“Yeah…” Sophie starts scrubbing her casserole dish with way too much intensity. “You two need to be alone.”
“I can’t just kick Océane out,” I whisper, my voice breaking at the lump forming in my throat.
Océane has no one to choose her. How is this fair?
She simply grins at me. “I’m sure Will and Sophie won’t mind me crashing their place for a while longer. Right?”
She looks over at Sophie.
“Oh, not just you,” Sophie grunts before she finally drops the casserole dish back into the sink, abandoning the task, and places her hands on her hips. “You’re sending the twins over, too.”
Shock reverberates through my bones. “Wait, what?”
“Woman, I’ve been hearing you talk about all the issues you and Karan have been having for way too long. Now you’re saying things are on the up and up between you two, but it’s not going to be that way for very long if you’re not there for him when he needs you most.
“His relationship with his parents was borderline incestuous. I can’t imagine how devastated he must be. Or all the self-worth bullshit that must be going through his mind.”
Neither can I. And it kills me inside.
“You two need all the space you can get to only be there for each other and heal,” Sophie continues. “So bring the boys over. We’ll handle them.”
“Fuck yeah,” Océane adds. “I get to play Auntie to all my nieces and nephews at once.”
“Sophie, you have three kids.” One of them is still a baby. “That’s insanity.”
“Our kids get along great! They’ll love it,” she argues. “Also, you can pay it back later. Maybe. We’ll see.”
“Sophie, I can’t acce—”
“Rachel. Hear me out.” From her tone, she’s running out of patience with me. “I would much, much rather that you two be okay, even if it means Will and I will lose only a tiny bit of our sanity for a few days. Plus, Océane has been so great with the kids.”
“It would seriously make me happy,” Océane adds again.
Sophie continues bulldozing over my worries.
“We’re going to befine, Rachel. Just—I beg you, take the help.”
My entire body is lit up with the adrenaline rush from this decision. It’s a lot to take on. I don’t know if Sophie understands what she’s getting herself and my brother into.
My boys are my responsibility. Océane is my responsibility.
But at the same time…
Part of me knows Sophie is right. Karan isnotokay. If there ever was a time to prove to him that I can be there for him just as he was for me, it’s now.
I gather all of my courage before I speak.
“Okay.”
Chapter 40
Karan
I’m underwater.
At least, that’s what it feels like.
I can move, talk, see, taste, touch, and smell what’s around me. But it’s all got a strange coating to it, like it’s been dipped in tar. Or maybe, it’s me who’s been dipped.
