Page 90 of Sing Me Home
“We were married,” she said like that should’ve been answer enough. Hearing those words come from her lips felt like I’d been shanked in the gut. Lorne had the woman I’d wanted and he treated her like dirt under his boot. “And I felt like it was God’s punishment for hitching myself to someone so ridiculous.AndI was embarrassed. None of you supported me in that decision and I didn’t want to give you the satisfaction of saying ‘I told you so.’”
Just then, our phones started going off.
“Mom and Dad saw,” Griffin said.
Charlie hopped up and walked over to Theo who was wearing a line in the floor, tearing at his hair like he was going out of his mind. She pulled him into a hug and he curled around her, his tears falling unchecked.
I could barely breathe. Couldn’t fathom how anyone could treat her that way. I’d acted tough, tossing out threats whenever I asked who’d done this to her. But in my mind, I’d reconciled myself to the fact that the acid burn was work related or a freak accident. Anything else was too horrifying to accept.
I pulled my cell from my pocket. There was a text from my dad.
The Headliner
I don’t know if you saw The Truth Is tonight but don’t let Charlie watch it.
Too late.
The Headliner
Is it true? Was that her in the hospital bed?
I gave his question a thumbs up and pocketed my phone, ignoring his subsequent messages.
As I sat there, listening to everyone process out loud, I struggled to process inwardly. All I kept thinking was, what if that had been the end and I’d never gotten the chance to love her?
Images flashed through my mind, picturing what it must’ve felt like, how terrified she had to have been. Her husband leaving her for dead. Before I could stop it, my chest tightened and my heart pounded out of control. I recognized the feeling from Hawaii. I gasped for air, gulping the panic down, but it wouldn’t subside.
“Cash,” Liam said. “Hey, are you okay?”
I wasn’t. I tipped my head back, trying to get a bigger breath.
“He’s dripping sweat,” Griffin said.
Charlie and Theo turned to look at me.
I shot up from my seat, jogged across the room, and stepped outside. When I got to the porch, I dunked my head between my knees.
The screen door creaked open behind me. “Hey,” Charlie said, her hand on my back. “Cash.” She rubbed circles over my shoulder blades. “He’s having a panic attack,” she said to someone. “I’ve got it.” The door banged shut.
She crouched in front of me so I could see her face. “Five things you can see. Tell me.” When I didn’t answer, she tried again, urgency creeping in. “Five things. Come on.”
“Y-your b-brown eyes.” My favorite eyes.
Though they looked terrified, those eyes smiled. “That’s one.”
“Your freckles.”
“That’s two.”
“Your nose. Y-your lips. Your l-lashes,” I finished the assignment even as I fought for air.
“They didn’t all have to be about me,” she laughed lightly.
I was completely undone by this woman. Even in the grip of a full-blown panic attack, all I wanted was to love her—to stand by her, to protect her from anything that could ever hurt her again. But right now, everything was flipped. I was a wreck—and she wasmyanchor.
My fingers dug into my knees, my stomach tight. “I-it’s always a-all about y-you.”
“Cash,” she said softly. "Four things you can touch.”
