There was a collective silent gasp in the waiting room. Everything stopped. No one moved, no one spoke, no one even breathed. It was total silence until the nurse behind the desk dropped something, which clattered to the floor, and she mouthed, “Sorry.”
“I just want you to know,” Liam’s voice was so calm, so controlled, it caused everyone to lean in closer to hear what he was saying, despite it clearly being a private exchange. “What’s about to happen doesn’t have anything to do with you. I know we’ve never been close, but you are my brother, always, and I do love you.”
An array of emotions transformed Tristan’s face. AJ wasn’t even good at recognizing and naming emotions, but these were so clear even he could easily identify them. Rage,disappointment, stress, jealousy, shame, frustration, agitation, pride, unease, and maybe even regret all combined into one as his fingers curled in a fist.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Frankie begin to lunge forward, but Zion grabbed her arm and whispered, “Leave it.”
When AJ looked back at Liam, he expected his brother Niko to be breaking up a fight, instead, he saw Liam reaching out and wrapping his brother in a hug. It was the first time AJ had ever seen the brothers show any affection to one another.
AJ’s phone buzzed, and he pulled it out and saw that it was his security company. Apparently, there’d been an alarm triggered, and they were going to be sending police to his home. He took a step back into the corner and pulled up his home surveillance cameras. Sure enough, there was someone in a hoodie, dark pants, and gloves breaking in through his garage door. He saw them, in real time, enter his house and walk straight to his bedroom.
That was a strange place to start for a robbery. Maybe they thought he had a lot of jewelry or a safe. It clearly couldn’t have been someone who knew him because they would know anything of value was in the basement office. He continued watching as the intruder went into his closet, then opened his dresser drawers before going into his bathroom.
What could they possibly want to steal that had any monetary value in the bathroom? After the bedroom, the hooded trespasser’s next stop was the kitchen. They opened the cabinets and dishwasher and appeared to be counting glassware.
AJ was so engrossed in what was happening in his home that it genuinely scared the shit out of him when the entire room burst out in applause and cheers. He lifted his head and saw Liam picking up his sister and spinning her around.
What had he just missed?
He glanced around the room to take a social temperature check, and Yaya, Emmanuelle, and his mom were sobbing. Niko was even tearing up.
They weren’t the only people who were crying, a crowd had joined. About a half dozen hospital staff in scrubs were gathered in a half circle, clapping and wiping their cheeks as they cheered them on. One of those happened to be Poppy.
AJ’s heart tightened. Not because his sister had clearly just gotten engaged to the man he was convinced she always should have been with, although he was happy the universe had finally righted itself in that regard. His heart tightened because he’d only been away from her for a couple of hours, but he missed her. Really missed her. He’d never been a proponent of PDA, it bothered him, actually. But in that moment, he wanted, so badly, to walk across the lobby, tilt her chin up, and kiss her with all the pent-up emotion of the morning. He wanted to pour it all on her more than he wanted his next breath.
When their eyes met, the same sensation he always felt spread through him. Tingles from his scalp to his toes. He smiled, expecting to at least have her acknowledge him. She did not. It was as if she hadn’t seen him at all. Like she looked right through him. Then, she turned and walked away.
AJ watched her retreat, mind frozen in time, feet glued to the ground, not exactly having a game plan for that exact scenario. He’d never had a woman so ruthlessly ignore him before. Without running it by the logic portion of his brain, his feet started to move, and the rest of his body had no choice but to follow along. He managed to catch up to her fairly quickly and found himself calling her name.
“Poppy.”
She stopped walking, but she did not turn around. He waited, sure she was going to ignore him and continue on. Thankfully,she did not. She spun to face him, and when she did, he saw her eyes were red-rimmed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as his heart broke.
“Nothing.” She shook her head as she wiped a large teardrop that had slid down her cheek. “I’m just…happy.”
AJ knew she was lying. He didn’t want to be rude and tell her that, but he knew.
Perhaps sensing his doubt in her honesty, she doubled down.
“I am,” she insisted. “I am so happy for my brother.”
That time, she was being honest. She was happy for her brother, but there was definitely sadness beneath that happiness, and he wanted—no, heneeded—to make it better. Whatever was causing her that pain, just like his impulse to fix the leaking sink and showerhead, and the porch step, he wanted to fix it. He had to fix it.
It was the exact opposite of how he felt around other people’s emotions. They had always made him uncomfortable because he didn’t know how to respond. That part hadn’t changed. He still didn’t know what to do or say. The thing that had changed was his desire–no, his desperation—to fix whatever was hurting her.
Her pager went off, and she looked down at her hip. “I have to go.”
“What time do you get off?” he asked, his voice ricocheting off the antiseptic floors and fluorescent-bulb lights.
“Um…” She bit her lip, and he could sense her hesitation. Since she sent him that text, something had changed.
Was it Liam asking Frankie to marry him that had changed the dynamic between them?
“Please,” he begged shamelessly. He didn’t care. He’d get down on his knees for her. “Please.”
He could see she wasn’t completely sold, so he tried another tactic since pathetic desperation didn’t seem to be working.
