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“Hey, uh, Tag?” Dave’s voice sounded from down the hall. “Max’s cousin Brent is here to pick you up.”
“Thanks, Dave,” Tag called out. “I’ll be right there.”
Ally stayed silent.
“That’s it?” He stepped toward her. “You’re sticking with fine? That’s how you want to leave this? Us?”
“Yes.” A burning sensation erupted inside her rib cage. Excruciating, like her heart was tinder and had been blasted with a blowtorch.
“Can I see you on Wednesday when I get back?”
She managed a casual “I don’t see the point.”
“I see.”
She flinched when he reached out like he was going to touch her cheek. Lowering his hand, he whispered, “Goodbye, Ally.”
A sob welled up so quickly she let out a little gasp. She barely managed to swallow it. Like some sort of evil sinkhole, a giant gaping wound formed right in the middle of her soul, taking with it every bit of the joy he’d brought into her life. And more, because now she knew what she was missing. Tears burned behind her eyes and she was afraid to blink for fear they’d come pouring out. All she could manage was a nod before he turned and walked away.
* * *
“YOU LOOK LIKE…death warmed over. And then cooled off and warmed again. Are you sick?”
Monday morning, Tag stood in the kitchen of his house scowling at his sister. Upon returning home the evening before, he’d called Kendall, shut his phone off and then tried to sleep. He’d wound up watching infomercials all night. He may or may not now be the proud owner of something called a Quickie Crepe Machine, only $39.99 with shipping and handling. He’d only just dozed off when he heard Iris calling his name. When he hadn’t shown up at the office this morning or answered his phone, she’d come over to check on him.
“No.” Yes, heartsick. No, it was so much worse than that. Brokenhearted? Crushed-hearted? Was that a thing? He gave up. There were no words to describe the acid-like despair pumping through his veins, shredding him from the inside out with every beat of his aching heart.
“I’m not…sleeping. I haven’t slept much in the last few nights.” An understatement. Truthfully, he was beginning to fear for his health. He’d realized not long after taking off the previous afternoon that he shouldn’t have flown back yesterday, wouldn’t have if he’d had passengers.
“You know what? I’m glad. You deserve it.”
“What?” He choked on a sip of the coffee she’d made and then poured for him.
“You deserve to be miserable after what you did to Ally.”
“What I did?” he asked with a wheeze. “What… You know, you used to be my sweet little sister? And to think I wanted you to come home. I actually missed you. I flew my plane all the way to Anchorage to pick you up.”
“Hmmph. What were you thinking, hiring that witch to be your campaign manager?”
“I didn’t hire her. Maura did.”
“Oh, come on. You could have stopped it.”
He supposed that was true. Instead of telling Maura no and directing her to remove Kendall from the short list, he’d told her he’d prefer someone else. Prefer did not mean the same thing in political speak as it did regular speak, a fact he was fast becoming all too familiar with.
“It doesn’t matter. I have to get ready to go.”
“What do you mean? You’re not still going to Juneau?” She shifted her stance, hands fisted on her hips, fire shooting from her eyes.
“What is the matter with you? You know I have those meetings.”
“But you’ll miss the hearing.”
“What hearing?”
The sound of his front door crashing open and then slamming drew their attention.
“You’re here?” Hannah said, rushing into the room. “Oh, I’m so glad.”
“Where have you been?” Shay demanded, hot on Hannah’s heels.
“Yep, here. And here. Same answer to both questions. Accosted now by several of my siblings.”
“What is the matter with you? Are you sick?” Hannah marched over and put a hand on his forehead.
“Sort of.”
