Chapter Seventeen #2
"Do they know about it?" I asked, putting my hands in my pockets.
Maddox cocked a brow. "I'm not an imbecile. Of course not. I didn’t forward them the email.”
"No, but there are other ways they could find out," Nick said. "Don't get your panties in a twist, brother." His tone was mocking.
"Let's meet up at my office one evening," I said. Maddox looked stunned. This was my way of waving the white flag. I'd been at odds with them for years, and I was man enough to admit there was no reason for it. Besides, we needed to talk about this. "I'll send you all a calendar invite."
Nick burst out laughing, then said, "Wait, you're serious?"
I frowned. "How else are we supposed to find time?"
"You can just text us," Nick said slowly, like I was being dumb on purpose. "I'll make a WhatsApp group," he continued and immediately took out his phone. "Who knows how much time we have before you change your mind and decide not to be cooperative."
He wasn't completely wrong.
"I think we should do something for our grandparents too," I added.
Maddox nodded. "Yeah, I was thinking about that. But for now, I don't think there's a reason for you to stay here. Go entertain that knockout you've got waiting for you at the coffee station. We've got this."
"I want to talk to the doctor too," I said.
"Don't," Nick replied. "He got annoyed when Gabe and Maddox tried to talk to him and said he'd only speak with us when he had something new."
“Okay. Call me if our grandparents need anything,” I told them.
“You can trust us on that,” Maddox exclaimed, and I realized I truly could. They'd shown up here even before I did. They'd spoken to the doctors. They were on top of this.
"Thank you very much, for everything today. We'll stay in touch.”
"Sure," Maddox replied, eyeing me suspiciously.
I didn't blame him. My history of keeping in touch with them was nonexistent.
I headed downstairs, finding Zoey by the coffee machine.
"Hey!" she said when she noticed me, then turned her phone to me.
"What's that?" I asked. The picture she had pulled up looked like some sort of bottle.
"It's a smart water bottle. Apparently it tells you if you've drunk enough during the day."
"I'm not following."
"It's for Jeannie. Maybe this will help her stay hydrated. It’s easy to forget to drink water.”
I couldn’t believe she’d researched this.
"I think she'll appreciate it. I appreciate it."
"Of course. Every bit helps, right? I mean, obviously, if you don't keep it with you or you drink other things, it doesn’t work.”
“I didn’t mean the bottle. I appreciate what you did.”
"So, what's the plan? Are we sticking around?" she asked.
"My half brothers are on top of everything, so for now, let’s go back home."
"Do you ever just call them your brothers?"
"No," I immediately replied. "It's a reflex, honestly. For so long, I’ve just been angry at them, even though it wasn’t their fault that Father was… an asshole.”
“They seem like great guys. I like how they rallied around Jeannie.”
“Yeah, I liked it too.”
Zoey had also made an effort to lift my grandmother's mood. And now she was looking up at me like just being here with me was enough to make her day better. I wanted to find out what I needed to do for her to look at me like that every day.
We heard footsteps behind us, and I knew my brothers must have arrived. Jake and Cade walked up first, and Spencer was right behind them. None of my brothers had come with their better halves. Maddox, Gabe, and Leo also came from upstairs.
"Relax," I said. "There's nothing wrong. The situation is under control."
I saw the change in them at once. Jake lowered his shoulders. Cade craned his neck as if it had been stiff, and Spencer just nodded. He had dark circles and a permanently exhausted look on his face. But then again, he had a small child, so that was to be expected.
"So what’s the news?" Jake asked.
Maddox spoke. "First of all, they're keeping Gran here under observation and gave her an IV. Leo’s already taken Grandpa home, and as Colton said, everything’s under control."
That was when my brothers seemed to notice Zoey. She was looking at them with a smile.
"Everyone, this is Zoey. Zoey, these are my brothers Jake, Cade, and Spencer."
As they shook hands with her, it dawned on me that their reactions were very toned down.
I would have expected at least Spencer or Cade to crack a joke or give me a shit-eating grin.
Then I realized Gabe was exchanging a glance with Cade.
I was willing to bet anything that our little brother had given them a heads-up. I was grateful to him for it.
"Nice to meet you, Zoey," Jake said. "We've heard about you."
"You have?" Zoey asked, stunned.
"My grandmother might have mentioned you in passing." That came from Cade. He winked at her and then added, “She used that tactic, too, to bring me and Meredith together, but I guess I never learn. She always has a plan.”
Zoey laughed. "I'm a bit overwhelmed.”
"Don't worry, so are we," Gabe said. "Anyway, Zoey, thank you for being here for Grandmother. With you here, she's got something else to focus on and won't turn on us anytime soon."
The mood had significantly lightened in the past few minutes. Knowing Grandmother wasn't in grave danger was a relief to us all.
"Now, how do we want to play this?" Jake asked.
"I'd say we take it one step at a time," Maddox said. "First, let’s see what the doctor suggests. Right now it’s just about hydration."
"I agree with him," I said. “All right, I don’t think there's any point in meeting up tonight, then."
We were going to hang around at Gabe’s bar in the evening, but none of us was in the mood for that anymore.
“Agreed. Okay, guys, let’s go upstairs and check on Grandmother,” Jake suggested.
We bid my brothers and half brothers goodbye, and then I was alone with Zoey.
“Should we buy some goodies and bring them to your grandmother once she’s home?” she asked.
I shook my head. "No, she's going to need her rest. The doctor said not to overwhelm her. I suggest we wait until she gives us the green light to visit her. And in the meantime, my brothers and I will take turns checking on them. Jake’s driver is already helping them with groceries. I’ll check in with Grandfather tomorrow morning to see if they need anything. ”
"I think it's so endearing that all of you are coming together and taking care of them."
“I didn't think I'd say this, but I'm grateful that my half brothers are in Boston too."
She smiled brightly. "I'm happy you’re seeing the positive side of this. Do you wish you were closer to them?" she asked.
"I always figured it would make my grandparents happy if we were closer. But I never really thought about what I wanted.”
“Food for thought, huh?”
Zoey was exceptionally good at seeing right through me and wasn’t afraid of asking the difficult questions and challenging me to do some introspection. I didn’t have any answers—yet.
“All right, so what’s the plan?” she asked.
“My family will stay for a bit, and they’ll keep us posted. Grandmother will flip out if we all stay here, so I'm going to focus on you today."
"How are you going to do that?”
“What do you want to do?”
“We could spend the day outdoors, maybe at a park. I’m afraid these sunny days will be gone before we know it.”
I nodded, taking out my phone.
"What do you think about a hike at the Cascade in Melrose?" I asked her.
She blinked, jerking her head back. "Wait, you just looked that up?"
"Yeah," I muttered. That wasn't totally true. When she'd mentioned camping a while ago, I'd done some research, and the Cascade popped up as a possible day trip.
"Okay then," she said, "I'm all yours. I can’t believe you’re going to be mine all day.”
The idea of belonging to someone, of giving anyone power over me, was foreign to me, and yet I liked hearing Zoey say that. I liked the idea of being hers.