Page 120 of All the Missing Pieces

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, a single tear sliding down her cheek. “I bent to put my racket in my bag, and that’s when I heard it. It wasn’t the snap of a twig like in the movies. It was a rush of feet, but not heavy. Almost like a track star or one of those football players who almost look like they’re dancing.”

Her eyes opened, more tears spilling out now. “I didn’t see a thing. Was just about to look up when the first blow hit so hard I saw stars. I tried to scream.” The tears came faster now. “I swear I tried to fight him. But he was so strong.” Her body shook from the memory, the tears, or maybe some combination of the two.

Colt pushed to his feet. “That’s enough. That’s fucking enough.”

“Colt,” Trey warned, his voice low.

“What?” Colt snapped. “I’m not going to sit here and not say a word while my sister’s fucking crying. She already won’t leave the house. This is just going to make it worse.”

Emerson froze, her arms curling around herself as the tears tracked down her cheeks. “It’s my choice,” she choked out.

“She’s right,” Trey said, stepping into Colt’s space.

His gaze jumped between the three of us. “Fine,” he spat. “But I sure as hell don’t have to watch it.”

I hit stop on the recording, pushing to stand and heading toward the back door after Colt.

Trey caught my arm. “I wouldn’t. He’s gonna say something he doesn’t mean, and he’ll hate himself for it later.”

“Maybe,” I agreed. “But I’m not going to leave him alone in his pain. Even when he hated me, heneverdid that.”

My words had Trey releasing his hold on me, and I hurried through the kitchen to the back deck. I didn’t see Colt at first. He’d already made it through the garden to the edge of the tree line.

He looked so much like a little boy in that moment. One who’d been knocked down by the schoolyard bully. Defeated and dejected. Hopeless.

My heart ached for that boy. For the Colt who’d been barely a man when his sister was taken. When his world had fractured and he’d blamed himself for it.

I hurried across the grass and through the maze of flowers until I got to him. I knew my words wouldn’t do a damn thing, so I wrapped my arms around him from behind, pressing my cheek to his back. I braced for rejection, for cruel words hurled out of anger, but they didn’t come.

Instead, his body shook. Silent sobs racking through him.

My heart, which ached, shattered then—for this beautiful man still holding on to so much guilt.

“He fucking hit her. Over and over until she passed out. And I wasn’t there. Too caught up in pool with my buddies after work and not watching the goddamned time. I wasn’t there.”

I moved again, curving around him until we were front to front and I could put my palms on his face. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know. But I still wasn’t there.” Tears tracked down his cheeks, and I felt it then. The weight of Colt coming to terms with his grief, finally. Once he realized the responsibility wasn’t on his shoulders, he could deal with the pain of it happening at all. To his little sister. The person he loved most in this world.

I took that pain on with him. Held his scruffy face in my hands and helped him shoulder it. And as those shadowed eyes met mine, I gave him the last piece of me. “I love you, Colt.”

His body jerked. “Chaos.”

“I love you.” My own cheeks were wet now, the overload of emotions only having one way out.

Colt’s throat worked as he swallowed. “Think I loved you from the moment you told me the cat had fucking AC in that van.”

A laugh burst out of me, the last sound I was expecting. “Is it fitting that I’m laughing and crying when I’ve told you I love you?”

He pulled me into him. “Baby, you’re chaos. Of course it is.”

And then he kissed me, our tears mixing on our tongues but sealing us together with something stronger than we’d ever experienced before. And when he pulled back, he brushed the hair away from my face. “Best gift I’ve ever received, meeting you.”

“Me too,” I whispered.

We stood there for a long moment, and then Colt finally broke the silence. “I gotta go make things right with Em.”

“Go.” I held on for one moment longer and released him. “I’ll just be a second.”

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