Page 125 of Gravity

“I know.”

Reaching out, he gently cups my jaw and whispers. “I could have killed you.”

“But you didn’t, and that man behind that wheel, the one who ran from us and the one who never came home when he should have, that wasn’t you. You’re not well, Asher. You need help to get better.”

“I know. Forgive me, Nora. Please. I can’t do this if I don’t have your forgiveness.”

Fresh tears of my own fall again as his eyes plead with me. What I’d felt before this day doesn’t matter anymore. Not now that I realize how broken he is. He may have shattered our family with his actions, but how can I walk away from him now when he needs us the most?

“I forgive you,” I whisper. “I forgive you, Asher. I promise.”

Wrapping my arms around him, he holds me close, thanking me over and over, the weight I’d had on my shoulders a little lighter now that I’ve got the answers I was wanting.

Pulling back, he rests his forehead against mine before taking hold of the turtle and anchor necklace that’s around my neck. “This is pretty.”

“Thank you. Grayson bought it for me. He said that it represents a part of me and a part of Pop.”

He doesn’t say anything. He just holds onto the necklace as he stares at it between his fingers. We may have made amends, but the man outside has to hear Asher’s words of forgiveness, too. Asher has to make things right with Grayson, but I question if it will be that straight forward.

“Asher. There’s something else I need you to do.”

His eyes find mine. “Anything. Tell me.”

I glance out of the window and hold Grayson’s stare as he looks in on us. Regardless of what has happened with me and Asher today, my future is with Grayson, and if Asher can’t accept us, then I can’t hold any promises about the future with my brother.

“Accept me and Grayson. I love him, Asher. And you shouldn’t be mad at him for loving me back.”

He holds my gaze, his jaw muscles moving as I encourage him with my eyes.

“Does he take care of you?”

“You know he does. He always has.”

“And Dad really knew of you two?”

I smile. “Pop was the one who told him to love me right. He knew before we did.”

He laughs. “Sounds about right. He always was observant.”

“I love Grayson, Asher, and if you can’t accept that, then I don’t know where we go from here. I don’t want to choose, but if I have to then I choose him.”

Silence falls, only this time I’m not anxious. I can see that he’s processing everything. So, I let him have this time. When he finally looks at me, a straight smile tugs at his lips. “I can’t lie and say it’s not going to be weird. Nor can I sit here and say everything between Grayson and myself will be like it was because it won’t. At least not until my head is straight. But if he makes you happy—”

“He does.”

“Then I accept it. But, Nora, if he should ever hurt you, I will kick his ass.”

I screw my face up and try and get him to smile as I joke. “I don’t think you have the right to comment given the fact I’m sitting here minus a spleen and with a broken leg.”

He holds my stare for a moment, his eyes a little wider with my comment, but soon enough, a low laugh leaves him. “Trust you to make a joke of all of this.”

“Well, someone had to make you smile.”

Taking my hands in his, he squeezes them. “Tell me how to make this right, Nora. I need to hear you say the words more than I need them from anyone else.” His words hit me harder than I expected them to, and the genuine look of fear in his eyes is excruciating. I know he’s taken the first steps to stop drinking—Mom has already informed us of that—but he still has a long road ahead.

“To make it right, get the help you need. I don’t know where my brother is at this time, but I want him back, even his protective side that used to drive me crazy. Accept all the help you’re given, and with each day, you will find your way back to us, Asher.”

“I don’t know where he is either,” he whispers. “But I promise I’ll find him again.”