I sigh, looking at all the things spread out on my counter. For whatever reason, it triggers me.
“Oh, honey, I’m sorry,” Darlene says, wrapping her arms around me. “I didn’t want to be right. I know it’s all really shitty. Falling in love with your brother’s best friend is only fun when it’s in a romance novel, not real life.”
“No,” I sniff. “It’s the absolute worst.”
“You and Jaylen are close though. I’m sure he will come around.”
She’s saying that to comfort me. I didn’t believe Asher when he said it, and I don’t believe her.
“You didn’t see him, Dar,” I shake my head. My stomach feels like it’s full of battery acid. I subconsciously reach for the Cherry Chocolate Chunk ice cream, peel off the lid and rummage through the drawer for a spoon. I finish my sentence, talking around a bite. “I’ve never seen him so mad, or so hurt. They got into a fistfight.”
Darlene pauses. She has a spoonful of ice cream halfway between the carton and her mouth. “You had two men fighting over you?” she asks.
“A man and my brother,” I say.
“He’s not my brother. Still, Harper, that’s some tropey shit,” she giggles, as the spoonful of Cherry Chocolate Chunk makes it to her mouth.
“It’s not a good thing, Dar! They were punching each other,” I say.
But Darlene’s eyes are sparkling as she stares off into the distance. “Yeah, they were. Who won?”
“Jaylen. He punched Ash in the mouth. Twice,” I drone, taking another bite. The ice cream really is hitting the spot.
“Damn…is he okay?” She asks, taking another bite. She’s eating this up about as much as she’s eating up the ice cream.
“He’s got a fat lip,” I say, going in for another scoop.
“That’s so hot,” she says with a full mouth. I roll my eyes at her. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. But listen. I know it seems like the end of the world, but I really don’t think it is. I’m sure Jaylen is fuming right now, but do you really think he would throw away the two most important relationships in his life because he’s butt hurt that his friend is kissing his sister?”
“Well, after what happened at the Gatsby Underground, I think it’s safe to say he has no issue watching the bridge burn,” I answer. I know I sound like a pessimist right now. But it’s kind of hard to be sunshiny when you watch your brother try to kill the man you’ve recently fallen for.
“Fair,” she says, breaking open the wine. “I’ve watched you and Jaylen over the years, and you aren’t like most siblings. You stick together. Your relationship is deeper than blood. So I have a very hard time believing that anything could actually come between you.”
“Even fucking his best friend?” I ask, resorting to the crude humor she has always been famous for.
“Even fucking his friend,” she says. It earns her the first and maybe only smile anyone is going to get out of me today.
Chapter 41
Asher
“It hasn’t been a good day.”
These are my least favorite words to hear from my mom’s nurse. Unfortunately, the older Mom gets, the more often I hear them. Today, of all days, is a rough day to hear them. Even at the age of thirty-nine, I’m not too old to admit that sometimes I just really need my mom.
“It’s alright,” I tell the nurse. “I’d like to see her anyway.”
She nods, and I make my way into the room. Mom is sitting by the window. The puzzle is gone, and the table is empty other than an untouched cup of tea.
“Mrs. Levine?” the nurse asks. Mom doesn’t answer. She’s staring out the window, her hands clasped in her lap. Worry lines tug her lips downward, and her eyes look a million miles away. “Constance, someone is here to see you. Do you know who this is?”
She still doesn’t look up, but I wave to the nurse that it’s okay. “Hey Mom,” I say as I walk over to her.
I pull a chair up to the table. “What happened to the puzzle?” I ask softly.
“I couldn’t find the wings,” she says without looking at me. “Silly puzzle anyways.”
“It was a beautiful picture,” I say. “Robins, wasn’t it?”
