CHAPTER THIRTY
Reid
Nearly two weeks have passed since Isaac was rushed to hospital. He now rests back at home, where Mum has loved fussing over him for the past couple of days. He has a long recovery and won’t be back at work for a couple of months.
I pass the living room, where the twins are still half asleep on the sofas, and head to the kitchen, where I can smell bacon and eggs.
“That smells amazing,” I groan as I walk in. Hunter is lying in the bed Mum got for the kitchen, Rex next to him.
“Landon’s here,” Isaac warns begrudgingly.
Landon chomps down on the sausage skewered on his fork before grinning. “You aren’t normally this grouchy in the morning.”
Isaac narrows his eyes. “I’ve been eating dry and rubber food for weeks. I come home and you sit there eating the breakfast Mum was making for me.”
“Technically I just made it to the table before you and helped myself like Liza kindly told me to do. Had I known you were on your way, I would have waited.”
“Would you?” I ask, arching a brow as I lean down to kiss my mum’s cheek. “Good morning.”
“Morning. Take a seat. There’s more coming,” she promises.
“Maybe,” Landon replies, but the words come out forced. “Okay, no, I wouldn’t have.”
“How are you feeling?” I ask when I take a seat next to my brother.
He slams his fork down on the plate in front of him. “Fucking hell, Reid. I’m fucking okay. I wish you and everyone else would stop fucking asking me.”
“I’ve not asked you,” Landon informs him.
“Landon,” Paisley whispers, prodding him in his arm. “Isaac, we’re just worried. No one is asking to offend you.”
“Well I’m fine,” he snaps, pushing his plate away.
My shoulders drop as I stare at his side profile.
He blames me. He’s not said it in words, but he’s avoided me as much as someone bedbound possibly can.
He’s at ease with Luke, he’s even normal with Jaxon, who had been there that day.
When I came home last night from Summer’s, they were playing on the Xbox.
Their laughter echoed down the stairs and hallway.
The minute I entered the room, all laughter and banter stopped.
I stayed, offering to take the loser’s place, but Isaac had lowered the controller to the blanket and said he was tired and should get to sleep.
I wanted to argue, to demand answers, but I had no argument.
I didn’t have questions. I knew why he was acting like a petulant child when it came to me. Blame.
Mum hovers over me with a tray in one hand, tongs in another, and suddenly, I can’t stomach the thought of eating right now. “Actually, I’d better get to the factory. We have inventory coming in.”
“Reid,” she calls out softly when I push back in my chair. Isaac hasn’t been subtle about his feelings toward me. Everyone has picked up on it but no one has called him out. “You have time to eat.”
I force a smile. “I’d best get a start on it so we don’t fall behind,” I lie, and grab my jacket from the back of my chair.
I’m grateful for the breeze that hits me when I step outside. After weeks of stifling air from the heatwave that hit us, it feels good.
Jaxon’s car is parked outside the factory when I arrive, and now I kind of wish I told Mum I left something at Summer’s house and needed to go and get it. Jaxon will badger me with questions because I never turn up early. He’ll know something is wrong.
But how can I complain about my twin shutting me out when I’m so damn relieved that he’s okay?
How do I explain that I’m not mad that he blames me?
I’m doing it too. I shouldn’t have dropped him.
The first few days after his surgery, we had been good.
He had mostly been out of it, but I didn’t feel this rift between us.
Then suddenly, it’s like he remembered why he was in the hospital and he hated me.
I’ll take that hate for the rest of my life because it means he’s here to feel it.
Still, it sucks, because I miss my brother.
I let myself in, finding Jaxon at his desk. “Morning,” I greet, forcing a cheerfulness I don’t feel.
He jerks in surprise. “Reid, why are you here so early? I thought Mum was cooking breakfast this morning.”
“She is. There’s probably some left if you want some. I already ate,” I lie.
His eyebrows rise as he leans back in his chair. “You already ate? I thought you stayed at home last night? The tracker said you were home. Did Summer pick you up?”
Shit.
“Um, I was home. I got up early. I’m going to head into the back and get started on inventory.”
“Reid,” he calls out when I reach the sliding door that leads to the back. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
I leave before he can ask any more questions. I slide the door closed behind me and flick on the backroom light.
