Bryce

Chapter 5

Samantha closed her eyes and leaned against the door after closing and locking it behind the chief. There were so many details to figure out. So many phone calls to make. So many arrangements. She took the easy way out. The department could organize it for her. He would have the hero’s farewell and all she needed to do was sign whatever needed signing and pick out a black dress. She could do that.

“Are you okay?” Bryce asked her once she opened her eyes and returned to the present.

“Yes. Are you? You didn’t say much. Are you okay with the department handling most of the arrangements?” Samantha asked.

Bryce hesitated. “I think maybe I’m the monster. I just want it to be over. Have you ever been to one of these funerals before? It’s going to be a lot. He’ll be a saint by the time this is over.”

Samantha listened wearily. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Whenever someone died, they were usually placed on a pedestal and treated as if they had never done any wrong. That tendency was worse when it came to any member of services, specifically police or fire. The headlines had already begun.

“Yeah. The media are going to lay it on thick regardless. At least this way I don’t have to participate as much with all the arrangements. I can just sit back, wait for it to be over,” Samantha said with a sigh. “Have you seen the news? They’ve already started.”

Bryce gave her a slow nod. “Yeah. I did see some of it. ‘Local hero dies on the way to charity event.’ I guess firefighter didn’t have the right ring to it.”

Samantha cringed. It sounded worse hearing those words out loud. “Yeah, I saw.”

“He was headed to a charity event without you?”

Walking back over to the sofa, she sat down. She knew the questions would arise when the details surrounding his death came out. He was on his way to a large charity event and his wife wasn’t with him. She was just relieved he was alone in the car. As much as the hero worship turned her stomach, she didn’t want the world to know how stupid she was for putting up with him.

“Well,” she started to explain, “that’s a whole story. I’m not sure if you want to hear it or if I want to tell it.”

Bryce moved to sit down next to her on the sofa. At the close proximity, Samantha was able to compare him to Brandon. Instead of cool eyes, Bryce’s eyes were warm and inviting. Looking into them made her feel both safe and vulnerable at the same time. She could trust him enough to share her darkest secrets, but it was also possible that he could already see them.

“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“I was at an audition,” Samantha admitted. “We fought about it. Our last interaction was him telling me that he was bringing someone else.”

Bryce stared at her in disbelief. She wasn’t sure if the look of surprise was for her choosing to go to an audition, or for his choice to go to the event with another woman. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before he finally spoke.

“So, you’re an actress? I never did ask what you do. That’s impressive.”

Samantha didn’t know what to make of that statement. She hadn’t been expecting him to focus in on the audition. Staring hard, she tried to figure him out.

“I’m trying not to be pissed off. Thinking about my brother going to some charity event with a woman who wasn’t his wife makes me pretty angry,” he explained. “If you want to talk, I’ll listen. But if you don’t, that’s fine too.”

“I’m an aspiring actress. I’ve had a few parts in some small productions, but last night was an open call for Rent. I was ready to pass it up to go with him, but he’d already made up his mind.”

“Do you know the woman?”

“It’s not important,” was her answer. She didn’t want to go into it. Bryce was right. It didn’t do any good to be pissed off at a dead man, and she wasn’t exactly comfortable talking bad about him to his brother.

“Mom killed herself less than a month after Brandon left. He didn’t help plan her funeral. He left me to do it. And he only made it to part of the service.”

She was horrified by that bit of information. She wished she could be surprised by his behavior, but it sounded just like the Brandon she knew. Brandon really did only care about Brandon. It wasn’t likely that anything she told Bryce would come as a surprise.

“The woman he said was going with him was rumored to have been sleeping with him. It was so bad she ended up changing firehouses. Turns out, she and her husband are no longer together.”

Samantha didn’t miss the anger that briefly flickered behind Bryce’s gaze. It was obvious they had both suffered because of Brandon’s actions. She took some solace knowing it wasn’t her fault and that he treated others with the same disregard. It didn’t take away the pain she’d endured, but at least she could try not to blame herself for his actions.

Bryce took her hands in both of his. “I’m sorry he did that to you.”

She forced a smile. “It isn’t your fault. I’m glad you were here today, by the way.”

He stood. “I better go. Call me if you need anything. If nothing else, I’ll see you Thursday. Would it be strange if we went together?”

“Maybe. But I think I would like it. It would be nice having someone with me who I don’t have to pretend around.”

Bryce dropped his keys on the wooden table just inside his front door. What a day. On top of the shit day he was having, he couldn’t stop replaying his interaction with Samantha from the other day. If his brother wasn’t already dead, he would be ready to kill him. Brandon had treated Samantha worse than he could have imagined. He shouldn’t have let it get to him. But it did. Her haunted eyes had haunted his dreams since the night he met her.

He tried putting her out of his mind, but it was useless. The funeral was in two days, and he still hadn’t stopped thinking about her. Long days at work did nothing. If anything, it only made things worse. He hadn’t made it through one workday before one of his guys offered his condolences. Condolences he didn’t want.

He felt like a fraud receiving sympathy when he hadn’t as much as spoken to his brother in years. If it wasn’t for Samantha, he wasn’t sure if he’d even go to the funeral. He had basically washed his hands of Brandon when his mom died, and Brandon still couldn’t be bothered to stick around and do his part… or be a decent person for once.

