Unbreak My Heart (Unbreak My Heart #1)(48)

“He’s been asking for you all morning,” my mom informed me with a smile. “How you feeling?”

“Fine,” I whispered shakily, pulling Gunner toward me as I watched Keller and Sage fight over the only chair in the room while Gavin showed something in his hands to Bram.

What the hell was I going to do?

*



Shane picked me up the next morning after I’d been discharged, and we made the silent and strained trip back to my parents’ house. I wasn’t sure why he was silent. He was the one who’d pulled the rug out from under me. I also wasn’t sure why he’d offered to pick me up, instead of my mom like we’d planned.

“We’re leaving at four,” Shane said, finally breaking the silence between us as he turned the car onto my parents’ driveway. “Our flight leaves at six thirty.”

“Seriously?”

“I have to be home in case I get called in. I’ve been lucky so far,” he replied quietly.

“So, that’s it?” I huffed out a derisive laugh. “What are you going to do with the kids while you work?”

“Megan said she can keep them until I find a daycare.”

“You’re putting them in daycare instead of leaving them with their family who loves them,” I said flatly as we rolled to a stop in front of the house. “Good move.”

“They belong with me, and I live in California.”

“There’s nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?” I asked desperately.

Shane shook his head once, his jaw flexing.

“Fine.” I stared out the windshield for a long moment after he put the car in park. I didn’t know what to do with myself. It felt like there was a hole in my chest that was spreading, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.

“Thank you so much for taking care of them for me—” I threw my door open and climbed out of the car so I didn’t have to listen to his bullshit.

“I’ve got it,” I hissed as Shane rushed around the car to grip my elbow. “Don’t.”

“Kate—” he said, his voice strained.

“No. You don’t get to do this and then act like everything’s fine.”

“You’re on bed rest! It’s not like you can take care—”

“Sis?” Bram called out from the front door, walking toward us. “You need some help?”

I turned to my brother, who was practically vibrating with tension. He was trying, I knew he was, but it was taking a toll on him to sit back and do nothing when he knew I was hurting. My protector.

When Alex and Bram had come to our family, I’d been curious to see how two boys who looked so incredibly similar would compare. We hadn’t known then that my parents would adopt them—that came two years later—but as far as I’d been concerned, they were my brothers as soon as they stepped foot in the house—and I’d been almost giddy that I had two for the proverbial price of one.

I soon came to realize that, though the boys were twins, they were as different as chalk and cheese. Alex became my confidant. He was understanding, and calm, and willing to listen to anything I said. Bram? Well, he didn’t care what an eight-year-old girl had to say. He hadn’t really wanted to bother with me at all. I’d been convinced that he just didn’t like me until one day when I’d accidentally walked into a blackberry bush and scratched a deep groove into my eyelid. I’d been screaming, stumbling around as blood ran into my eye and partially blinded me, when Bram came running. He’d been bigger than me, even then, and had picked me up and carried me all the way home.

I’d known then that, though Bram wasn’t interested in my day-to-day drama, he wouldn’t hesitate if he thought I’d needed him. He was the most solid man I knew. Stalwart. Loyal. And he wanted to beat the hell out of the man standing next to me.

“Help me inside?” I asked tremulously. Shane made a small sound of protest in the back of his throat.

“Yeah, no problem,” Bram said, hopping down off the porch and scooping me into his arms to carry me bridal-style. “Kids are waiting for you inside.”

*



“You guys are going to go back to San Diego with your dad,” I tried to explain to the older kids for what felt like the twentieth time that afternoon. The only one who seemed completely okay with the situation was Gunner, who sat oblivious, snacking on a small bowl of marshmallows. I swear it was the only way I could keep the kid still for more than a few minutes at a time. I’d figured it out months ago and had used the trick to keep him quiet and happy during Shane’s Skype calls.

“What are you going to do?” Sage asked in confusion.

“I have to stay here, Sage the Rage. I can’t fly. I’m not even supposed to get out of bed.”

“We should stay too then,” Keller said, a small scowl on his face. “We shouldn’t leave you here by yourself.”

“I’ll be okay. I have my mom and your grandma to take care of me,” I told him, my eyes watering.

“I don’t wanna go back.”

“You start kindergarten next week, bud. You don’t want to start later than everyone else, do you?”

“We could go to school here,” Sage interrupted excitedly. “We could ride the bus.”