While in my office, I got a message from my sister. She wants to meet at the diner in town. I go there a lot and we can sit at the club’s table in the back as long as no one else is there. It will give us privacy because this isn’t going to be a fun family reunion. Elara and I have a ton of baggage between the two of us. I hope tonight is just the beginning of repairing our relationship.
Heading out after running a few programs that will work while I’m not here, I don’t speak to anyone as I leave the clubhouse. For once, Count doesn’t follow me. He was there when I made the call and knows this is important to me. Straddling my bike, I take my time to secure my bandana around my face and place my helmet on while letting my bike warm up. Once I’m ready to go and have nothing else to do, I pull out and leave the compound. Evan nods at me when I leave as I ride through town and take in the scenery. My thoughts are on Taleah and what she’s doing right now. I imagine her hiding in her childhood room and not letting anyone in to see her. She needs to decompress and process everything on her own. That’s just part of who Taleah is and what drew me to her in the first place.
I pull into the diner and see my sister’s car already parked in front of the diner. She’s sitting in the driver’s seat as I park next to her. Elara gets out as I shut the engine off and remove myhelmet and bandana. I put my helmet on my seat once I climb off and stuff my bandana in my back pocket.
“You showed up,” I state as I walk toward my heavily pregnant sister. “I didn’t think you were goin’ to.”
“I showed up. It’s been a very long time, Rex. I’ve missed you,” she says, her eyes filling with tears as I pull her into my arms and hold her as close as I can. It’s been a long time since I’ve hugged my sister and something I’ve missed.
My shirt gets wet with her tears and I do nothing to stop her from crying on me. Elara can cry for as long as she wants as long as she’s here with me. After a long moment, she pulls back and holds my arm as I help her up the few stairs and inside the diner. The club’s table is empty and I lead her back toward it before helping her take a seat. I sit across from her and Maysen walks over to us with a smile on her face. Maysen is a good girl and she makes Viper happy. He makes her happy.
“Do you guys know what you want to drink?” she asks us, never losing her smile as I look at my sister.
“I’d like a chocolate shake with whip cream, please,” Elara answers while I tip over my coffee cup and point to it. Maysen jots our drink orders down before leaving us alone. “What really happened to Tally that day, Rex? She won’t talk to me about the situation at all.”
“I’m not goin’ there, Lar. If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you. I’ve already hurt her more than enough and refuse to add to it by sharin’ the details of that day with you. I’m guessin’ she’s ashamed of TJ hurtin’ her that way and isn’t ready to talk about it with you. She’ll tell you eventually, you know this,” I say, reliving the second I saw her laying on the ground covered in blood.
“I know. She has nothing to be ashamed about, though. This is on TJ, not her,” Elara states the truth of the situation but we both know that’s not how Taleah will see things. “I gotta know why you chose now to reach out and do this. You’ve had eight years to reach out, Rex. I haven’t received a letter, email, phone call, or anything else in all that time. The only reason I knew you were still alive was from Mom and Dad. They kept me updated on you when you were in the service. Proud of you for that, by the way.”
“For the longest time, I hated myself. When we lost Grandma, it hurt worse than anythin’ else I’d ever experienced up to that point in my life. She lived a good life and wasn’t in pain when she took her last breath. That’s when I started to push you all away. Then, that night at the party, he called me to come with you guys. I didn’t answer his call. He lost his life because I wasn’t there with him. If I had been, he’d still be alive. When I got the call about him dyin’, I couldn’t handle it. He was my best friend and more like a brother than anythin’ else. I knew I wouldn’t survive another loss like that. So, I made the decision to cut all ties with Taleah. She owned my heart. I know it didn’t look that way, but I was young and stupid as fuck. Elara, I didn’t cheat on her that night. I made it look like I was, but I didn’t. I couldn’t stand that bitch touchin’ me,” I answer her as Maysen makes her way back over with my sister’s shake and coffee for me.
Elara and I give our food order before Maysen leaves us once again. Neither one of us says a word as I fix my coffee the way I like it and my sister takes a large sip of her shake. She does the same thing every time and will end up getting brain freeze in a second. Right on cue, she releases the straw and scrunches up her forehead. I laugh at her face as she glares at me. In this moment, it’s as if nothing has changed between the two of us.
“You destroyed her that night, Rex. You honestly have no idea what she went through after you pulled that shit. I think I’m still the only person who knows what actually happened right after. She was mourning the loss of Bhodi and had something else come up. Tally was lost and felt as if she were completely alone. No one can take Bhodi’s place and I was a poor substitute,” my sister says, her voice a whisper as I wonder what the hell she’s talking about. “Taleah needs to make the decision herself to talk to you about it. Like you, I won’t betray her confidence and hurt her more than she already has been.”
“I know I destroyed her that night. I was hurtin’ and lashed out in the way I could. I’d just lost two of the most important people in my life. The pain and guilt filled me so much I didn’t have room for anythin’ else. Elara, I have regretted that night every damn day for eight years,” I admit to the one person who will understand where I’m coming from.
