Page 74 of Undone By The Mountain Daddies

I wipe away a tear as the guilt seeps into my chest again. What if I got it all wrong?

I dreamed so hard that I forgot to appreciate the most important things, the most important people.

Grammy’s house wasn’t much, but it was home. I think about her little homey kitchen with the oak table with three chairs.

“You never know when Mommy might want to come and join us for dinner,” Grammy often said with a sad look on her face.

“Sienna? You still⁠—?”

“Yes, I’m still here.”

“Don’t let your younger self down, babe. Make her proud,” says Jules. “There’s still time to redeem yourself. You’re strong, and I know you’ve got what it takes.”

“Okay.” I slide down the headboard as I end the call, feeling even more fucked in the head than I was last week before the storm.

Chapter 20

Eli

“Where’s See-See?” asks Henry as soon as he comes out of his room. “Did she leave?” He sticks out his bottom lip.

God, the effect this woman has on my nephew is huge.

“Sienna’s not feeling very good today.” I walk past Henry and start slicing bread—gluten free, just how Sienna likes it, except for this morning when she went green in the face and almost vomited all over the floor.

This news must really be affecting her.

Later, I start to prepare dinner, sure she’ll come out of her room soon. But the hands on the clock are reaching six, and she still hasn’t come out.

I knock on the door.

“Go away,” she groans.

“I’m coming in.” I open the door when she doesn’t reply and find her curled up in bed scrolling on that damn phone.

I resist the urge to tear it from her hands, but I agree with Knox on this. She needs time to see everything in order to figure things out for herself.

“Are you planning on coming out of your room any time today?”

“I’m fine here, thanks,” she says, eyes still glued to her phone.

I see the reflections of the screen in her eyes as she scrolls through different news pages, trying to make sense of things.

I sit on the edge of the bed and glance over her shoulder. “They certainly have a lot to say about you.”

“Trust me, you haven’t seen the worst of it.” She clicks the phone off and tosses it aside. “Why are you here?”

“You haven’t eaten all day.”

“Where I come from, that’s a cause for celebration.”

“You need food, Sienna.” I pause, debating whether to say this next bit. “And Henry’s wondering where you are.”

Her lips turn down. “Okay. I’ll be out shortly.”

I stare at her phone. It still feels like my duty to take it away from her, to stop her suffering. Her eyes are red from all the crying, and it hurts to see her like this.

As an older brother, it was always my responsibility to step up and be a shoulder for people to cry on. But, in this case, I don’t think she wants that. I should probably just leave. Let her figure this out herself.