Page 19 of Whispers of Wisteria
I couldn’t.
My thoughts went fuzzy. I didn’t…
I was lucky with just Brayden and Bryce. I was grateful they hadn’t gotten tired of me yet.
That was all I needed.
“Did you know he doesn’t know what you look like?” Brayden said, breaking through my spiriting thoughts.
I froze, my fists in my lap as my mouth went dry.
So, it was true.
“So he doesn’t care?” My voice was small.
Just like I thought. When I’d given up. When I realized I was alone.
“He wants to meet you in person first,” Brayden continued, still not meeting my eyes. “Bryce’s phone wallpaper is a picture of you eating. He snuck it when the two of you went out once.”
Well, that was a little bit alarming.
“Dad refuses to touch it. When we found out you were alive…” Brayden said, shoulders tight. “He’d practically given up hope. Kieran was supposed to contact us within the first week,but he vanished. He was afraid you died, but he still set aside everything you’d need for when you came back. When we told him we’d found you…”
Brayden sucked in a breath. “Everything changed. He’s not sad anymore. But Dad is also really dramatic. He refused to look at your picture—he says there’s no way a photograph can ‘capture your essence.’ Bryce tried to show him anyway, and he smacked his head trying to get away. He’s going to wait until you’re ready to meet him.
“He cares,” Brayden said, voice deeper. “Even more than you can imagine.”
“I—” I swallowed. I had a pretty vivid imagination. “I’ll think about it.”
His face lit up. “That’sawesome!”
I needed time to process. I couldn’t chase those thoughts right now.
Plus, I needed to confirm, “Bryce has a picture of me?”
“Yes!” Brayden sat up straighter. “Lots!” Then he looked away. “You don’t get it.”
“Get what?” I asked.
“Weadoreyou,” Brayden muttered, shy. “And Bryce…. I make fun of him, but he’s a good brother.”
Then his expression changed, and his demeanor became more serious.
He leaned forward. “On that note, Bryce might listen to you now, but let me make one thing clear about us both. If we believe—for even a moment—that your life is in danger or that you are walking into something you can’t come back from, we will act. Even if it means going against your wishes.”
“O-okay…” I guess that made sense.
I wasn’t sure how to feel. So much had changed these last few weeks. It wasn’t like anything I’d felt—or dared dream about—before.
It was nice… but a part of me was still waiting for it to be taken away.
4
I couldn’t getBrayden’s comment about my secret libraries—and his thievery—out of my head. It reminded me of the place that’d I’d once found and hadn’t returned to since.
I ended up in front of the nearly hidden bookcase before I could talk myself out of it.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted, or didn’t want, him to be there when I arrived. I still wasn’t entirely sure that a bookcase hadn’t fallen on my head and I hallucinated the whole thing.
