Page 109 of The Sun & Her Burn

“Sometimes I spend the whole night just watching over her,” I admitted. “It’s…scary each time she has these episodes. I worry she won’t come back.”

“But she does,” he said, half question and half soothing me.

I nodded. “For now. They’re happening more frequently, though. She has a re-evaluation next week, and I have a few interviews with homes that have experience with FTD. It’s different enough from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia that she needs nurses with experience.”

“Certamente,” he agreed.

He still hadn’t let go of her hand.

I didn’t think my heart could stand it any longer, so I moved forward to lean over his hip and carefully fold my hand over his, helping him let go.

Miranda didn’t stir.

But Sebastian turned his hand up in my grip and laced our fingers.

I didn’t think I could look at him without crying, so I just squeezed back and tugged him lightly from the room.

When we reached the living room, I collapsed onto the couch and buried my head in my hands, one of them still linked to Seb’s.

He didn’t complain about the awkwardness of his position. Instead, he leaned into my side like a protective bracket.

We sat in silence for an interminable amount of time until the front door opened and closed. I didn’t open my eyes or straighten to see who entered because only one person would let themselves in and stride with authority into the living room even though he had never been here before.

The couch sank on my other side, and the other end of the bracket clicked into place the moment Adam’s arm went around my shoulders.

Both men urged me gently to pull back from my hands and sink slowly into the couch.

Into their protective embraces.

The sigh that escaped me as soon as I was settled was like a gust of wind in the wake of a tornado, filled with debris.

“I am so sorry that happened,” Adam said in a low, furious voice. “It is because of me that those…vultures attacked you and Miranda.”

“I was the one who suggested your arrangement,” Sebastian countered in a slightly more measured voice, though his accent was thick enough to eat with a spoon.

“It would have happened one day,” I said with a tired, unenthusiastic grin. “If I was ever successful as an actor. I know you both tend to martyrdom, but there’s no need for it today.”

“It happened today because of us,” Adam insisted. “Someone tipped off Hank.”

I sighed. “That’s what I figured. Do you think we can find out who did?”

Adam’s face was carved from granite, haughty and furious like the sculpture of an ancient Greek god. “Oh, there is no doubt about that. Boone’s investigator is already on the task.”

“Good, thank you. But honestly, your matching scowls, while oddly adorable, are unnecessary. I told you, this was only a matter of time, due tomyselfish need to pursue acting. Even without my connection to you throwing me into the limelight, I like to think I could have made it to this level without you,” I teased lightly, knocking into their shoulders to try to alleviate the pressure in the room.

I could feel their agitation and laughed a little at them. “You feel like you failed me? The truth is, you both rode in like knights in shining armor to save me.”

“You saved yourself,” Adam disagreed.

“And Miranda,” Seb added.

I patted them both on their hard thighs. “Sure, but knowing I didn’t have to endure that alone? I hate to sound like a VISA commercial, but that’s priceless. Thank you for being here for me.” I paused and then emphasized. “Bothof you.”

“Anytime.” It was amazing how one simple word from Sebastian could sound like an oath avowed from a serf to some feudal king. As if he would die for me even if he wasn’t called to do it.

It made me shiver.

But it was Adam who shocked me, because he was such a mercurial, hard-to-read man, and I was never exactly sure where I stood with him.