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My eyes stung because of I knew the truth, but it wasn’t my news to share. “Then throw a party. Because I’ve never been better.” I pushed my way out the door and wiped my eyes on the way down the stairs.

Forcing a smile, I went outside to find Fletcher talking with my dad. All it took was a lame excuse about not feeling well and the three of us were in the truck.

Maya talked the entire way home about her new friends, missing the fact that the adults up front hardly spoke at all.

35

Fletcher

I had nightmares that night. Terrible ones, where the kids I tried to help in the hospital turned into my best friend dying.

When Liv shook me awake, my skin was slick with sweat and my breaths came fast, like I was running.

“Fletcher,” she soothed. “It’s okay, you’re here now. It’s Wednesday night, we just had dinner with my parents, then we came home. You’re in your bed, it’s two in the morning. Maya is safe in her bed and Graham is in his kennel...” she continued, reminding me where I was, and I realized... she was grounding me without my ever having asked.

“Where did you learn to do that?”

My eyes were slowly adjusting to the dim lighting, seeing her kind eyes as she said, “That first night you had the nightmare, I looked up how to help someone with PTSD.”

My breath stopped at her words. Liv was more than a godsend... She was an angel. “You did that for me?”

“I want to be there for you, Fletcher. If you’ll let me.”

I reached out for her, pulling her closer, and she came to me, letting me cradle her against my chest.

And I started to cry, because I realized Liv was there for me in a way no one had been before. She didn’t want me to get my shit together like my dad had or support her like Regina had. She wanted to help me for... me.

“Oh, Fletch,” she said gently, taking my head to her chest, running her hand over my hair until I wiped my eyes and steadied my breath.

“I love you,” I admitted, the words rough on my tongue. “I’ve been trying not to, but I can’t help myself.”

She adjusted herself, so we were in the bed, lying face to face. “Why do you try?” she asked. “Why can’t you follow your heart?”

“Because you know it’s not just you and me,” I said. “Ever since we were kids, it’s never just been you and me. You have a family, a brother, who has been there for you always. And I have a daughter and a best friend who need me more than ever.”

She pulled back, the distance palpable. Painful. “Why do you keep trying to find reasons not to be with me?” Her voice quavered. “Why can’t you have faith that you and I will figure it out, together?”

I looked up at her, wishing I could have the faith she did. But I couldn’t. “I lost my faith a long time ago, Liv Griffen.”

She stood from the bed, wiping angry tears from her eyes. “Then maybe you were right. I should keep my distance until you can find a way to believe in me like I believe in you.”

* * *

Liv hardly spoketo me the next few days, aside from things I needed to know about Maya. But that was only part of the problem... The other was the way Liv looked at me.

I could see it in her eyes. She thought I had betrayed her. And that was worse than anything I could imagine. I hated not seeing her smile in the morning. Not hanging out with her before Maya went to bed.

She thought I didn’t have faith in her, but she couldn’t have been further from the truth. I believed in her, I saw all the good in her, and I didn’t want to be the one to make her cry ever again like I did the other night.

I didn’t trust myself.

I never wanted to be the one coming between her and her brother while he fought for his life. Because as much as I loved her, I loved him too. He would need both of us to make it through.

He had an appointment coming up on Friday with the best dermatologist in Dallas as a special favor to me. They would remove the spot completely and have him do a CT scan to see if the melanoma had spread then go from there. So I had Brenda cancel all my appointments for that day and drove to Dallas to meet Rhett at his appointment.

When I walked into the waiting room, he looked up from the magazine he was reading and said, “What the hell are you doing here?”

A woman a couple chairs over glanced our way and quickly looked down when I caught her staring.