Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
ADAM
I’ve been on my own for years. I’ve lived on my own since I came home from college.
Chelsea wouldn’t ever move in permanently with me.
She’d stay a night or two but always said she needed her own space.
Billy lived with me for a while after he got into trouble, but we found him the house across from me and he bought that when the time was right.
But for the two weeks I had Chelsea and Dominic in my home, our home, I was in heaven. I felt complete and at ease. It was the happiest time of my life.
Waking up alone in my house now is awful. Knowing they’re here, but not within reach, is worse. How do I retrain how I was brought up? How do I change my whole perspective on what my job as a man is when it’s all I’ve known?
Pouring a cup of coffee, I flip on the television and listen to the morning news. Hearing talk of the Holiday Star Inn, the venue where my sister and Jackson are getting married, catches my ear. I face the TV, turning up the volume to see a video of the building engulfed in flames.
“Holy shit.” I listen as the newscaster explains there was an electrical fire and the building burned to the ground last night.
I quickly grab my phone and dial Jackson.
I catch him down at the track and break the unfortunate news.
I promise him anything I can do to help, I’ll do.
Of course, I will. This is where I thrive.
Within twenty-four hours, we’ve made scheduling changes for my current jobs and have begun planning for a wedding instead.
I have to say, when Jackson told me the idea he and Billy had, I fell in love with my best friend a tiny bit more.
I mean, of course those two should be married on the high school football field.
It’s an amazing idea and suits them perfectly.
I can see the love he has for my sister in action.
It’s no coincidence love and work are both four letter words. And for a guy like me, I should have learned this earlier.
Fuck.
See what I did there?
Love is work. Love is the work I should have been putting first all along. Love is the fighting together to come out stronger. Love is forgiveness and acceptance and letting go of past hurts and mistakes.
Love is learning and studying what works for both of us and then actively making sure you pass that test every day.
Love is the sweet secrets we keep for each other. That are whispered about in the still of the night.
Love is facing challenges together, fighting together and making promises for the now and for the future. But it’s also those silent promises that are made with our actions that is the glue in any relationship.
The way she fixes my collar and makes my coffee as I head out the door. The way she waits up for me even if it’s just to kiss me goodnight.
Maybe all of this wedding talk is seeping into my brain. It’s making me soft. But I’m allowed to be soft with her, she allows me to have a soft place to land, to feel safe. And it’s time I learned how to put that into action.
* * *
We’re in my backyard tonight sitting around the fire pit.
It’s the night before the wedding and we’re just trying to relax before the chaos of the big day takes over.
I’m nervously bouncing my leg up and down.
I’m not nervous as much as I am concerned over our interaction tomorrow.
The last thing I want to do is cause any stress for my sister or Jackson or make it weird between anyone else, for that matter.
But Chelsea and I are still not talking. I miss her. I miss Dominic. And I don’t know how to fix it.
“Adam? How about you?” I lift my eyes to Bobby, only half catching what he’s saying.
“Yeah, Adam, wouldn’t it be nice to come home to your woman each night?” Billy snipes out and my pulse races. I shoot him a glare that should shut him up, but he’s Billy and pushing buttons is what he does best. “You do remember what that’s like right?”
Is this guy for fucking real, right now?
“Actually, he probably doesn’t since he was always working.”
“Fuck you, Billy.” I can’t help the venom that spews from my lips.
“Whatever, it’s your funeral.” Then, in a tone so low I almost miss it, “but Jesus, get it together. It’s not just you two anymore.”
“Keep your mouth shut about shit you don’t know.” Before I know it, I’m out of my seat and standing toe to toe with my youngest brother. The one I saved, the one I’d do anything for and yet he’s got me so riled up right now I’m ready to fight him over a woman.
Not just any woman. My woman.
“I don’t know about it, huh? What I wouldn’t do to be in your shoes.
” He drops his head, shaking it, staring at the ground.
Taking a breath, he raises it and stares back at me.
Challenging me. “I was there, too, Adam, and we’re all here now.
You’re suffocating us, tying our hands, not allowing us to do what we do best. Be a family. ”
“Don’t. Talk,” I grind out. This guy thinks he knows because he watches from the sideline. But I’m playing the fucking game. My team may be losing but I’m still first string.
“Don’t let her go a second time, brother.” He spits the word. “If you do, it’s not just you who loses. We all have a lot more to lose this time around. Because if she runs? She’s taking my nephew with her.” He narrows his eyes at me. “I can’t lose him.”
I know it’s not just me anymore. Our whole family is invested in our relationship making it through to the end game.
And what would be worse than losing CJ? Actively watching her find what we have with someone else.
My hands clench at just the thought of it.
The guy’s head inside for the night and then leave me alone, as well.
I need to fix this. I need to save my family.