Page 91 of Forever Finds Us
“He didn’t say much, but I said a lot. I told him you were the best thing to ever happen to him and that he’s an idiot for lettin’ you go.”
“And?”
“And he agreed with me.”
Somehow, that made me feel worse. If he was oblivious as to why he’d lost me, at least then I could blame my heartache on his stupidity.
But Brand was anything but stupid, so I felt certain he knew exactly what had gone wrong between us. I’d been pretty clear back on his friend’s jet, and he’d heard every word.
So if he was admitting to Aubrey that he’d made a mistake, then why wasn’t he doing anything to fix it?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Brand
“I have somethin’ to tell y’all,” I said, watching my family’s faces as they gathered in Bax’s kitchen.
They had no clue the shit I was about to dump on them, but when I texted and asked them to meet me, they’d all agreed.
Maybe they expected good news about Lee Construction and the projects we’d been building on the property, or maybe they expected news about Roxanne and me. Every single one of them had badgered me for information over the last month, even Athena. Especially Athena, and even Stuey asked, “Where Ro?”
But I couldn’t talk to my family about Roxanne, because if I did, the need I felt for her would rise up and rage, and it wasn’t time yet. I wasn’t quite ready.
“Can we sit?”
“Sure,” Bax said, and we all took a chair at his kitchen table. “What’s up?”
“The kids aren’t here?” I asked. “There’s no chance Athena’s listenin’ in?”
My brother’s eyebrows dipped, and his head tilted in alarm. “They’re outside with Rye and Aubrey, like you requested.”
Wincing internally, I tried to shake off the “talking to” I’d received from Roxanne’s best friend. She’d chewed me out thoroughly after Roxanne told her she’d dumped me. Roxanne hadn’t told Aubrey why, not the full truth anyway.
Even after I’d let her down and broken her heart, Roxanne had kept my secrets safe.
But it was time to set the truth free because Roxanne had been right about me. Aubrey too.
Dixon’s sickness was like a virus, and I’d caught it years ago.
I tried to get ahold of him again, called the Coulters since he didn’t have a cell phone, but I hadn’t heard back from him, and whether it worked for his timing or not, I needed to come clean to my family.
For Roxanne, for Stuey and Merv, Bax, Bea, and Athena.
And for me.
“What’s goin’ on, son?” Merv asked, looking worried across the table. Abey and Devo had just arrived, and they pulled up chairs between Bax and Merv.
“I talked to Dixon.”
Merv gasped, and Bax narrowed his eyes.
“When?” Abey asked.
“I don’t have exact dates, but let me start from the beginning so you can understand. I won’t ask for your forgiveness. I’m not sure I deserve it, but here goes…”
Bea cried for Stuey’s mama. Merv looked relieved her youngest son was still breathing, and Bax looked like he wanted to murder me for keeping the truth about Stuey’s birth mother from him and Bea. And Abey looked ready to start a manhunt.
“When you saw him,” Merv said, “he looked good? You’re sure he wasn’t high?”
