Kieran’s chest ached. He’d never seen Sammie cry. Not even on the day he’d broken her young heart.
“She loved you, Sammie.” Kieran didn’t know what she’d needed more time for, but did it matter? Death paid no mind to things like timing and needs. It was cruel and sudden, and even a lifetime couldn’t prepare you for it.
“I know.” Sammie’s hands shook in his, and Kieran held on to them tight as he could. That was when the dam finally burst. Sammie’s tears cascaded down her cheeks as her face crumpled.
Sammie never cried, but Greta was worth crying for.
Kieran tugged her close, wrapping her in the same sort of embrace he’d offered her brother. It was awkward, holding onto Sammie while kneeling in the dirt. His suit would probably be ruined. It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Sammie felt safe enough to cry in front of him, to let herself feel what she needed to feel while he held the rest of the world at bay.
The weight of her grief was immense. Sammie curled in on herself, violent sobs wracking her body as Kieran held on with everything he had. Her arms shook where they were pinned between them, and every gasping breath that Sammie sucked in, that heaved through her, sent a lancing pain through Kieran’s chest.
Grief was a terrible burden to bear, but it was also beautiful. A testament, proof of love that was too big for a person to keep in. Sammie’s grief was stunning, raw and ragged, pouring from her. Kieran hadn’t known the scope of her love before that moment. He’d never thought her more beautiful than when her sobs finally subsided and she pulled away from him, her face red and splotchy, wet from her crying.
“Do you want to go to the cemetery?” Kieran figured the procession was already on their way.
Sammie nodded, the movement small and timid. “I don’t want Attie to be alone.”
“Come on then.” Kieran rose, pulling Sammie up along with him. She stood before him, shoulders weighed down, hair a tangled mess around her face as it fell from her scrunchie. “Let’s go keep him company.”
Sammie’s eyes scanned his face, searching for something. Kieran hadn’t the faintest idea what. All he knew was thatSammie wanted to be strong, she wanted to be brave, especially when her brother couldn’t. She nodded again, and Kieran wrapped an arm around her shoulder, grabbing his jacket as they left the swings.
Sammie didn’t cry for the rest of the day. Not at the gravesite, when Atticus fell apart all over again. Not when they’d gone back to Grant and Meredith’s place for a meal of soul foods. Not when Greta’s closest friends sat in the backyard, trading stories that had both of the twins smiling for the first time in days.
But Kieran had seen her cry. He’d seen her at her most vulnerable. And even as everyone said their goodnights and offered final condolences, even as the twins headed home just the two of them, Kieran couldn’t help but think about just how beautiful grief could be, when it showed how big and deep and earth-shattering Sammie could love someone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
SAMMIE: BROTHER IN law
Kai: Nope.
Sammie: I mean, basically
Kai: Cart before the horse, sis.
Sammie: Now that isn’t fair
Kai: I don’t make the rules.
Kai: What’s up?
Sammie: Remember how you told me the devs sent you an early version of the newDragonRaidgame?
Kai: Yeah, beat it last night, it’s great.
Kai: I didn’t know you were into that series?
Sammie: Well, I’m not
Sammie: But Ivy is
Kai: No.
Kai: If it got back to the studio they’d get me blacklisted.
Sammie: PLEASE
Sammie: I WILL DO ANYTHING
