This was the fifth time Carter had relapsed and the second time since our dad had passed away.
The adults had kept me away for the first two—though there was news coverage of it that could easily be found because it had happened when my mother was the governor of Massachusetts.
Then there was the third one when I was just nineteen and Carter had dropped out during his final year of university and had decided to take a gap year staying at our house in the UK. That had been almost as disastrous as the other ones because he had been all over the British tabloids with the British royals. I had never seen my dad yell before then.
They dragged Carter home after that and I went out and started working my ass off for weeks at omega centers, building community gardens and attending any event I could to get myself to the front of the newspaper.
And, much to my surprise, it had worked.
The more I put myself in front of the news, the less they focused on Carter and the less pressure was put on my brother. He was finally able to breathe and heal in ways he never had before.
I had protected him then and I felt proud of that.
But right now I just felt tired.
I’d never been the one to directly deal with him before. Our parents or grandparents usually handled that part, but from the moment I saw him this morning I’d had a sneaking suspicion that something was going to happen.
When I left him back in D.C. a month ago he had been calm and unshakeable, like anything could happen and he would have been able to handle it.
Then he’d come into my hotel room and given me a huge bear hug and I’d smelled the overwhelming smell of cologne and had felt how much weight he’d lost in just a month and I’d known.
Before leaving for the omega center I’d sent a text to my mother—one that had gone unanswered until I’d been forced to call her to let her know about Carter’s relapse.
“You have about twenty minutes until we need to get you dressed, sweetheart,” Landon cut through my thoughts, his expression soft. “Why don’t you go grab a bite to eat and then come on back in.”
Food? I thought to myself as my stomach growled. When was the last time I had eaten?
I remembered having a granola bar that morning with my usual water bottle and then I’d drunk part of that Coke back at the omega center before getting that phone call…
My stomach rumbled again, pushing me to my feet as I caught the scent of something delicious in the air.
Stepping into the living room, I found Brooks by himself in the kitchen poking at something on the stove.
“Hey,” he said, offering me that same soft smile that I secretly, deep down, hoped was reserved just for me. “I’ve got some stir fry on and I bet you’re hungry.”
“How’d you know?” I asked as I slid onto one of the bar stools at the counter and checked my phone.
There was a missed call from my mother, but for once I ignored it as I watched Brooks plate out some rice and chicken stir fry before sliding it across the counter to me.
“You haven’t eaten since this morning,” he told me simply as he leaned against the counter directly opposite of me and dug into his own plate with a zeal that I envied.
“You noticed that?” I asked as I took a bite and had to hold back a moan at how good the food tasted.
The chicken, vegetables, and sauce were exactly what I needed at this moment to keep me going.
“I noticed,” Brooks affirmed as he watched me but I continued to eat, oblivious to the man across from me for a few minutes until something bright orange on his plate caught my eye.
Glancing down at my own plate I frowned. “There’s no carrots on my plate.”
Brooks’ auburn brows rose. “Yeah, you don’t like carrots, so I took them out.”
My face flushed at his words. Ididn’tlike carrots but there had never been a moment for as long as I could remember that someone had taken the time to take them off of my plate.
It was so sweet that I almost felt like I was going to cry.
But then I would have had to go back into my room and have Landon fix my makeup and there was no way I was going to make him do that for a third time today, so instead I took three deep breaths and kept eating before changing the subject completely.
“Is your brother okay? He seemed really angry earlier.”
