The Reality of Everything - Rebecca Yarros Page 0,110
selected a soft T-shirt and settled for yesterday’s shorts. I could tie the shirt, but there was no way anything of Jackson’s was going to remotely fit my bottom.
Once I was appropriately dressed and had popped my head in to see Fin lost in her seashell collection, I headed downstairs and found Jackson trying his darndest to get Claire out the door while my friends pretended not to hear anything from where they sat around his dining room table.
I wasn’t sure if I should kick them out or laugh at how awkward it all was.
“I’ll be right in. And don’t be mad at me. They looked like little lost puppies,” Jackson explained from the doorway. “I couldn’t leave them out in the rain.”
“Uh-huh.” I shook my head at him. “It’s lovely to see you again, Claire.”
She muttered something before Jackson closed the door, sealing them outside.
Sam was the only one to approach me as I made two cups of coffee, searched for Jackson’s creamer, only to realize he didn’t have any, and settled for milk, which was not the same.
“Give them a chance,” she said quietly as I stirred in my sugar.
My stomach twisted, unwilling to face the can of worms I’d opened yesterday. But I was the one who’d lost my temper, which meant I owed them their say, too.
“Okay,” I finally answered.
She let out a breath of relief and walked to the table with me.
I took the vacant seat at the foot of the table, and Sam slid into the empty one on my right. Paisley sat to my left with Jagger, who had Peyton on his lap. Josh took the head of the table, Ember to his left, next to Sam. Each one of them looked at me with resignation and a touch of fear.
I was hit with an immediate longing for Grayson, who was the most even-tempered of us all.
“I’m sorry,” Paisley started, already tearing up. “I’m so sorry for abandoning you when you needed me most. I can make a thousand excuses, but the truth is I should have been the one to call you. I should have been the one to sit with you and comfort you…and, well, I should have done a lot of things. I knew how much you loved him, and I had hoped that you two would have a future. I so wanted that for you. And you’re right. It isn’t fair that you never got that chance, and it isn’t fair that I wasn’t there for you, especially when you’ve always been there for me.”
The pure misery in her voice hurt my soul. Regardless of the last two years, she was my very best friend. Two years of neglect didn’t negate a lifetime of love and support.
Jagger reached for her hand and laced their fingers on the tabletop.
“I know you had your hands full,” I said softly, warming my hands with my coffee mug. “Jagger’s health was your first concern, as it should have been. No one could expect you to balance a wounded husband, pregnancy, and a grieving best friend.”
“You could have.” She shook her head. “You should have. And I’m sorry for what I said to Josh that day in the cemetery. I tried to soothe his guilt, and instead I hurt you immeasurably with incredibly thoughtless words. You have my deepest apology, Morgan.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat, but it wasn’t anxiety. “Thank you.”
“There are so many things that I need to apologize for, and I hope you’ll give me that chance. I love you. You’re the only sister I have left.” She swatted away a tear.
“I’m sorry for unleashing my temper on you yesterday.” I turned the cup in a nervous fidget.
“No,” Ember chided. “It was a long time coming, and we deserved every word of it. I just wish you’d lost your shit on us two years ago. I’m so sorry that I didn’t see how much pain you were in at the funeral. That I didn’t see it at my wedding, or Sam’s.”
The lump in my throat grew. “That’s not your fault.”
“I’m mostly sorry that I didn’t tell you that I talked to Will right before he came down to see you.” Her face contorted as she struggled for control. “I should have told you that he said you were perfect. He told me you were funny, and gorgeous, and reminded him who he really was underneath everything else.”
My chest constricted, and my nose started to burn.