17. Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Seventeen
Grayson
“She hasn’t messaged me since the weekend,” I tell Reid as we pick up another timber beam.
Walking over to the house, Reid takes it to the porch and holds it up. I secure it to the fixture, between the porch and decking. Once it’s complete, we stand back and catch our breaths, taking in Holden’s smaller farmhouse on the other side of the ranch.
“She probably just needs some time to figure everything out. It was a big thing to drop,” he points out.
My jaw tightens. Sometimes I hate how matter-of-fact my brother is.
Holden reappears with his drill, a toolbelt secured around his jeans as he tramples to our side, checking out the finished result of the porch. “Looks good.”
I scoff. For Holden, that’s a high praise.
“How’s the cladding coming along?” Reid asks, following Holden to the mountain of material on the ground.
“Getting there. Weatherboards are a pain to construct, but they do look nice,” Holden admits.
“Look at you, becoming a designer,” Cole adds smartly, dropping his hammer on the ground at his boots.
Holden glares in his direction.
“We’ll help with the weatherboards. The faster we get them up, the faster you can start painting and move in,” Reid continues, ignoring Cole’s remark.
Holden nods, and the two of them carry on as I help secure a board in place with Reid. He grunts as he drills in the board, shaking it for stability before huffing. “One done.”
“It’s at least going to look nice once it’s finished,” I say, helping him with the next one.
“Yeah,” he puffs out, wiping sweat from his brow. “It’ll be worth it.”
Nodding, we secure another one in position before starting the process again.
After an hour, we decide to take a break and get some water for the others.
Strolling towards the main house, my hand fidgets with the end of my shirt. Reid must notice because he asks, “Are you worried about Laynie?”
“Yeah, I am.”
His shoulders sag as he slows his pace beside me.
We’ve never really had close chats before until recently.
Not until he and Macie got together and I found out.
It definitely brought us closer, with the two of us finally getting everything off our chests after years of bottling everything up.
It felt good, and I’m glad I have my big brother on my side again, no matter how pretentious he comes across sometimes.
I’ll still tease him about his glasses and books, don’t you worry.
“You’re allowed to worry about her. She’s your best friend,” Reid points out,
Chewing on my bottom lip, I look away briefly before putting my arm on his shoulder, halting his stride. “If I tell you something, will you promise to keep it between us?” I ask in a low tone.
Reid nods solemnly.
I exhale slowly, mustering up all the courage I can. “I think Laynie is more than just my best friend.”
My brother stares at me, unblinking, for a long minute.
I wave my hand in front of his face, trying to break him out of his trance. He pushes my arm away. “You don’t think that I know that, moron?”
“Well, I don’t know. You didn’t seem to realise Macie was in love with you.”
“Neither did you,” he retorts.
My eyes roll. “I know I’m not good at reading other people. It’s not my strength.”
“But it’s one of mine, and I’ve known for a long time that you’re had feelings for her.”
“So you see why I’m a bit taken aback by this, right?” His brows pinch. “I always thought something would happen between us, but then she went and slept with a different guy. A guy she didn’t even like.”
“And you wanted it to be you?” Reid asks, stealing the thought right out of my brain. My shoulders slump forward. His hand cups my back. “Maybe it was a one-time thing?”
“But what if it wasn’t?” I mumble, my gaze dropping to my muddy boot. “What if he sticks around?”
“Won’t that be better for the baby?” Reid asks.
I scoff, pushing his arm off me and trampling towards the house. “You don’t get it.”
“No, I don’t, so explain it to me.”
His grip on me forces me to stop and stare at him, blocking my way.
“I don’t want him to come here. I don’t want him to be a part of this,” I grit out.
Reid’s head tips forward, his hands on his hips. “I know, man. You know I want you two to be together, but he’s the dad.”
I scoff again.
“It’s their baby, and if he chooses to be a part of it, then you’re going to have to live with that, because you’re her friend. You need to be supportive with what she decides.”
Biting down on the inside of my cheek, I can’t bring myself to argue with him anymore, because he’s right. How could I stand in the way of her happiness?
“She doesn’t need to push me away, though,” I grumble.
Reid sighs, aware of how much I despise being pushed away. It’s one of the reasons we butted heads for so long. “I’m sure she has a reason for it. She’s figuring all of this out. I don’t think she’d do it to mess with you, but it might be easier for her right now.”
“I know. It just sucks, though.”
He nods. “Yeah, but just be patient with her, Gray. She’s navigating all of this on her own. It must be really difficult.”
Stepping inside the house, I’m hit with the warmth of the fireplace.
My body gives a small involuntary shiver as we grab some water and fill up bottles to take to Holden and Cole.
Reid takes a banana from the bowl and munches it down.
I sneak a cookie, demolishing it in two bites.
Mum rounds the corner. Reid and I freeze as she stares at us, her skin paler than usual and blue bags hanging beneath her eyes.
“Mum, are you all right?” I ask, moving to her side.
She nods. “I just need some tablets.”
Reid reaches into the cupboard to grab them for her so that she doesn’t need to use the small step. I grab her a glass of water.
“Another headache?” Reid asks warily.
I eye him as Mum downs her medication and smiles faintly. “Yeah, but it’s fine. I just need to lie down for a bit.”
“Where’s Aspen?” I ask, expecting my little niece to be trailing after her. She’s not at childcare today.
“She’s with your dad. He took her into town to grab some more stock. I think he knew I needed a break.” She lets out a small sigh, rubbing her forehead.
“Go rest. We’ll be out of your hair for a bit still,” Reid tells her, topping up her water before nudging her out of the kitchen.
“Thanks. I just need a nap,” Mum mumbles, returning to their bedroom upstairs.
