Into the Tide (Cottonwood Cove #1)(75)

Red brick ran down all of Main Street. There were tons of little boutiques, along with the post office, the library, and several restaurants, including Reynolds’, where I worked. Light posts were on every corner, and the floral hanging baskets were always overflowing with seasonal flowers.

I was looking forward to seeing Travis as I hadn’t spent much time with my brother since I’d been home. It didn’t surprise me, but he seemed to feel guilty about it. He was a workaholic and a newlywed expecting his first child. He had a lot on his plate. I understood it, and I wasn’t offended at all.

I opened the door of the cute coffee house, Cup of Cove, which had opened when I was in high school. It was small and charming, and they sold coffee, tea, donuts, and coffee. And no one here was going to grill you about your sexual escapades, thank goodness, because I was terrified of seeing Mrs. Runither for fear the woman would know something was going on with me.

When I pulled the door open, the smell of cinnamon flooded my senses. The walls were a pale pink, the flooring a rustic, white-washed, wide-plank wood floor, and three antique wood chandeliers hung overhead.

I stepped inside and found my brother sitting in the back on a pink velvet love seat, and he looked completely out of place with his work boots, baseball cap, and his chronic frown. But his lips turned up in the corners when he saw me, and my chest squeezed a little.

Travis James was the most protective, loyal brother on the planet. There had never been a day in my life where I didn’t know that I was deeply loved by at least one person—and that was my brother. But he was also stubborn and close-minded, and even though I loved him fiercely, I was not going to just do whatever he wanted me to, just for the sake of keeping the peace.

Times had changed, and I’d grown up.

“I got you a chai latte with almond milk,” he said, as he pushed to his feet and wrapped his arms around me.

“Thank you.” I sat on the love seat across from him. “How’s Shay feeling? She said she’s been pretty sick in the mornings.”

“Yep. It’s been rough. And she’s all over my ass because I work too much.” He chuckled. “I’m sorry I haven’t spent much time with you. But I saw that little shithead Kline hanging all over Danielle when Shay and I were at dinner the other night. I guess he moved on quickly.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yes. It was never anything more than a friendship. He’s a good guy. We’re friends.”

He nodded. “How was the wedding? Hugh said you guys had a good time. I’m glad you’ve got him looking out for you.”

“I don’t need anyone to look out for me, Travis. I wish you’d get that through your thick skull.”

He leaned forward and set his mug down. “I don’t like you going down this rabbit hole with Dad, Lila. This is why I didn’t want you coming home. You’re running down a dead-end street. And who the hell is paying for this?”

I groaned because he was like a dog with a bone when he had a point to make. He never let anything go. “Dad is two weeks into the program, and he’s doing well. Why can’t you consider the fact that he is capable of change? He’s the only family we have, Trav.”

His hands fisted on the table, and the veins on his neck bulged. I could see he was trying to control his voice from going to a full shout. “Let me see… He wasn’t there for us at all after our mother was killed in a car accident. He checked the fuck out. He completely neglected us, and you got so sick, you ended up in the hospital for a few weeks. You could have died. And where was he? Oh, that’s right, he was fucked-up on God knows what prescription meds the man was taking. He was so neglectful that the hospital called CPS, Lila. He is the reason that you wound up in some shitty stranger’s house in fucking foster care after getting out of the hospital. Is that not enough?”

I reached across the table and covered his hand with mine. “I’m not questioning your reasons for being angry. But he was injured after he fell off that ladder, and he got hooked on pain meds. He’s human, and he’s an addict. Instead of hating him, why not try to help him?”

“How about the next decade after that, Lila? Huh? You ran every fucking day of your life to escape what was going on in that house. The short spurts of sobriety followed by the endless fuckups. He hardly attended any of your races, even though the whole town came out to cheer you on because you were kicking so much ass. Where was he?”

Travis had never missed one of my races before I left for college. He’d turned down a scholarship to go away to school, and he stayed home to attend a small community college here in Cottonwood Cove so he could look after me. My brother had sacrificed a lot for me, and I loved him for it. But holding on to all this anger was not good for him.

“He was suffering, Trav.” I squeezed his hand. “I love you, and I know that you lost your childhood because you were stuck raising me. And that wasn’t fair, and you have every right to be angry. But carrying all that baggage and hate—it’s not healthy. You’re going to be a father, and this should be the happiest time of your life, but you seem more stressed out than ever. Talk to me.”

He pulled his hand away and ran it down his face. “I need you to know that I have never regretted one day of being your brother. I would do it all over again to keep you safe. But I’m struggling with you being home, knowing that this man can derail you. He’s selfish, and he let his children flounder after losing their mother, and I don’t respect that. And you’re here to help him? You have this amazing job waiting for you in Chicago, and you finally have a break from running and all the pressure you’ve been dealing with, and you come back home? To help a man who never helped himself nor stepped up for you? So, yeah, I’m fucking worried. I’m worried you’ll fall for some douchedick like Kline Barley and then give it all up to stay here and spend the rest of your life trying to help our father, a man who doesn’t deserve your time. And then what was it all for—all our hard work to let you have a chance at a good life, only to throw it all away?”