I take a breath to tell him no. To say that I’m not ready for my family to change the way he feels about me, but Westin makes the choice for me.
She wrenches open the door on Leo’s side and points at us. “You two?”
Leo nods before I can say anything. “I didn’t know who you were until right now.”
She draws in a breath like she’s going to shout, then instead throws her arms around Leo. “I’m glad it’s you.”
Something shifts in my chest. Something big. I have no idea what to do with that emotion, so I turn my gaze to Henry, who’s standing a few feet away, leaning heavily on his crutches.
Climbing out of the car, I make my way over, and as soon as I’m close enough to see his face in detail, I notice the cut on his lip. “She did that?”
Henry sighs and shrugs. “In her defense…”
“No. Don’t do that,” I beg. “Not tonight.”
Staring down at his feet, Henry shrugs. “I got in between her and West. She asked us to come over to help her with laundry. She was watching TV while I folded, and West was putting our save-the-dates into envelopes. Everything was fine, at first.” Henry clears his throat and wobbles, so I take a step closer and urge him to lean against me. He does, though reluctantly. “I don’t know what happened. She went quiet. Her eyes got kind of glassy. Then she started screaming at the top of her lungs about how West can’t marry me—how I’m useless. How I ruinedeverything. Then she started ripping up the envelopes, and West, ah…she kind of lost it.”
“Fuck,” I breathe out. Passing a hand down my face, I look over to where Leo and Westin are. He’s still in the car, and she’s leaning in with her hands on his shoulders. I can’t hear what they’re saying, but Westin’s mouth is moving a mile a minute.
Henry stiffens. “Who is that guy?”
“My boyfriend,” I say, then flush because, well, we haven’t really talked about that. But I don’t take it back.
Henry relaxes a bit. “I didn’t know Westin knew your boyfriend. I didn’t even know you were dating.”
“I wasn’t. It’s new.” Glancing toward the apartment, I see the door’s half-open. “How did the lip get hurt?”
Henry groans. “She hit West twice with her glass, and it shattered. Gashed her forehead really good. I stepped in between them, and she got me with it. It’s not a big deal. It’ll be fine.”
I hadn’t noticed any blood on her, but it was also dark in the truck since my cab light is out.
“Did you call the cops?”
Henry shakes his head. “I didn’t think they’d help. Your mom is clearly having some kind of mental health crisis, and I was scared of what they’d do to her. After I got West out of reach, she started hyperventilating, and then she just went silent. I figured it was better for us to wait out here.”
“I called everyone,” I told him, “but no one picked up.”
“Our phones are inside. I was more worried about getting West out of there so I could make sure she didn’t need the ER.”
My EMT instincts kick in. “I’m going to go check on her, then head into the apartment. Don’t go in, even if it sounds rough.”
He gives me a dubious look but nods all the same. “Good luck.”
I meet his gaze, and I see his fear. And how much he cares. I swear to god I don’t deserve it, but I want to. I want to do better by him. I don’t want him to regret any of this.
For his sake and for Westin’s.
Marching over to the truck, I take my sister by the shoulder and spin her, and it’s there in the parking lot lights that I can see the blood on her temple. There’s a nasty cut along her hairline, but it’s no longer bleeding.
Westin rolls her eyes. “I’m fine.”
Physically, yeah. But I’m not sure how much more of this any of us can take. “I’m going to talk to her right now, and I’ll probably have to get an ambulance out here. She doesn’t sound well.”
Westin swallows heavily. “She’s not.”
Yanking her into a hug, I squeeze her as tight as I think she can take. “It’ll be okay.”
She doesn’t answer me with anything except a ragged laugh, and when I pull back, I notice that Henry’s at the curb now. He carefully steps down, then takes my sister as I let her go. My gaze catches on Leo’s, who looks worried.
