over and kissed him. Just a brush of my lips across his, comfort not sex.
“Don’t start in on the ifs. Let’s see what’s going on, find out the facts.” I kissed him again. “All right?”
He inhaled slowly and then let the breath out the same way. I watched him steady himself and then he nodded. As we walked across the parking lot, he reached over and took my hand, our fingers lacing together as if we’d been walking like this for years.
If the situation had been different, I’d probably have been reading into it, wondering what it all meant, but right now, all of that was pushed to the back of my mind. Pushed back and then down into boxes. Bradyn was the priority.
The woman at the desk directed us to the elevator and gave us a floor number. It wasn’t until we stepped off the elevator that we realized where we were.
Surgery.
Shit.
We followed the arrow directing us to the waiting area, anxiety growing with each step. I gritted my teeth, reminding myself that I was here for Bradyn. Whatever he needed from me, I’d give, even if it meant suddenly having six people staring at me.
“What are you doing here?” A tall man with steel gray hair and bright blue eyes was the first to speak.
Clancy Traylor. Even if I hadn’t seen a picture of him, I would’ve known who he was. The resemblance to Bradyn was strong.
“I told him Clancy was here.” The oldest woman in the room spoke up. Jaylin Traylor had the same stubborn set to her jaw that Bradyn did.
“That wasn’t your decision to make.”
“Daddy, please!” The words came from a blonde woman with a sugar-sweet Southern accent and tears in her light brown eyes.
A tall, lean man with thinning hair almost the same shade as mine put his arm around the blonde. Ashley and Warren Lester. The red-haired boy in one of the seats behind them was Warren Jr., and the strawberry blonde with the sour expression was Betsy.
At least I didn’t need Bradyn to introduce me to everyone. Between the research I’d done and the information he’d given me on the way here, I had names for faces without needing to ask.
“What happened?” Bradyn asked, his hand tightening around mine.
After a few uncomfortable seconds of everyone exchanging glances, Mrs. Traylor answered the question.
“Clancy’s appendix burst. He’s in surgery right now.”
Bradyn glanced at his niece and nephew, then moved closer to his mother. “How bad is it?”
She crossed her arms, not in a stubborn way but more like she was trying to hold herself together. “We don’t know. He’s only been back there for about twenty minutes or so.”
At least she hadn’t waited hours to tell Bradyn what’d happened. I found myself disliking her a tiny bit less.
I waited for someone else to say something. What they were supposed to say, I had no idea. It wasn’t like I’d ever done this before. Not just the specifics, but all of it. I had no clue how I was supposed to help someone who was experiencing this type of emergency.
Did I say something to his family? Tell them I was sorry? Or was that the sort of thing that only apply to a death in the family? I’d lost my father when I was eight, and everyone who came to see us said they were sorry. I hadn’t been old enough to really understand that kind of sorry wasn’t the same as when I had to apologize for doing something naughty like stealing my sister’s toys.
By the time Mom married Art, I’d learned the difference, but I’d never really had to use it. I’d been a bit of a loner, even before all the shit that happened with my stepdad. Going to juvie didn’t do much to make me more sociable. Saying I was socially awkward when I finally got out was an understatement.
“You’ve made an appearance,” Clancy – Mr. Traylor, obviously, not the grandchild named after him – finally said. “You and your…friend can go now.”
I moved a little closer to Bradyn, hoping he’d understand that I would support whatever he wanted to do. Any doubts I’d had about being here with him were gone. His family would’ve pissed me off even if I didn’t care about him like I did.
“We’re not going anywhere.” Bradyn’s voice was quiet, but there wasn’t anything soft about it. “No matter what’s going on with all of us adults, I will be here for the kids.”