the hospital and then on the rooftop. It feels like forever ago, but I remember it as if it were yesterday.

Miss Turner is engaged to Curtis? And Rhys… Rhys is the godfather to their daughter?

I swallow the knot in my throat, push through the agony pumping through my veins.

“We just need to have a look through your house,” Curtis says.

“Dom?” Max makes his way down the porch steps, stopping on the other side of our brother. Even though I can’t see it, I know Max has taken Dom’s other hand. “What’s happening?”

Finally, I find the courage to look up at Dom. He stands tall, his chin raised as he holds on to the only family he has. I’ve always been the provider. But Dom… Dom’s always been the protector. His throat moves with his swallow, as he nods once. “Come in.”

It’s the oddest feeling, watching strangers go through your entire house, opening drawers, closets,everything. Miss Turner and Curtis go through the food in our fridge, the supplies in our pantry. They look through the drawers of Dominic’s dresser, and Max—sweet,innocentMaxy—is so excited to show them his room. All his toys, his LEGO builds, his printed designs for a flying submarine. They go through the garage, picking up tools only to put them back down, and the entire time, Dominic and I watch. Silent. Waiting for our entire life to come crashing down.

The minutes pass, feeling like an eternity, and suddenly, in the middle of my bedroom, they turn to each other and communicate in that silent way that couples do. Then Curtis faces us, all standing in the open doorway, and nods once. “Thanks for your time,” he says, and that’s all he says before they leave the house through the same way they entered.

We stand on the porch, watching their backs as they return to the police cruiser. Max says, “I like them!”

Dom doesn’t respond.

And I…

“Wait!” I call out, getting to them just as Curtis opens Miss Turner’s door for her. Chest rising and falling, I force air into my lungs. Again and again. And through tear-filled eyes and a heavy heart, I tell them, “My brothers are blood. Dom will be eighteen in a few months, and I don’t know if that matters, but I just feel you should know that. We can’t afford a lawyer right now, but one of us will adopt Max as soon as we can. That’s the plan. That’salwaysbeen the plan. And Dominic—he has to do a year of college ball before he can go up for the NBA draft, but when he does, we can…” I don’t even know what I’m saying; Ijust know that I need to say it. Saysomething. I have to fight for us. Protect us. “I’m eighteen. I’ll be nineteen soon… I just… I’ll be okay. Somehow. But please, don’t separate them. Max—he needs Dominic. But they don’t need me. Justplease?—”

Miss Turner hugs me, her arms tight around my neck. Sheholdsme. And for the second time today, I cry in the arms of a practical stranger. “Please,” I beg. Cry some more. My shoulders shake with the force of each sob. And Miss Turner doesn’t let go. Doesn’t loosen her hold. She just continues to embrace me, her hand stroking the back of my head.

“Just breathe,” she says. “One more time…every time.”

I pull back, eyes wide and right on hers, and I whisper his name—Rhys—just loud enough for only us to hear.

Miss Turner smiles, shifting my hair stuck to my cheeks. “You’ve made a beautiful home, Olivia,” she says. “And an even more beautiful family.”

44

Olivia

I throw up.

As soon as I got back in the house, I ran to my bathroom and dropped to my knees. All the adrenaline that had been pumping through my veins since I left Miss Turner’s office earlier expels from my body in waves.

Dominic kneels on the bathroom floor beside me, holding my hair as my entire body shakes, shudders with every purge.

It’s not the first time he’s done this for me, but it’s been years since he’s had to.

When I find a pocket of calm, I ask, “Max?”

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