A Beautiful Funeral (The Maddox Brothers #5) - Jamie McGuire Page 0,33

you heard from him?” Taylor asked, walking past me.

“You can put them in the guest room,” I said but wasn’t sure why. Taylor knew exactly where it was and was already headed that way. Taylor and Falyn had spent a lot of their time in our home and vice-versa until Falyn had left. She hadn’t been gone that long, but it somehow still felt strange being under the same roof with both of them again.

Taylor returned. His hands were free, and he didn’t quite know what to do with them, so he crossed his arms across his middle.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’ve been trying to get a hold of Tyler.”

I shook my head and then glanced back to check on Gavin. “He should be wrapping up at the warehouse. I haven’t heard from him in the last hour.”

Taylor sniffed. “Guess I’m going to have to go to the warehouse.”

“They should be finished soon,” I said. “Everything okay?”

“He’s grown so much,” Falyn whispered, walking over to my son sprawled out on the sofa. She kneeled beside him, smiling as she took a closer look. “Gavin looks identical to Taylor and Tyler when they were his age.”

“He misses you,” I said. “He asks about you a lot.”

Her expression fell. “I miss him, too. And you.” She stood. “Taylor got a call from Trent.”

“We’re going home,” Taylor said.

“To Eakins? When?”

“Tomorrow,” Falyn said. “You and Tyler, too.”

“We are?” I asked, touching my chest. “What’s going on? Is it Jim?” I knew Dad’s health wasn’t the greatest. He was overweight, ate bacon every morning for breakfast, and smoked cigars. By the look on Taylor’s face, I knew something terrible had happened.

Taylor opened his mouth to explain but couldn’t.

Falyn continued for him. “It’s Thomas.”

“Thomas?” He’d just become a father. “Oh, God. The baby?”

“No,” Falyn said. “Thomas was shot.”

“Shot?” I said, my voice going up an octave. The room began to spin.

“We don’t know many details.”

“Oh, Liis,” I said, covering my mouth with my hand. My heart instantly broke for her. My gaze drifted to Taylor. I felt bad, knowing he would have to hear the story again when we broke the news to Tyler. I closed my eyes, feeling hot tears streaming down my cheeks. My heart broke for my husband.

“You should sit down,” Falyn said, trying to keep her composure.

I lumbered to Tyler’s recliner and collapsed. “Fuck. Fuck. This doesn’t make sense. Did they catch the shooter?”

“We’re not sure,” Taylor said. He clenched his teeth, his jaw muscles dancing under his skin.

“Liis is flying into Eakins in the morning,” Falyn said.

I lifted my head. “She’s not staying with Thomas?”

Falyn shook her head. “It … it sounds like it’s pretty bad. Her flying to Eakins …” she trailed off.

Bile rose in my throat. He wasn’t going to make it. Liis was flying home to be with his family.

“I already booked the tickets,” Falyn said.

“For us, too?” I asked. She nodded, and I stood, looking around, my mind already filling with packing lists and who would care for the animals while we were gone. I paused and then walked the few steps to where Taylor stood, hugging him to me. He felt a little limp in my arms.

“I fucking knew it,” he said. “I had a bad feeling when I left the fire earlier, but I thought it was Tyler. I should have called home.”

Taylor knew as well as I did that calling home wouldn’t have helped anything, but he was doing what Tyler was going to do when he heard the news: blame himself. I let him go and walked back to the sofa, picking up my phone from the end table and disconnecting the charger.

I texted Tyler to call me, and then we all waited. Within three minutes, my phone rang. I answered immediately.

“Hi baby,” he said, sounding tired and out of breath, but happy. “Just getting in the truck.”

“I … need you to come home,” I said. It just occurred to me that he would want to know why, and I didn’t want to tell him over the phone.

“What happened?” he asked, already suspicious.

“Taylor and Falyn are here. Just come home, okay? As soon as you can get here.”

“On my way,” he said. I heard the sirens in the background, and then the line went silent.

I breathed out a long breath, knowing within a few minutes, those sirens would be blaring in the distance, getting closer until they turned off when Tyler entered the neighborhood. I tried not to think about him speeding home