“We all knew you were hurting, Rex. Taleah could see it more than the rest of us and that’s why she kept forcing her way closer to you. Instead of embracing her, you did the one thing you can’t come back from. I don’t know if Tally will ever forgive you for that night. Right now, it’s not the time for you to push her. She’s going to protect herself the only way she knows how and that’s to cut everyone off. Worse than what you did back then. Taleah will hide away from the world until she’s ready to join the land of the living again,” Elara tells me something I didn’t know had changed about the girl I still love. “She changed when Bhodi died. Rex, you have no clue how hard she fought against me to get to him. Even knowing she couldn’t swim, Tally’s only thought was to get to him and save Bhodi. It took several of us to hold her back. She was ready to join him in that pool regardless if she lost her own life.”
“What?” I whisper, not realizing all of that happened that night. It doesn’t surprise me to know Taleah would have fought to get to her brother despite not being able to swim. “She would have given up her life to save him. That’s just who she is. Why didn’t I know this before now?”
“The next night is when you fucked her over, Rex. I wasn’t about to tell you anything about her after that shit happened. I didn’t want to talk to you period,” she says, a lone tear rolling down her face as she looks at me across the table.
“I’m sorry, Elara. So fuckin’ sorry,” I say, reaching out and grabbing her hand in mine.
Elara and I eat our dinner and catch up on what our lives have been like over the last eight years. I know tonight isn’t going to fix anything between us, but it’s a start. The two of us were once closer than I thought possible and if we even get a fraction of that back, I’ll be happy. When it’s time to leave, Elara and I make plans for me to have dinner with her family at their home. I want to meet my niece and nephew more than my brother-in-law, but I need to make sure he’s good enough for my baby sister. Personally, no guy is good enough for her, but I’ll hold off on judging him for now. We hug before I help Elara in her car and watch her drive away. Tonight was great and maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to have something similar with Taleah so we can begin working through all the pain I caused her in the blink of an eye.
Chapter Ten
Taleah
TODAY IS MY first day back at Fantasy Realm in two weeks. It opened again last week. I had Sarah, my longest working employee, open the store while I waited to be cleared to return to work. I still have to go to physical therapy and use the walker, but I was finally cleared yesterday to return to work. Dr. Keen wasn’t happy about me coming back here, but there isn’t really a reason to keep me home. As long as I complete my physical therapy and rest when I need to, she signed off on my paperwork. My mom and Elara were with me and they promised her I would do everything asked of me. Elara can be very mean and I know my parents will use her if I don’t follow Dr. Keen’s rules. So, I’m back at work this morning. Honestly, it doesn’t look as if anything happened at the store. The carpets have been replaced with the exact same thing and my safe has been upgraded to something new. Rex took care of it and showed Sarah how to use the new safe. You can’t open the door unless it’s during certain time periods of the day. A safety measure he made sure works properly.
Elara and my dad came with me to open the store. Rex met us there and walked me through the new security system F.D. Security installed. Yeah, I found he runs the company and also does a few installations when he’s needed. It doesn’t really surprise me because that’s right up his alley of things he loves to do. He personally worked on the system at the store so he knows it all works properly. Rex has already left and so hasn’t my dad.Elara is the only one here with me and she’s wandering through the aisles to find a million more books to add to her list.
“Tally, you okay over there?” she calls out as I make us each a cup of hot chocolate.
“I’m okay,” I respond honestly.
When we first entered I almost had a panic attack because all I could see was TJ attacking me. Rex got me out of it the same way he did at my house. I almost collapsed to the floor, but Rex held me up and wouldn’t let me go. He took charge of the situation and didn’t release my hands until I was breathing properly and my heart wasn’t about to beat out of my chest. Elara watched what he did so she’d know if it happened again while she was here with me.
Elara meets me at the coffee station of the store and I hand her over a cup of hot chocolate. It’s loaded with mini marshmallows and whip cream. This baby definitely has a sweet tooth and Elara is fully embracing it as any excuse to have something sweet to eat or drink. The two of us make our way over to the couch I used to sleep on. I help Elara sit down and get comfortable after setting our drinks on the table in front of us. After I take my seat, I pull down one of the blankets and cover us while my employees cover the store. Sarah brings over my walker because I forgot it at the coffee station. Oops!
“So, I have to tell you that I had dinner with Rex a few nights ago. He called me and asked me if I’d meet up with him,” Elara tells me as I take a sip of my drink.
For a few minutes, I don’t respond to her. I let the words sink in and process what she’s just told me. Elara cut Rex off the night he destroyed me completely. She hasn’t talked to him in eight years and has stood by my side every single day. I never asked her to do this, she made the decision all on her own. Mybest friend is loyal as hell and chose my side over her brother’s. I’ve regretted the decision on her behalf every single day because I don’t know what I would have done if I were in her position.
“Good. I’m glad you met up with him. I hope you two were able to talk through some things so you can repair your relationship. You never should have chosen my side over his, Elara,” I tell her honestly as I take another sip of my drink. “Do you think this is the start of fixing things between the two of you?”
