Alibi (Brantley Walker Off the Books #5) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,25

as gutted as Gage felt.

“Daddy-O!” Kate yelled, racing right into Travis’s arms.

Without fail, Travis picked her up, held her tight to him, and kissed her on the forehead as all the other kids, save for Maddox, who simply kicked his feet against Gage’s hip, wrapped themselves around Travis’s legs.

Their eyes met over the heads of all their kids, and Gage felt a fresh wave of grief. He could see that Travis was doing his best to pull away from them. Not physically but emotionally. Gage knew the man would be there because they needed him, but even if he was there in body, he wouldn’t be there in spirit.

Problem was, Gage had already lost Kylie, the woman he loved beyond measure. He didn’t think he would survive losing Travis at the same time.

*

After having experienced the devastation of one miscarriage, Curtis Walker had been blessed with the birth of seven healthy boys. And from the first moment he laid eyes on each of them, he had prayed they would outlive him, that he would never have to experience the loss of another child, that his beautiful bride would never have to suffer that loss either.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t been specific enough with his prayer, because he now knew the loss of another child, felt the gut-wrenching pain of sorrow as it flooded his body.

No, Kylie wasn’t his child by birth. He hadn’t had the honor of hearing her first word or holding her hand on the first day of school. But he’d had the pleasure of witnessing her grow up. Only he’d seen it through pictures her father proudly showed anyone who wanted to see. Ones of her holding up her lunch box on those first days of school, some when she was proudly wearing her Halloween costume and preparing to take her little sister trick-or-treating. Even one of her standing beside her first car, her smile wide, her joy evident. Joe Prescott had so many pictures—birthdays, Christmases, graduations—so many but not nearly enough, Curtis knew.

Regardless, Kylie Marie Prescott Walker was as much Curtis’s child as his own sons were. Without her vibrancy, a piece of his heart was now missing, and he knew the same could be said for Lorrie and every other member of his family.

Curtis had watched his wife these past few days, knew the only reason Lorrie was able to keep moving forward was because she had to. She had to ensure that Kylie’s sister had what she needed because Lorrie refused to let Jessie endure another ounce of weight upon her shoulders during this impossible time.

And Lorrie was doing her best to support Joe and Melissa, Kylie’s father and stepmother, so they could grieve the loss of their oldest child, something that was painful enough without also dealing with the fact that yesterday would’ve been Kylie’s thirty-seventh birthday.

Thankfully, Lorrie had help. Every single one of them was putting one foot in front of the other, holding each other up, celebrating the beauty that Kylie had brought to this world while also suffering on the inside. Zoey, Kennedy, V, and even Cheyenne, who had put her tour on hold indefinitely, were taking turns watching kids, helping Lorrie cook meals, and sitting with Jessie when they forced Braydon to give his wife and himself a breather.

Ethan, Beau, Sawyer, Kaleb, and Brendon were assisting with chores, helping the women with the kids, trying to keep them entertained as much as possible. They were doing what they could for Travis and Gage; all the while, they were handling the loss as best they could.

As for him … well, Curtis was trying to remain stoic for those who needed him. Especially today, as everyone in the church dealt with the pain of losing one of the most generous and kind women Curtis had ever known.

He’d been sitting here, listening as Pastor Bob reflected on Kylie’s life, the fact that she and Travis and Gage had celebrated seven years of marriage last December. He relayed a few details of the day he had performed the unofficial ceremony to unite the three of them.

What Pastor Bob didn’t mention was that Kylie and Travis had been married … well, it would’ve officially been nineteen years in June. The first eleven of those years, no one had known because Travis and Kylie had split up without ever sharing the news. It hadn’t been until Kylie sought Travis out to sign divorce papers that they’d rekindled what they’d once had, and Kylie had found herself falling