The door closes, and I look at Reid, his eyes set like mine. “She’s been getting more headaches recently.”
“I know. So have I,” he murmurs, tone concerned.
“Do you think it could be something?”
Reid shrugs, grabbing the drink bottles. I get the sense that he doesn’t want to talk about it.
“Let’s go. She needs silence, and the others will be expecting us.”
“All right.” I nod, following him, my mind aching as well. Another thing to add to my list of quiet worries.
I finish brushing my teeth, rinsing out my mouth and brushing my fingers through my damp hair when I hear Mum calling me from downstairs. Slinking down in my flannel bottoms and crisp white tee, I round the bottom of the stairs to find Laynie standing in the living room.
Without saying anything, I have her in my arms, her face pressed against my warm chest as my parents give us the room.
I can tell she’s been crying, which seems to be the norm these days.
She’s shivering, too. I slip off her jacket and toss it on the edge of the couch before grabbing a blanket and draping it over her shoulders.
“Are you okay?” I ask, unsure of what else to say. She hasn’t said anything for two days.
My heart pounds through my temple as she shakes her head, eyes glistening with moisture as she licks her lips dry. Gosh, it looks so good. “He called me.”
That makes my pulse pause for a beat.
There’s only one person she could be referring to. I mentally prepare myself for her to tell me to back off. That she’s giving that moron a chance.
“He doesn’t want anything to do with us.”
Her voice shakes as I peer down at her. Throat working, I watch as tears form in the corners of her eyes. I pull her against me once again. Is it bad that I’m slightly relieved by that?
Trembling, Laynie holds herself together as my mind reels with all the excuses he could have come up with. Is she not good enough? Has he found someone else? Is his job too important?
That last one makes my blood boil because no job should be more important than a baby.
“I’ll kill him,” I hear myself breathe out. I know I’ve always been protective of her, but not even I thought I would say those words and mean it.
Her head flies up, almost hitting me square in the jaw as she blinks at me, trembling. “What?”
My jaw ticks as my fingers fist in the blanket. “I’ll kill him if you want me to.”
Her eyebrows twitch. “Gray—”
I cut her off, realising how bad this sounds. “Nobody hurts you and gets away with it, and he shouldn’t be suggesting that because he can’t get his own life together.”
Laynie stares at me, mouth open and void of sound as I shift position.
“I don’t want you to hurt him,” she mumbles.
I do. “Well, he can’t just leave you like this,” I say, even though a part of me is happy. He’s not going to be here, which means Laynie won’t have some moron attached to her.
She won’t need to push me away again.
She shakes her head slightly. “I just want to forget about him. He’s not important, and he made it clear that I’m not either.”
My heart sinks a fraction in my chest as I hold onto her tighter, my eyes moving to the window that’s dark from the night light. “Maybe not, but you’re important to me, Laynie,” I whisper out in a rough tone. “I’m not letting you go through all of this alone.”
“I don’t really have a choice. He made it clear that he—”
“Screw him,” I grit out bitterly. I watch her nerves jolt. “I care about you. If you think that I won’t help you through this, then you’re dead wrong, Laynie.”
Her breath catches in her throat, and my jaw tightens as I stare back at her, steady and defensive.
“Remember what we said when we were younger?” I ask, and her eyes scour mine for the answer. “We said we would be there no matter what. This is a no matter what situation. Plus, if he’s choosing not to be part of his baby’s life, it’s because he’s a coward. It’s nothing to do with you.”
“I know,” she breathes.
My chest stings as she looks away, eyes filling with tears once again as her lips tremble. “I’m just scared, G.”
I hug her as tightly as I can, pressing a kiss to her temple as she sobs once again. “I know you are.”
Holding her in my arms feels perfect. Complete.
She fits like a puzzle piece. Like the magnet mine was starving to pair with.
Her hair is tucked under my chin, forehead pressed against my chest, arms wrapped around my waist tightly, and fingers pulling in my tee.
She fits so perfectly, and I fear that I’ll never find anyone else who feels like this.
“Thank you for being patient with me,” she murmurs after a long minute of silence.
“Of course, Biscuit.” I feel the flutter in my chest. “I’m not going to leave you alone. I promise.”
I feel her hesitation, the small hitch in her throat. “You’re my best friend in the entire world.”
There it is again. Best friend. Drawing that line in the sand and making it obvious that this is all we’ll be. Toes curling, the hope that simmers deep in my bone marrow fizzles out as Laynie cries against my neck, tears falling down my skin.
“You’re my best friend too.” The words taste like copper on my tongue.
Sniffing, Laynie moves away to drag her hands through her hair. I hear the patter of rain starting on the roof.
“Do you want to sleep here tonight?” I ask as she wipes under her eyes. “The spare room is made up, and I don’t want you to drive home when it’s slippery.”
Running her tongue along her bottom lip, Laynie nods slowly, tucking hair behind her ear. My fingers itch as she does it, and I give her a small smile before switching off the lights and heading upstairs.
Reid’s old bedroom is barer now, which I didn’t think was possible. Letting Laynie in, I duck into my bedroom to grab her some clothes to change into for the night, and my spare phone charger.
“Here.”
“Thank you. I let Mum know that I’m staying here so she doesn’t freak out.”
My eyebrows twitch. “Your parents are back?”
She nods. “Yeah, they got back on Saturday after I called them with the news.”
Right, the news.
“Well, I’m glad they’re here for you,” I say gently, moving an inch closer to her.
Laynie gives me a soft smile. “Yeah, me too. I really needed her.”
Yeah, and I wish you needed me just as much as I need you. “Goodnight, Laynie.”
She smiles again, the lines around her mouth deepening. “Goodnight, Gray.”
I close the door separating us.