TWENTY-NINE
AMELIA
“First things first,” Rory says sharply.
Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I try to ignore the dip in my stomach. The anxiety at not knowing what’s going to come out of her mouth, if it’s about Weston or my father, and not knowing which truth would hurt worse right now.
I open one set of eyelids and peer at Lexi, seated next to me in the van, and she gives me a nod for strength.
The icy tone of Rory’s voice comes through loud and clear over speakerphone. “You do realize you crushed Weston’s heart, right?”
Yep. That definitely hurts worse.
Eyes stinging, I screw them tighter for a second until I can open them both again and blow out a big breath. “Yeah,” I croak. “I do.”
Lexi folds her lips in, like she’s biting them down to keep her mouth shut—something she’s not known for doing—but her sister doesn’t hold back on me.
“Mmm, I’m not sure you do. That man is like a brother to me, and not just because I married into his family. I love you both, but I need you to know how hard it must’ve been for him to let you confront your brother all on your own. He stood outsideand waited with my husband the entire time, not letting himself jump in to make sure you were safe. And from what Wyatt has told me, there were alotof times they both wanted to. You two are going to need to talk your own shit out, but you’re going to need to look at things from his perspective before you do. I can tell you for damn sure, Wyatt couldn’t have the kind of restraint Weston did there, the way he respected your wishes against his own instincts like that. West deserves some credit for that.”
Breathing through my nose, emotion swarms through my head, dizzying me. “Some credit, sure, but—” My voice cuts off with a hiccupped sob.
Lexi cuts in on my behalf. “Ror, I already talked about this stuff with her. Do we need to do this right now?”
“Yes, we absolutely do, Alexis.” Rory’s tone could shred paper. My heart gives even less resistance with all it’s been through this week. “I’m going to help get your story out there, Amelia, but you did some damage to my family, when all any of us have tried to do is help you.”
My head falls to my lap, into my knees, and I hold back a sob. No one in my entire life has helped me as much as Weston, Wyatt, Rory, and Lexi have these past three months.
“He did what he thought you wanted him to do—nearly killed him to do it, by the way—and instead of thanking him, of understanding and appreciating how hard that was for him, you left him in your literal dust.”
The visual hits me of Weston standing there, clouds of dust in my wake as I drove off. Did he deserve that? Hearing Rory’s take on this cuts me.
Did I overreact? Not hear him out?
Isn’t that exactly what my dad did to me?
Should I have stayed when things got tough?
I don’t have the mental capacity for this right now.
It feels like I’m breathing through a straw, and Lexi must notice, because she rubs my back in large circles.
“Breathe, Big Momma.”
The normalcy she brings with the nickname alone helps ease my airways and my lungs finally expand.
“That’s enough, Rory,” Lexi says to the speakerphone. “Let’s put out the fire before we rebuild the house, yeah?”
“I think that actually made sense,” Rory says over the phone, taken aback.
Sitting up now, I can see Lexi’s face pinch. “Of course it did, what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Phrases aren’t your strongest suit, Lex.”
“Well, excuse me if I don’t want to beat a horse to death, can we just get to the point of this call already?”
Rory stifles her laugh, lucky for me one doesn’t threaten to topple out of me right about now though.
“Is he okay?” It’s barely more than a whisper, but it’s all I can manage.