Instead of doing what I said I would be doing, I head over to the work bench to take a seat and pull out my phone.
REID: Morning, Sunshine. Sleep well?
SUMMER: Morning, handsome. I slept great. Didn’t have anyone wrapping themselves around me or snoring in my ear. What about you?
I grin at my screen because she’s such a terrible liar.
We’ve spent the past few weeks alternating between our homes.
We mostly stay at her house, which I surprisingly don’t mind.
There have only been a few nights where we’ve stayed in our own beds alone.
Last night was one of them. Things have been going great between the two of us and I’ve even managed to perfect the whole date night thing.
First date night, I took her to my granddad’s to play Harry Potter Cluedo.
She loved it, and was surprised by my choice.
She even went as far as to tell me it was the best first date she had ever been on.
Second date, I took her to a sushi bar in town, as she had been talking about wanting to go to one.
Third date, we stayed in and made food together.
She even came to dinner with my mum. She fit in like she had always been there.
As much as I’m annoyed that I’ve missed out on this for years, I know I wouldn’t have had it with anyone else.
I mean, there has been no one else I’ve even thought about entering a relationship with.
I’ve never once before looked at a girl and thought, I want more; I want to spend every night with you.
I had spent years fearing committing to one woman.
Years mocking and looking down on those who chose a monogamous relationship.
Turns out, I just wasn’t ready for Summer. I’m ready now.
REID: Not great actually. I had no one to cuddle all night. I had to turn my fan on for white noise because I missed the little huffs and puffs you make in your sleep.
SUMMER: I find that hard to believe. Hunter is fantastic at giving cuddles and he snores like his owner, so you wouldn’t have needed the fan.
REID: I don’t snore. And Hunter isn’t you. There’s only one you.
SUMMER: How was it with Isaac last night?
Unlike with my family, I have spoken with Summer about Isaac.
Not about the guilt I feel. She picked up on the tension, so I told her how he had been acting toward me, hoping I had been wrong about my brother blaming me.
She thinks he’s struggling with what happened to him, and most likely doesn’t know how to act around me now.
REID: He was playing the Xbox with Luke when I got back but conveniently felt tired the minute I offered to play. Then this morning, he snapped at me for asking if he was okay.
SUMMER: I’m sorry. You should talk to him about this. I don’t like seeing you hurt, and this is hurting you more than you are letting on. You don’t deserve this. Neither does he.
REID: I don’t think I could handle hearing him blame me for the accident.
SUMMER: Blame you? What the hell! Reid, he doesn’t blame you. There’s nothing to blame you for. Is that what you’ve been thinking this entire time?
REID: I am the reason he got hurt.
SUMMER: No, you are not. And Isaac wasn’t the only one who got hurt that day. You did too.
SUMMER: I’m at the spa. Can you come over on your break? I want to see you but I don’t want to abuse my friendship with Paisley by leaving work. It feels wrong, but I know she’ll let me take a break at the same time you do. I wish you were here. I don’t like you thinking he blames you.
REID: I’ll come over on my break. I’m not sure when it will be. I’m on site all day today but we have inventory to do and more stock coming in. I know he blames me. It’s no big deal. I’m just glad he’s alive to hate me.
SUMMER: Honey... Go speak to him.
The sliding door squeaks on its hinges as it slides open, and I lower my phone quickly and glance up.
My stomach flips as I see Isaac on his support crutches walking in. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t be out. You heard the doctor. You need a few more weeks of rest.”
“I’m sorry for snapping at you. Landon, of all people, called me out, and then Paisley talked me through how you were at the hospital and that I acted unfairly.”
I try to hide how much it bothers me that he’s here because Landon told him to come. In fact, it pisses me off a little. He thinks I’m really that sensitive that I’d be upset over him snapping at me? He doesn’t even bring up how he’s been acting with me the entire time, period. “Go home, Isaac.”
“That’s it? You aren’t going to call me out on it or ask me why?”
I kick a box of plastic scraps across the room. “I don’t fucking need to. Your behaviour for a while now has shown me exactly why. You blame me. I get it, okay? I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry I couldn’t stop you from falling.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Jaxon growls, storming into the room.