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“Are you okay?” Sean asked, looking at me with a frown and taking a protective step closer to me. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
A ghost of regretful memories.
“I’m fine,” I lied, straightening up and covering my eyes with my hand briefly.I can’t be weak here. “How do we get to him?”
Sean led the way to the elevators, and one of them opened up. Getting in, he pressed the button for the terrace and turned to me as the doors closed shut.
This time, in the privacy of the elevator, there was something more discerning in his gaze as Sean looked at me.
“What happened?” he asked me.
I stared at him. “I almost lost your son,” I said, stating the obvious.
“Wetemporarily lost sight of him,” he corrected. “But he isn’t lost, and you’re not solely responsible for him, Chloe. I’m here too. I’m the other responsible adult.”
At those words, I wanted to sob into his chest.
Two weeks after the accident, Henry had come home in a wheelchair. A month later, I came home from school to find my dad gone. Just gone. I walked into his room to find the closet empty, his things missing.
I’d spent the next half hour speaking to police officers, convinced we’d been robbed, until I found a note from Dad on my bed. He’d left for good.
He’d left silently and quietly. There was nothing I could do about that.
I’d shredded that letter before Henry could see it, wiped my tears away, and fixed a brave smile on my face ever since.
It was the last time I’d worn my tutu.
Dad had been unable to bear the burden of Henry’s care, leaving me, the eighteen-year-old, to take over.
Just like how Bruce had emotionally left me because something about me just gave off theresponsiblevibe and not thefun, recklessgirlfriend vibe.
If only Dad had stuck around, then I wouldn’t have had to be the responsible adult to my younger brother when I was eighteen. I would’ve been able to follow my dreams, go to dance school, and have a normal experience of dorm life and boy troubles. Instead, all I had were doctor visits, physical therapy appointments, and worries about paying the bills while mothering my brother. I had not relaxed in the past ten years.
“Chloe?” Sean asked, and this time, he took my hand in his. “Are you all right?”
24
CHLOE
Iknew he wouldn’t let go without something, but I didn’t want to let everything out in a momentary lapse of judgment.
“It reminded me of my past,” I blurted out, feeling weak. “That’s all.”
“What did it remind you of?” he asked, sounding frustrated. “I need more than just a generic statement, Chloe. I want an honest answer.”
I searched his face, wondering why the man who was so good at intimidating people was concerned about my past.
He was so close that he could put his arm around my waist. The elevator was still riding up, but it could stop at any moment now, and Lucas would see us. I didn’t want Lucas to have one more thing to get angry with his dad about.
“It reminded me of my childhood,” I said, hoping it would pacify Sean and taking a step away. “About my dad and my brother and?—”
Before I could complete that sentence, Sean pulled me to him. I was crushed against his chest, and I realized he was justholding me, hand around my waist, mouth bending down near my ear.
“Did you lose someone, Chloe?”
“No,” I said, unable to think with his closeness. “Not exactly.” I closed my eyes, squeezing them shut as the memories flooded back in. I was sinking into his chest, his warm embrace weakening my defenses. “I wasn’t responsible for a bit, and someone … suffered.”
He held me tighter, hugging me fiercely.