Page 214 of Broken Brothers

“Logistically, it will take some time,” Matthew said behind me. “But I will be working with your mother and brother, Chance, to make this as seamless and easy a transition as possible.”

I couldn’t even respond. I was still crying tears of such joy; no one had ever treated me this way. No one had ever gone so far out of their way to do something like this for me. Mom and Morgan could have easily given me a couple million each and kept the majority of the money. They could have not done anything, hiding behind it being a legal decision.

But they didn’t. They did what was right, not what was ordered.

I… I was at a complete loss for words.

“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you.”

Mom and Morgan both came up to me, and I embraced them both at the same time. I think all three of us started crying, and we probably looked like some ridiculous scene out of a sitcom, but I didn’t care. I had family—it wasn’t defined by a last name or by who had given birth to me. It was defined by the levels of love someone showed and how far they would go to do what was right.

Again, it wasn’t even the money. Edwin could have had a hundred bucks in the bank and the principle would be the same. It was the kindness and love of Morgan and Mom.

“Thanks,” I said one last time before pulling back, sitting down and taking several deep breaths.

“If Edwin were here, I’d probably kill him myself for this,” Mom said. “I’m sorry for this Chance. I—”

“I trust you guys,” I said with a hand wave. “I know someone worth billions will take several months, maybe a year, to get those funds over to me. I know you’re good for it, though.”

Morgan and Mom both beamed.

“You don’t have to come to the funeral if you don’t want to,” Morgan said. “I know this kind of dick move is the last thing you’ll remember Edwin by. So if you want to stay away—”

“It’s fine,” I said. “We’re family, remember? I’ll go. No, I’m not going for Edwin. I’m going for you guys.”

“But—”

“Really, I’m pretty sure it’s the least I could do,” I said with a laugh. “You both are sending billions of dollars, I think I can make it to one funeral of someone I don’t like.”

Morgan chuckled. Mom wiped away a tear.

“Alright,” Mom said. “It’s currently scheduled for eleven on Sunday. We’re sending out invites, but I don’t think many people are going to show.”

“Not a concern,” I said. “As long as you two are there, it’ll be enough. We’ll pay whatever respects we have to and then go on with our day.”

It might have sounded flippant, but even Morgan seemed to be seeing his father in less of a light than before. I knew the actual day of the funeral would make Morgan think differently, but right now, he seemed to have the same feeling about Edwin that I did.

Still, I wasn’t even thinking about Edwin right now. I was just so overwhelmed and grateful for my family. It was… it was indescribable, it really was. To feel so left behind, so abandoned for two decades, only to be shown that you were never abandoned, you were just encouraged to pick up after yourself, saved when you had to be…

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that I knew my entire life would change because of that moment. I had always loved Morgan and Mom before that, but now, I really loved them. This wasn’t the love of someone desperate for attention; this was the love of someone who would literally die for them if need be.

“Sounds good,” Mom said. “Let’s handle whatever else we need to here, and then we’ll go home. We’ve dealt with enough today.”

86

There was almost no reason for me to stay any longer; my name never once appeared in Edwin’s will.

Like most of his life, I was invisible to Edwin. I suppose part of me should have suspected that this would happen, but I would have thought that our encounter in his office would have changed his mind.Should’ve known. Once a coward and an asshole, always a coward and an asshole.

Still, I stayed behind, if for no other reason than that I didn’t want to spend any time at that moment away from my mother and my brother. Even if the topic was stressful and it was spent discussing less than pleasant subjects, being in their presence made me feel a lot better about myself in comparison to being alone.

We went and got lunch after the hour-long meeting, at which time we spent trading jokes about the lawyer, the day, and other lighthearted things. We didn’t discuss much the will, because there was not much else to say.

It was just as well, anyways. Though the funeral was Sunday, I had to now turn my attention to the one thing that had the potential to derail what I had with Layla. I had to follow throughand see the person that had started much of this and see if I could placate the yearning 12 year old within me.

I had to see Sarah Hill.

The next morning, at eleven, I went down to Joe’s Latte and ordered my drink, nervously anticipating what would happen. I had already braced myself for the possibility that the Sarah Hill who would appear before me would look very different than the woman I had spent much of my youth idolizing; I also had accepted the strong possibility that this was another catfishing moment and that she wouldn’t actually show up.