Chapter Ten #2
“Saint,” she says softly. “Do you know where the kids are?”
Fuck.
The kids.
I’m their legal guardian.
My body reacts before my brain does.
I look up at her, and it feels like the first time I’m really seeing her since we left her dad’s office.
Her eyes are red, and her face is pale. And because I know her better than anyone, I know she’s holding herself together for me. To be strong for me.
“With Chris’s parents,” I manage to get out, my voice shredded.
Presley nods. “Okay. Their number is in your phone?”
I blink, trying to register her question.
Chris’s parents. They have the kids. In North Carolina.
Do they know?
My stomach rolls, and I stand up too fast, then sit back down when the room shifts.
Presley grabs my arms to steady me. “Easy, Saint. Just stay still for a minute while we figure this out, okay?”
“The kids.”
“I know. We need to get in touch with Chris’s parents right now. So I need you to think. Do you have their number in here?”
“I need—” I choke on the words. “I need to call—”
“And I’m going to help you do that.” She rubs my arms.
I press a hand to my chest. It hurts. Almost like I’m having a heart attack or something. Like something is being torn out of my body.
Presley moves to sit next to me on the couch, her thigh pressing against mine, and I watch her fingers type in the code on my phone.
“What’s Chris’s mom’s name?”
“Evelyn,” I say. “Evelyn Hart.”
She finds the contact, and her thumb hovers over the Call button.
“Do you want me to do it?” she asks.
I nod. Because I can’t. Not yet.
She calls, and the ringing seems too loud.
I stare at the coffee table while we wait for Evelyn to answer.
“Wyatt?” an older woman’s voice asks, sounding as broken as I feel.
Presley clears her throat. “Mrs. Hart, this is Presley Grant. I’m here with Wyatt.”
A sob on the other end.
I look at Presley and see her eyes are closed, but she keeps talking.
“I’m so very sorry for your loss.”
Evelyn cries harder.
Presley reaches for my hand and squeezes. I’m not sure if it’s for her benefit or mine.
“Yes,” she says softly. “He’s right here. He’s … in shock right now.”
A pause.
Her gaze flicks to mine.
“The kids are with you?”
My heart pounds in my chest, and I lean closer to her.
Presley listens, then nods. “Okay, and have they been told?”
I can’t hear what Evelyn is saying on the other end.
“I understand,” she says carefully. “No, of course. This is a horrific event.”
Another pause.
Then I hear a loud sound come through the phone. A child’s voice.
I lean closer, and Presley turns the volume up on the speaker.
“Grandma, is that Mom?”
Remy.
His voice hits me like a blade, and my entire body jolts.
Presley looks at me.
“Saint,” she whispers.
Something inside me breaks open just enough for instinct to kick in.
Protector mode.
The part of me that carried Savannah through the days after my dad died. The part that knows grief, for me, can wait when someone smaller needs you more.
I reach for the phone, and Presley hands it over immediately.
“Rem,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady.
There’s a rustling sound, then his voice comes in closer.
“Uncle Wyatt?”
I close my eyes. “Yeah, buddy, it’s me.”
“Grandma is crying.”
I suck in a deep breath. “I know.”
“I tried to text Mom from my iPad to tell her, but she’s not answering me.”
My hand clenches around the phone so hard; it’s a wonder it’s not cracked.
I feel Presley’s palm on my back.
“Remy,” I say, forcing each word to come out, “I need you to listen to me, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Where is Rhyan?”
“She’s watching dragons.”
Of course she is.
My eyes burn.
“I’m going to come get you,” I tell him.
Presley’s head whips toward me.
“Today?” Remy asks.
The hope in his voice nearly kills me.
I look at Presley, and she nods once.
“Yeah,” I say, “today.”
“Okay, but are you mad?”
The question startles me.
“No, buddy,” I say quickly. “I’m not mad.”
“I heard Grandma talking to Grandpa about something bad happening.”
I will not tell this little boy over the phone that his parents have died.
“We’ll talk when I get there,” I say. “But I need you to do something for me first.”
“Okay.”
“I need you to stay with your sister. Keep her close, and help your Grandma.”
“Okay, I will.”
“Thank you, Rem. You’re a good big brother.”
“I know, but you should tell Rhyan that too,” he says with a huff.
He has no idea that his world has just split open.
“I’m coming,” I say again, more steady. “You hear me?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you put your grandma back on the phone?”
Evelyn comes back on crying softly. “Wyatt, I’m so sorry.”
“I’m coming for them,” I say firmly.
Presley’s hand stills on my back.
“Of course,” Evelyn says. “But, Wyatt, they’re safe here. You don’t have to come tonight.”
Presley stands, moving toward the hallway with her phone in her hand.
“Do they have everything they need?” I ask.
“I … what?” she asks, confused.
“The kids,” I say. “What do they need to have packed?”
Evelyn sniffs. “I can pack their bags.”
“Thank you. Pack anything important. Remy’s hockey gear. Rhyan’s stuffed animals.”
“She has the dragon,” Evelyn says, crying harder.
“The green one or the purple one?”
A pause.
“The … the purple one.”
“Okay, she needs the green one too, so I’ll go by the house and get it.”
Presley stands behind me, leaning over the couch, her hands on my shoulders.
“And Remy has his blue hoodie?” I ask. “The one with the shark?”
“I’ll make sure to pack it,” Evelyn whispers.
“I’ll need anything else she left with you. Any documents, phone numbers. School information. I have a copy of their will.”
“Wyatt,” she starts.
“Evelyn, I’ll need all of it.”
“Okay,” she says with a hiccup. “I’ll have everything ready.”
I nod and look over my shoulder at Presley.
“I’ll be there in a few hours.”
Presley nods again and mouths, I’m coming with you.
I turn back to the phone. “Presley and me.”
Evelyn lets out another sob. “Okay.”
I end the call without saying goodbye.
The grief is massive and waiting, but now there’s something in front of it.
My sister’s babies need me.
I walk around the couch and make my way toward my bedroom.
“Saint,” Presley says, following me.
“I need to pack a bag.”
“I know. We’re going to use my family’s plane,” she says firmly.
I open my mouth to argue, but she steps in front of me and presses gently against my chest.
“Look,” she says. “I’ve already spoken to my dad, and he’s making the arrangements right now. Alie is going to my place to pack a bag for me and will meet me at the plane.”
If she wasn’t here with me right now, I’m not sure what I would do because I didn’t even think about how I was going to get to the kids tonight, just that I was going.
“Go pack your bag, and I’ll take care of the rest, okay? And I need you to breathe.”
“Bossing me around.”
Her eyes fill with tears, but she blinks them back and bites her lip.
“Yeah, I am,” she whispers.
I stare at her. “I don’t have a clue what to do here, Doc,” I admit.
Presley’s hands slide up to frame my face.
“I know,” she says. “But I’m right here with you. You’re not in this alone, okay?”
I nod.
“Now, go do what you need to do. We need to be at the plane in an hour,” she says.
Walking into my room, I head right to my closet and grab a bag and start stuffing it with clothes. I don’t even know what I’m taking. I’m on autopilot.
I have to keep moving until I get to Remy and Rhyan.
To hold them.
And then tell them their parents are gone.
I pause, dropping my bag on the floor.
A thought hits me like a sledgehammer. Savannah asked me to watch the kids. And I said I couldn’t. Now, she’s gone, and they’re mine to protect.