Alibi (Brantley Walker Off the Books #5) - Nicole Edwards Page 0,52

just yesterday. The only difference was it was getting easier to breathe, to make it a few hours without feeling the unbearable pain. Time would heal them, of that he was certain, but he doubted they would ever be whole again.

When it was clear Travis was going to remain glued to the television so he didn’t have to interact, Gage got to his feet.

“I’m gonna make SpaghettiOs for lunch. And I’ll scrounge up some candles just in case.”

Travis nodded. “I was thinkin’ I’d start a fire.”

And that was the extent of their conversation for most of the day. They spent the afternoon coloring with the kids, watching movies, and playing video games. From the outside looking in, it would appear they were a highly functioning family, but Gage knew it was all to keep from thinking about Kylie.

As usual, Travis was dealing with work, taking phone calls, checking in to ensure everything was being handled at the resort. Gage left him to it, figuring it was what Travis wanted and needed. He was keeping himself separate as much as possible, more so from Gage than the kids, and Gage was attempting to respect that.

But when Travis had disappeared after dinner, not coming back even after the kids were situated in front of the television and their iPads, Gage went to look for him.

He wasn’t surprised to see him sitting at his desk, staring blankly at the desk.

No. Not the desk. He was looking at a white envelope that sat neatly on top of his leather blotter.

Gage stepped into the room. “What is that?”

Travis’s eyes shot up to him as though he’d been caught doing something wrong. His hand immediately went to the envelope, covering it.

“Travis?” Gage watched his husband closely, saw the guilt on his face. “What’s goin’ on?”

“It’s a letter,” Travis finally said as Gage approached.

“From?”

Travis pulled his hand back, revealing the cursive writing on the front. “Kylie.”

Gage stopped, his legs locking. “What?”

Travis turned the envelope so Gage could read it. “Evidently, she wrote us a letter and left it with the attorney. Said we were to get it in the event of her death.”

Although he wasn’t sure he wanted to know, he asked anyway. “What does it say?”

Travis shrugged. “I haven’t opened it. Can’t.”

Gage’s attention was locked on the standard white envelope and the familiar handwriting. He knew Travis didn’t mean it was physically impossible to open the letter, but rather he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Gage understood fully because, looking at it now, his first instinct was to back away from it.

Although he was a far cry from getting over what had happened, he felt stronger than he had in the beginning. That first week … he’d been a mess. And it had taken days for him to be able to breathe without tears clogging his throat. But suddenly all the progress he’d thought he’d made faded away, leaving him breathless and sad.

“Should we read it?” Travis asked, his voice scratchy and raw.

Gage looked at him, looked at the letter.

If he read a letter from Kylie … especially one from the grave…

Gage shook his head. He couldn’t do it.

“I was gonna tell you,” Travis said softly. “I’ve only had it for a couple of days. Wasn’t gonna open it without you.”

That wasn’t what Gage was worried about. Strangely, he believed Travis, knew the man wouldn’t keep something like that from him. Not unless it was to protect him.

“Do you want to open it now?” Travis repeated, the letter still sitting there between them.

“No,” he blurted, backing up. “No, I don’t.”

He felt Travis’s eyes on him as he left the room, leaving the letter and Travis behind him. Now he had to deal with a fresh wave of grief.

Chapter Fifteen

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Brantley woke on Saturday morning with a migraine hangover.

While he hated the feeling, he would take it over the actual headache any day. And last night’s had been brutal. It had hit him midafternoon and lasted well into the night.

Although he rarely tried to tie the headache back to a trigger since they seemed random and indiscriminate in their assault, he wanted to believe this one was brought on by the stress of the past week. The winter storm that had all but leveled central Texas had been brutal, leaving a mess in its wake.

There were still large portions of the area without power and water, and while they’d lost both for a short time, it appeared they were up and running despite the