“Jo-jo…”
She shut her eyes, hoping, praying that the sniffles she heard was just because her mom loved those plates so much. “Everything okay, Ma?” She knew it wasn’t, but she wanted to delude herself for a little while longer.
“No,” her mother responded despairingly. “It’s…it’s Perry…They were in an accident last night.”
“Is he—” The rest of the question died on her lips when her mother confirmed her worst fears.
“He didn’t make it…You need to come home, baby.”
She hung up, not really knowing if her mother had said anything more. She sat there for a long while as her brain tried to absorb the information. Perry was gone. The shock was slowly wearing off, clearing a path for utter distress to come to the fore. Oh, dear Lord. Perry was gone.
With shaky hands, she pulled up a flight plan on her computer. Her mind went on autopilot as she booked the next available flight to Montana. She felt her heart beat in her throat, her pulse thrumming just beneath the surface of her skin. It wasn’t panic. It wasn’t fear. Those things were felt when the outcome wasn’t known. No, this was pain, plain and simple, the type of pain one only feels when life takes a screeching turn around a hair-pin bend and everything changes irreversibly.
She grabbed her phone and with numb fingers, she texted her brother.
Jordan:Did you hear?
Max:Just got off the phone with mom
Max:Leaving ASAP
Jordan:I could only get a flight on Thursday night
Max:It doesn’t matter when you get there. Just get there
Her legs seemed to wobble as she stood up and walked to Tyler’s office. She tapped lightly on the door to get his attention and he must have noticed the anguish on her face because he immediately stood up and approached her.
“Tyler, I know it’s month-end,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady, “but I need to take a few days off.”
“Of course.”
He took her hand and led her into his office to sit down. He sat on the chair beside her and took her hands in his. This was unfortunately Tyler’s nature. He cared too much about the well-being of his employees. If someone had a bad day or was going through a rough time, he just had to find a way to make it better. But nothing he could do would make her feel better today.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asked.
She chewed on the inside of her lip, trying to pull herself together before she responded. “Perry was in an accident last night. My mom…my mom said he didn’t make it.”
“Perry? Your other brother Perry?”
She tried, she really tried to stop the tears, but that simple question was like a knife to the heart. And answering it only reaffirmed the fact that she had lost a brother. Blood didn’t matter. Race didn’t matter. Perry was her brother and now he was gone.
She quickly wiped the tears off her cheek and nodded.
“Jordan, I’m so sorry.”
“He was so young, only twenty-one. I thought I would see him at Christmas and now I’m flying to Montana for his funeral. How does that happen?”
He leaned forward and she dropped her head onto his shoulder. He just held her, rubbing his hands up and down her back as she blubbered all over his expensive suit. It felt good. That small comfort. It felt good to be swallowed by the strength that was Tyler Evans. She wanted to stay there forever,absorbing the soothing sound of his breathing, but eventually she pulled away and wiped her eyes.
“I’m gonna go,” she whispered.
“Is there anything I can do?”
“Yeah.” And then the most illogical, nonsensical thing she could think to say burst out of her mouth. “You can come with me.”
*****
“This is crazy,” Matthew said. “You know this is crazy, Ty.” He shifted as Tyler dropped a small suitcase on the bed beside him.