It could sometimes be difficult to look after their mother. There had been times Bryce wished he could go off and start a new life. He was, after all, the older of the two boys in the family. After graduation, he thought about going away to college. As a teenager, he had spent his summers working for a local construction company, but architecture had always been his dream. Sure, he would have loved to run off and live his own life, but his mom needed him.

“Hey,” Rayelle greeted from where she was lounging on the couch.

“Jesus Christ, Ray!” he exclaimed as he clutched his chest with both hands. “You’ve got to stop doing this. I don’t care if you’re here, but just send me a text letting me know.”

Rayelle folded her lips in to keep from laughing, but Bryce didn’t miss it. His train of thought had been effectively derailed, which didn’t bother him. He preferred not to go down that rabbit hole anyway.

“Dom is over the road this week. I got bored,” she explained.

“I thought he had this week off.”

“So did I,” she said as she ran her fingers through her thick curls. “But apparently that changed. Supposedly he’ll have a few more days off once he gets back, but we’ll see.”

Rayelle was the closest thing Bryce had to family. Her family had moved in next door while they were both teenagers, and they had remained inseparable ever since. She was married to Bryce’s best friend since kindergarten.

“Are you all set for the funeral?” she asked. “I can go with you if you want. Dom feels real bad about not being able to get back for it.”

“Yeah, I’m as ready as I’ll get,” he answered. “You can come if you want, but you don’t have to. His widow doesn’t really have anyone, so I said I’d go with her.”

Rayelle’s gaze didn’t let up. “That’s nice of you. Did you know her from before?”

“No,” he answered carefully. “You know I’ve barely spoken to Brandon since Mom died. I met her at the hospital the other night. She seems nice. I hate knowing what she had to put up with.”

Rayelle latched onto that bit of information and sat up straight. “What do you mean? What did she have to put up with?”

Bryce shrugged his shoulders. “You knew my brother. It isn’t hard to imagine what all she went through being married to him. I just feel bad that I couldn’t do anything about it. She was under the impression he was an only child.”

“Oh, wow. So, she shows up at the hospital, finds out her husband is dead, and meets his secret brother. That sounds like a movie.”

“Tell me about it.” Bryce plopped down next to her. “She’s not what I was expecting at all.”

Rayelle turned so she was facing him. He could feel all her focus on him. “What’s she like?”

Sitting back, he closed his eyes and tried to think of a way to describe Samantha. He was able to replay nearly every moment they had spent together because he had been so intrigued by her.

“She’s quiet, but strong. I got to the hospital before she did, and she walked into the waiting room without losing it. I was expecting some blonde trophy wife to come running in and have a breakdown before the doctor even came out.”

“Not blonde?” she asked.

“Nope. But she is pretty. Just not in the way I was expecting. Her hair is in braids. She’s brown-skinned. She had on makeup, but she didn’t look like it was Halloween.”

“Oh, she’s black? That is a surprise. I’m with you. I pictured a blonde-haired basic bitch,” she commented.

“Rayelle! Just because I’m white doesn’t mean we were raised to hate anyone who doesn’t look the same. You should know that. It didn’t take long for me to decide you’re my sister. And you may be Puerto Rican, but you fit the definition of basic. Admit it.”

She laughed along with him. “You’re right. I gotta have my pumpkin spice and my yoga pants. I don’t think you were raised that way, but that’s why I would have almost expected Brandon to be that way.”

Rayelle was right. Brandon seemed to have done everything the opposite of how he was raised. Their mother may have had some mental health issues, but she raised them to have good morals and ideals, doing everything in her power to keep them from turning out like their father. Their father had treated her like shit and then disappeared before Brandon was even born. It was crazy how Brandon could act just like him despite never meeting the man.

“I don’t understand why he was the way he was. I’m not glad he’s gone, but I am glad there won’t be any more turmoil. Hopefully, Samantha can find some peace,” he said quietly.

He could feel Rayelle’s gaze on him, but he refused to look in her direction. His feelings weren’t silly. He was human and hated the idea of anyone being mistreated.

“I’m already tired tomorrow,” he joked. “I have a million things to do but I had someone take a few days off, so I’ve been working. I’m not sure if I should work tomorrow at all. I know it’s driving distance, but I’m thinking of getting a hotel in the city, so I don’t have to deal with the drive.”

“You know how traffic is in the mornings. That’s probably not a bad idea,” she agreed. “I’ll go with you. We can get a room for tomorrow night and Thursday night, and you can start your work week fresh on Monday. Close or not, no one can blame you for taking a few days to bury your brother.”

He thought about it. He really wasn’t interested in fighting traffic to and from the city. He also didn’t want to be around a bunch of people who didn’t understand how he was feeling and assumed he was just a normal grieving sibling. A couple of days in New York City didn’t sound half bad.

“You don’t think Dominic would mind?”

She looked at him like he was crazy. “You should know the answer to that. Blood or not, I’m the only family you have left. And he’s your best friend. I’ll run the plans by him, but I already know he’ll want me to go with you.”