Page 71 of Diluted Truths

“If she’s married to your brother, why is she smiling like an idiot? Didn’t her husband almost die?” I turned and asked Jackie.

She just shrugged in response and followed Theo out the door with Violet right behind her. I followed as well and made my introductions with Mckinley, who was in fact Kai’s wife. She ushered us into her home and began to give us an especially unwanted tour, given the circumstances.

“And this is the dining room. I bought the table off of the Taylor’s when they sold their home. Can you believe they moved to Tooele?” Mckinley rambled as she pointed out her various furniture and art pieces.

“Wild,” Jackie mumbled, not amused by her apparent sister-in-law.

I stifled a laugh at her complete lack of enthusiasm.

I turned my attention to Mackinley, wanting to speed things along as I could see both Jackie and Theo teetering on the edge of a freakout if they didn’t see their brother soon. “Where’s Kai? As much as I like your dining table and its invigorating history, I think his sisters would like to see him now.”

Mckinley shot me a death glare.

I guess she didn’t like being interrupted.

“I’ll go grab him and let him know you’re here.”

We watched as she made her way up the stairs. I turned to Jackie, my brows drawn together in confusion. “What the hell is going on? I thought Kai was on death’s doorstep?”

“So did I. At least that’s what Theo said,” she whispered to me.

Theo raised her hands in surrender. “Don’t shoot the messenger. That’s what she made it seem like. I guess she exaggerated a bit.”

Jackie opened her mouth to respond but promptly shut it when we heard steps coming down the staircase.

Mckinley was the first to come down and behind her was who I assumed was Kai. He had the same brown hair as Theo and brown eyes as Jackie. He was also tall, at least six foot four. He was honestly a mountain of a person. But most noticeable were the cuts around his face, his left arm in a sling, and the cane that was helping him walk. He seemed less than excited to be walking but the second he made eye contact with his sisters, he smiled.

“Y’all came,” Kai stated as he stared at his sisters, an accent slipping through in his words.

“Of course we did,” Theo walked toward him and hugged him tight.

I looked over to Jackie and saw unshed tears in her beautiful brown eyes. I hated it when she cried, it always felt like my heart was being ripped out. I took her hand in mine and pulled her closer to me.

“What happened?” Jackie asked, her voice shaking with emotion, as Theo finally let go of their brother.

Kai turned to her. “Look at you, Jack. You’re so grown up.” He limped over to her and she met him in the middle. He wrapped her in a hug. “I’m okay, I got hurt in a stupid training exercise.”

I was skeptical.

There was no way he was that hurt from a training exercise.

“Real training exercise? Or is that what the army told you to say?” I asked.

Kai looked at me for a moment before chuckling. “What do you think? I’m Malachi James, by the way, and you are?”

I extended my hand to shake his hand. “William Bly, Jackie’s boyfriend.”

He shook my hand while eyeing Jackie. “It’s nice to meet you, William. I didn’t know you had a boyfriend, Jack.”

“I didn’t know you were married,” she quipped.

Kai responded with a chuckle again, his arm wrapped around Jackie as Mckinley glared at him. “Touché. Come sit.”

We followed him to their living room, which looked out across the back field. I knew Jackie hated her time living in this city, but damn was it beautiful. There was a view of the mountains in the distance and a bit of the Great Salt Lake peeking through.

We all sat down on their couches and Violet sat on Theo’s lap. No one spoke for a moment, all probably trying to figure out what to say, when Violet broke the silence in the most Violet of ways.

“I thought you were dying.”