he stick by her if they faced something major and life-changing?
“Having her back” for a favor every now and then was a damn sight different than having it forever.
She wanted forever with someone. She was ready for forever. Please, God, don’t let me be wasting my time.
Chapter Sixteen
“Oh, what the fuck.”
Seth’s voice yanked Macy from a fitful sleep…if what she was doing could be called that. She never could get comfortable or relaxed enough in a car to fully achieve it. Whatever the case, he startled her so that she was upright and wide awake almost before the final k left his lips.
By all appearances, it was early afternoon, and he was nudging the GTO to the curb on a quiet-looking street lined with quiet-looking houses. They had made it to his sister’s, presumably. And he wasn’t happy.
“What’s wrong?”
“That.” He pointed through the windshield at the shiny black Tahoe with Texas plates parked in front of them. “That is my sorry motherfucker of a brother.”
“Oh. You didn’t think he’d come?”
“Why the hell would he? He hasn’t done shit so far; why start now?”
“Well…” At a loss and a grave disadvantage, Macy fumbled for something encouraging to say and gave up. Nothing her sleepy brain could conjure would magically undo what appeared to be years of animosity. “I’m sorry.”
“I can’t believe Steph didn’t give me the heads-up he was here.”
“Maybe she didn’t think you’d come if she did.”
“I wouldn’t have. I’d have at least gone straight to the hospital like I wanted to in the first place. If she’s got some kind of family reunion kiss-and-make-up shit in mind, she can hang it up.”
Here was an angle she could take, maybe. “You’re her brothers. She needs you both. Whatever’s in the past, put it aside for her and your grandmother. You all need each other now.”
“I need that asshole like I need—”
“Yes, everyone knows that. Listen to what I said, please? Am I not right?”
He hadn’t killed the engine yet. He could still dart away and avoid this altogether…for now, at least. He’d have to face it sooner or later. She could see the calculations going on behind his eyes. And the pain. Maybe leaving right now would be for the best. She didn’t like it, but the last thing she wanted to get caught up in was drama in an unfamiliar family. Sam and Candace were only a couple hours behind them, maybe three. If Seth’s driving away right now would keep the peace until her friends could get here and rescue her, hell, she should be all for it.
“Whatever you want to do,” she told him quietly.
He deflated. His brief nap had invigorated him enough that he’d seemed okay when they swapped driving duties at the state line, but now she watched the lingering exhaustion take hold of him, absolutely sapping what remaining energy he had left. Reaching up, he turned the key off. Everything about the motion seemed like a slow defeat.
What could be as bad as that? What was waiting for him in there?
“Maybe you should clue me in a little?”
“Macy, I honestly don’t have the strength right now. You’ll find out soon enough.”
Adequately mystified, she turned her attention to the pretty white frame house beyond the small but meticulously landscaped yard to their right. As she watched, a blonde woman stepped out onto the porch with a toddler on her hip, waved and descended the steps. The same woman from the pictures at his house.
Seth popped open his door, and Macy followed suit, getting out and trailing him up the walkway. She stood without speaking while he and his sister embraced as best they could around his nephew—who was adorable—and then stepped forward into Seth’s reach when he turned back and held his arm out toward her.
“Macy, sister. Sister, Macy.”
“Stephanie,” the other woman supplied. To Macy’s surprise, she rushed forward and pulled her into a one-armed hug too. “Thank you so much for coming with him.”
“It was no problem, really. I’m sorry about your nana.” Despite the somberness of the exchange, she had to chuckle as the little boy on Steph’s hip grabbed her hair in a death grip, and Steph joined in her laughter as she worked to extricate her.
“I never have that problem,” Seth deadpanned as Macy came free. He rubbed the shadow on his shaved head in demonstration.
“Well, if that’s what I have to do to stop having that problem, I’ll pass.” Steph took her little boy’s hand and waved it at Macy.