Jonah would’ve been a fool to think she didn’t know his background. She may not have all the details, but she’d have the basics considering his relationship with her family. If she wanted to dig deeper, it was as easy as hopping on the computer and searching for his name. Ten minutes of research and she’d know his history.
She rocked back on her heels, scanning the room.
“My biological parents died when I was about six. I have small memories, mostly just snippets and flashes of the past with them. Ethan remembers more because he was older. We have a lot of pictures, and I’ve tried to piece them to memories, but …” Her voice trailed off.
His chest tightened. It wasn’t relatable to him. He remembered his family, but he’d always had immense sympathy for his youngest, who’d been too young to recall anything.
“That’s what it’s like for Holden.” Jonah cleared his throat, bothered by her silence. “The Garrisons adopt you right away, or were you in the system?”
“Immediately.” She smiled. “We got lucky.”
Yeah, you did.
Roxanne drove her hand through her hair, peering around the room. “God, I loved them from the second I met them, especially my mom. She just had this loving vibe and nurturing aura. I knew that, as bad as it was, it was going to get better. When we officially got adopted, I wanted to change my name to Garrison, but Ethan insisted we keep Barrett. He said it was important that we keep something from our parents.”
It made sense. He couldn’t imagine parting with his name.
Her somber smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “I guess I’m a little like Holden and a little like you. I remember everything about my mom growing up. I have tons of memories. I don’t know what’s harder. Remembering or not.” She shrugged and then glanced up at him. “Can I ask you …” She waved her hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to be intrusive.”
“If I don’t want to answer, I won’t. So ask.”
She drew in a breath, walked over and sat on the stool beside him. “How old were you when they died?”
“Just turned eighteen.”
“And your brothers?”
He folded his arms, thinking back. “Holden was six, Cord was nine and Sawyer was thirteen.”
She knitted her brows. “Sawyer?”
Fuck.He cupped his mouth and drew in a breath. She may have known the basics, but not all of them. “He was in the car with my parents.”
“It was a car accident?”
Technically, yes. Honestly, no.But he wouldn’t be sharing details in-depth.
“They were coming home from Sawyer’s wrestling tournament. The plan was to stay overnight at a hotel because it was a few hours away. But my mom wanted to go home that night. It was a few days before Christmas, and it’d always been a big deal for her. My dad took the back roads. He thought it was safer, fewer people on the roads. According to the police report, an animal ran out in front of the car or possibly black ice. It was unseasonably cold that year. They think my dad swerved, overcorrected, ran off the road and slammed into a tree.”
She gasped, and her eyes widened. “I’m so sorry, Jonah.”
He stared across the workshop, steeling his features.
“They died on impact?”
No.
Jonah released a long breath. “Yeah.”
She grasped his wrist in a tight squeeze. The room was drowned in silence. This was the last topic of discussion he wanted to have with her on their first date. Or ever. It was too deep, too raw, and too dark.
“I’m sorry.”
He looked over at her. “Yeah, me too.”
For most people, this would’ve put a complete damper on their date. Ending it before it even got started. Opening up and sharing was part of the process, but it was too soon for something like this. Jonah didn’t know how to come out of it.
Roxanne slid her hand over his wrist, down to his hand and threaded their fingers. Jonah met her stare, and her face softened, her lips spreading into a sweet smile.So fucking beautiful.
