I ignore my best friend and my sisters as they gather around me.I ignore everyone but Chandler.“Just say it,” I demand.
Chandler tilts his head to the side.“Ellison—” he starts, but another sob falls from my lips.
Bowen is on the move.He steps around the guys, and within a few long strides, he’s standing in front of me.“Ellie, it’s not what you think,” he says, trying to calm me down.
“Oh, shit,” I hear Kinzie mutter.
“I can’t see,” Baylor announces.I can feel my sisters shift to give her a better view.
“It’s not,” Kinzie says, shaking her head.
“Then why?”I ask, wiping at my wet cheeks.“Why are all of you here if—” I can’t even bring myself to say the words.My chest feels tight.I’m thirty-two and in good health, but I might be having a heart attack, because the pain is too intense.
“Ellison, listen to me.”Bowen cups my cheeks in his hands.“He’s okay,” he assures me.
It takes a few heartbeats for his words to sink in.“What?”I ask.
“He’s okay, Ellie.Copeland is fine.He’s not hurt.”Bowen’s green eyes hold my stare as he pulls in a deep breath and slowly exhales.“Breathe with me, Ellison,” he says calmly.
I do as I’m told, keeping my eyes locked with his, and after a few rounds, I feel myself start to calm down.
“I’m sorry, Ellison,” Chandler says, stepping forward.“I didn’t even think about all of us showing up like this and what you might think.”He pauses.“I just thought— Well, I do have news, but like they said, Copeland’s okay,” he assures me, but the look on his face is full of confusion.I suppose, after all these years, he assumed I’d moved on from his younger brother.
“Why are you here?”Baylor asks from the computer screen.Everyone turns to look at the screen, and she waves.
“I have some news, and I thought having a support system here would be helpful.For all of you,” Chandler says, his eyes moving from mine to Leighton, to Courtlynn, and then to Baylor behind the screen.
I open my mouth to ask, but no words come out.I swallow hard, then try again.“Copeland?”There’s a quiver in my voice.I’m not sure if it’s the fear I felt for him or the fact that, after all of these years, I’ve said his name out loud.I’ve tried so hard to forget my first love, but I’ve failed miserably.
“Let’s all sit down,” Macklin suggests.
“No.”I shake my head, as if my words are not enough.“Just tell me what’s going on,” I demand, my voice growing stronger.
“Maybe sitting down is best,” Chandler says.
“Get on with it, James,” Courtlynn says.
He nods.“I promise you, Copeland is fine.”He pauses, and he looks pained as he speaks the next words.“My mom—she’s sick.Cancer.”
“Oh, no.”My hands cover my mouth as I think about Mary James.“Chandler, no,” I say, because haven’t we had enough loss in this life?It’s no wonder he brought my closest friends with him.He might not know that my heart will always belong to his brother, but he does know how close I am to his mother.
Fucking cancer.
I rub at my chest, willing the pain to ease, but it’s there with every breath I pull into my lungs, and every heartbeat, it lingers just beneath the surface.
He nods.“Breast cancer.She kept it from us until it was confirmed, which it was, yesterday.She caught it early,” he rushes to add.“The doctors are hopeful.At least that’s what Mom told us.She didn’t let any of us know what was going on.She said she didn’t want us to worry.”
“What can we do?”Leighton asks.
Chandler smiles at her.“Nothing that I can think of.She’ll have some appointments and stuff.”He swallows, and I watch as his throat bobs.“She’s a fighter.”
“She is,” I agree.“But we still want to help.She was there for us when we lost our parents.She’s been there for me for so many things in my life.”What I don’t say is that she supported me when her son left.My old scars don’t need to be brought center stage.Everyone in this room knows that Copeland James wrecked my heart.
“We want to help,” Courtlynn tells him.
Chandler nods.“I appreciate that.”
“Even if it’s with the kids, so you and Macie can take care of her.Whatever you need, let us know,” I tell him.
