Wolfe responded in-kind by wrapping his own arms around her thin frame.Their roles completely reversed from a few minutes ago on the porch.
He rested his chin atop her head and, upon spying his sister’s smiling face looking at him in pure and unwarranted adoration, Wolfe slammed his eyes shut.He couldn’t stand to see his sister’s reverent stare when he let her down so radically.
It all came crashing down around him.The water, her death, his mother’s passing, the venom spewed by his drunk father for nearly two decades.
All of it.
Wolfe could feel the tears collecting in his eyes.He squeezed them even harder just as he increased his grip on BB.
“It’s okay, baby,” Aspen soothed and began gently rubbing her palm across his back.“C’mon, let’s go sit down on the couch.”
Without waiting for a response, she tugged him by the hand to his chocolate-colored sectional.
Numbness spiraled through his body.He needed to get his fucking emotions in control.
Now.
“Wheel of Fortuneisn’t on, so we’ll have to change-up our couch-time curriculum,” Wolfe teased, trying to compose himself.
He was going to have to dig deep to find his deflecting-self to prevent him from curling up in a ball and wailing like a newborn baby.
Aspen plunked herself on the couch and tugged Wolfe down to join her.
He looked into Aspen’s eyes, the color of vibrant emeralds due to her own tears glistening and threatening to tumble down her cheeks.
Wolfe focused his efforts on gliding his fingertips across the satiny skin of her hand, anything to keep from talking.Or crying.
“You can share with me.Please,” Aspen whispered.
In that moment, Wolfe knew he was safe.He could share his tortured story with this woman who literally fell at his feet.Scratch that.He wanted to tell her this story.His story.
“My...sister.She died when I was twelve.She was six.”
“Her eyes sparkle just like yours, like blue, icy diamonds.And I can tell there’s an impishness sprinkled in for good measure.What’s her name?”
Wolfe liked how BB’s words made it seem like his sister was still here.Still alive.
“Elle.”
“Beautiful.I bet she followed you everywhere.”
Wolfe gave a self-deprecating laugh.“Until her last breath.”
Wolfe clutched BB’s hand.The chain link tattoos wrapped around his forearm shifted as his muscles flexed.Aspen used her free hand to trace a massive tattoo on Connor’s other forearm, an anchor, partially submerged in the water.The portion of the anchor above the waves wept, the tears rolled down the metal and fell into the ocean.
“She drowned, yes?”
Wolfe could only nod his head.He knew he couldn’t trust his voice.His emotions were in control, not him.But he was trying desperately to get that control back.
Tell her, his mind shouted while his body screamed that he take Aspen so he could find his release, his peace in her body.
“Take your time,” Aspen filled the void with her soft and comforting voice, so filled with patience that it poured off her in waves.“You’re safe.You can tell me.”
“Elle loved sweets.With a passion,” Wolfe looked to where their hands remained joined.“I could never say no to her and constantly bought her cupcakes and other things on the down low.My mom would get angry finding doughnut wrappers in her room.She especially liked the sleeves of the little gems.”
“Hence the packet of doughnuts on the table with her picture.”
“Something like that,” Wolfe attempted to smile but it quickly fell flat.“Anyway, my buddies and I were swimming in the inlet.Elle wasn’t a great swimmer, so I helped her get to a sand barge about fifty yards from shore.I told her to stay put and that I’d play with her right after we finished our game.She had some toys to build a little sandcastle on the sand barge that I brought with me.It was going to be five minutes tops.I checked her a few times, but then got lost in the game.She said she’d stay put.To this day, I don’t know why I didn’t make her stay on the shore.”
