Maybe it’s because I brought up marriage. I know it was too soon, but she has seemed okay since I told her not to worry about it.
It’s something else.
Everyone has gone to bed, but I’m still up, sitting on the terrace and watching as the waves crash against the rocks in the distance. It’s been an incredible week with everyone, but I know I have things to deal with when I get home. Dad didn’t get around to managing his affairs, and if we don’t handle it right, then the properties he owned could end up in the wrong hands.
We need to be smart.
I just don’t want to deal with it yet. With any of it.
“Mase?” Scarlet’s soft voice pulls me from my thoughts as she drops to the seat next to me. “Can’t sleep?” I ask.
She shakes her head, and I pull her into my side. We used to do this when we were young. Only Mum and Dad would be cuddled up on the other sofa.
“Do you think about them?” she asks after a while, so quietly I almost don’t catch it.
“All the time,” I tell her honestly.
“Me too. I like being here. We should’ve come out together sooner.”
“I know, and I’m sorry, Scar,” I say against her head. “I’ve been shit, and it isn’t fair on you.”
“Everyone deals with grief differently, Mason. It’s how you move forward that will show me you’re not a complete ass.”
My chest vibrates with a light chuckle.
“There is something I need to tell you,” she says, leaning her head back against my arm so she can see my face. “I spoke to Dad’s doctor at the house that day.”
My heart jolts in my chest. How can she talk about it so frankly?
Why is my baby sister stronger than I am?
“He never received any treatment offered.”
“What?” I snap, my face screwing up as I look down at her. “What do you mean?”
“He rejected the option of having a transplant. He didn’t think he deserved one.”
“He knew he was going to die?”
“Yeah, maybe not as soon as he did. But Dr Sarnmer told me he was aware the end was near. Nearer thanwethought anyway.”
“Why didn’t he tell us? Tell you?”
He wouldn’t have told me. He probably thought I didn’t care.
“Because he knew we would never have allowed it.”
“Fucking hell.”
“Sorry, I just thought you should know,” she whispers.
I wish I didn’t. He spent months at the house knowing he would die and didn’t do a thing about it.
“He met Nina.” She smiles. “I know having you come to the house was important to him. He saw the shift, Mason.”
“Yeah.”
She smiles up at me knowingly, and I glare back, unsure of what is about to leave her mouth. “Nina told me about the proposal.”
