“Good plan.” I slammed the fridge shut and grabbed my phone off the end of the kitchen counter. “I think I’m ready to go.”
It wasn’t until the elevator doors closed on us that I realized we should have taken the stairs. Even though Wyatt stood several inches away from me, I felt like he was taking up the entire elevator, and all the oxygen inside of it. It wasn’t that he was hogging the space; it was more like his presence filled every corner and wrapped around me.
If the stakeout didn’t expose any disgusting habits of his, I was in big, big trouble.
To keep myself from fidgeting, I checked my phone and noticed a new text message.
From my mom.
I’ve contacted a lawyer about transferring Livy’s guardianship.
My stomach lurched.
The elevator floor tilted beneath my feet.
Hurt and anger and panic rumbled inside of me. I was a volcano of emotion, ready to erupt. Then grief punched me in the gut so swiftly and with such force that I gasped, and my phone fell from my hand, clattering to the floor.
“Emersyn?” Wyatt’s voice seemed to come from far away, even though I could have reached out and touched him.
I tried to hold it back, but a sob broke free, one that seemed to come from the depths of my soul, wrenching its way out of me. I missed my brother so much in that moment that I thought the pain might split me in two.
I sank to my knees, trying to grab my phone from the floor, but tears blurred my vision, and I came up empty.
“Emersyn? What’s wrong?” Wyatt put an arm around me and helped me to my feet.
He pressed my phone into my hand, and I clutched the device to my chest.
I was vaguely aware of the elevator doors opening, but Wyatt didn’t make a move to disembark, and I couldn’t. I didn’t think I could even move my feet.
The tears were coming fast and furious now, with sob after sob racking my body. “I’m sorry,” I choked out. “I’m so sorry.”
Wyatt kept a hand on my elbow, as if afraid I might fall to the floor again. “Can you tell me what’s wrong? I’m really worried, Emersyn.”
The elevator doors closed. I leaned against the back wall and slid down until I was sitting on the floor. I wiped my sleeve across my face, but my vision remained blurred.
“I miss my brother, Ethan,” I managed to say as my sobs lost some of their ferocity. My voice sounded as raw as my insides felt. “He died of cancer last year.”
And I’m trying so hard to take care of Livy, but I can’t get my life together,I added, only in my head.
Maybe my mom was right. Maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a parent. But I didn’t want to lose Livy from my daily life, and I’d promised Ethan I’d take care of her. That I’d raise her. It was a literal deathbed promise. What kind of sister would I be if I broke it?
I drew up my knees and hid my face in my hands. I heard rather than saw Wyatt sit down next to me. I felt his presence close beside me, steady and soothing.
He rested a hand on my back, sending comforting warmth seeping through my hoodie. The gentle pressure of his hand acted like an anchor, tethering me enough to allow me to breathe less raggedly.
“I’m so sorry, Emersyn,” he said, his voice resonating with compassion. “That’s got to be devastating.”
More tears trickled out of my eyes as I raised my head. “I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to fall apart in front of you. It just hit me so hard out of the blue.”
His thumb moved in comforting circles on my back. “You have nothing to apologize for. Grief is like that. You think you’re doing fine, and then it sucker punches you.”
I looked at him through bleary eyes. There was an undercurrent to his words and a shadow in his eyes that told me he spoke from experience.
I woke up my phone and passed it to him. “My mom doesn’t think I’m fit to raise Livy. And maybe she’s right. I’d be letting my brother down if I didn’t take good care of his daughter like I promised, but maybe I’m also letting him down by keeping Livy from a better life with my parents.”
Wyatt read the text message and gently placed my phone back in my hand. “I didn’t realize that Livy lived with you full-time.”
“I’m her legal guardian. It’s what Ethan wanted. Partly because Livy and I have always been close, but also because my dad had a heart attack three years ago. Ethan wanted him to have a stress-free retirement. Livy’s an easy kid to look after, but…”
