She closes her eyes and rests her head on my shoulder. “I love you too, Logan. I’m so sorry we fought today. It was so stupid.”
“Yeah, baby. It really was...” My words catch.
“Is Jasper pissed about the truck? Do I need to buy him a new one for Christmas?” She forces a weak smile, and my stomach sinks.
“Logan.” She lifts her face to mine, and I see it. The moment she realizes something’s off. “What aren’t you telling me?”
I hear Jasper’s voice in my head and wonder if I could have done more. If I could have saved him.“Listen to me, little brother. I’ll be right behind you. Just get her out and promise me you won’t come back down.”
“I tried, Liv. I tried so fucking hard. The water was so cold, and his seat belt wouldn’t give, and I had to get you out of there. He told me to get you out. He told me not to come back for him, but I did. I got you out, and I went back. I knew I could get to him. I knew I could get him out...”
“Oh, God, Logan...” she cries. “Is Jasper here? Is he in a different room?”
“I got to him, Liv. I knew if I got to him, I could save him. I just needed to get there, and I did. I fucking did.” My heart fucking aches. “I got to him?—”
“Logan . . .”
“It was too late. I got to him and got him out of the damn truck. My legs burned. My lungs burned. But I got us all out. Gotus all up. And the paramedics took him. He was so fucking cold. His lips were blue, and he wasn’t breathing.”
“Logan—no.” Her guttural sob is pulled from her chest. “No... He’s not gone. No.”
“I’m so sorry. I tried. Fuck, I tried. The paramedics tried. The doctors tried?—”
I bury my face in her hair and hold her while she cries.
“Get her out and never let her go.”
I never will, brother.
When I walk out of Olivia’s room later that night, Cade is staring at me from across the hall. He’s leaning against the wall, a cup of coffee in his hand and utter exhaustion carved into every inch of his face. “How’s she doing?”
He looks past me to the closed door, and I close my eyes and suck in a breath, reminding myself I still can. “She’s asleep again. Serena is in there with her now.”
“It’s probably cold, but I got this for you.” He offers me the coffee and shrugs. “You know, I didn’t like you very much when she brought you home.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask sarcastically and lean back against the wall next to him. “Not sure I’d have liked me much either.”
“As a father, you hope the man who marries your daughter will come and ask for your permission to marry her. Of course that was never going to happen with either of my daughters because the only permission their husbands needed was theirs. But you still hope it’ll happen. Then you just hope the men they marry will love them. Respect them. Make them happy.” His laughter is rough and tired as he drops his head back and stares at the ceiling. “You hope they’re good men. And I didn’tknow you, Logan. Livvy didn’t give me the chance to know if you’d be any of those things. You showed up at my house with my daughter and yours, another cocky hockey player, because apparently my girls have a type.”
That makes me smile, even just for a single heartbeat.
“But even that first night, it was in your eyes. It was the way you looked at her. The way you spoke to her. To us. It was in every single thing you said and did. It was obvious you’d move heaven and earth for that woman in there, and I knew the two of you would be just fine. Unconventional or not, you’d be okay. Probably exhausted, because my girl can be a bit extra, but you’d be okay.” He clears his throat and turns his head my way, not trying to hide the tears in his eyes. “You had to make a choice today no man should have to make, but you made the right one. Not because she’s my daughter, but because she’s your wife. You said the vows. You made the promises. Her above everyone and everything.”
“I love her, Cade.” My voice sounds foreign to my own ears. I’m so damn tired.
“Remember that when the guilt sets in, like I’m guessing it’s already started to do. Remember she’s your wife, and you have to choose her above everything and everyone else. I didn’t know your brother, and I’ll always regret that, but if he was the same kind of man you are, I’m guessing that’s what he wanted too.”
“Listen to me, little brother. I’ll be right behind you. Just get her out and promise me you won’t come back down.”
“He did,” I whisper, fighting to keep my shit together. “I just keep thinking I should have been able to get them both out.”
“Sometimes life doesn’t work the way we want it to, son. It’s cruel and careless. There’s no rhyme or reason. And we’re forced to live with the unthinkable. And when those days of second-guessing hit, you need to look at your wife, at the family you’vebuilt, and remember you made the only decision you could possibly make.”
I look up and see Rafe as he rounds the corner, and I fucking lose it.
He walks straight for me and throws his arms around me as we both cry for the brother who should be here with us.
“I’m so fucking sorry, brother. I tried.”
