Page 18 of Kylie

“From?”

Travis pulled his hand back, revealing the cursive writing on the front. “Kylie.”

I stopped, my legs locking. “What?”

Travis turned the envelope so I could read it. “Evidently, she wrote us a letter and left it with the attorney. Said we were to get it in the event of her death.”

Although I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, I asked anyway. “What does it say?”

He shrugged. “I haven’t opened it. Can’t.”

My attention was locked on the standard white envelope and the familiar handwriting. I knew Travis didn’t mean it was physically impossible to open the letter, but rather, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. I understood fully because, looking at it now, my first instinct was to back away from it.

Although I was a far cry from getting over what had happened, I felt stronger than I had in the beginning. That first week … I'd been a mess. And it had taken days for me to be able to breathe without tears clogging my throat. But suddenly, all the progress I'd thought I'd made faded away, leaving me breathless and sad.

“Should we read it?” Travis asked, his voice scratchy and raw.

I looked at him, looked at the letter.

If I read a letter from Kylie … especially one from the grave…

I shook my head. I couldn’t do it.

“I was gonna tell you,” he said softly. “I’ve only had it for a couple of days. Wasn’t gonna open it without you.”

That wasn’t what I was worried about. Strangely, I believed him, knew he wouldn’t keep something like that from me. Not unless it was to protect me.

“Do you want to open it now?” Travis repeated, the letter still sitting there between us.

“No,” I blurted, backing up. “No, I don’t.”

I felt his eyes on me as I left the room, leaving the letter and Travis behind me. Now I had to deal with a fresh wave of grief.

Chapter Six

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Gage

I had just convinced Kate to take a bath when Travis came home with Maddox.

No sooner was he in the door than I realized something was wrong. Or rather, something was really wrong since everything between us was wrong these days.

“When they go to bed, we’re gonna talk,” Travis said under his breath, his tone leaving no room for argument.

I didn’t even get a chance to reply when he pivoted and stormed out of the room.

I sighed. Looked like just another Saturday night.

Two hours later, after we’d sat with the kids until they’d all but fallen asleep, I was about to come out of my skin. For weeks now, I'd been the one to instigate any and all conversations with Travis, and now that he had shown even a modicum of effort, I wanted to know what was on his mind.

After putting Avery to bed and checking on Kade, I went back downstairs. I'd expected to find Travis in the living room, where I'd left him, but he wasn’t there. I started toward the guest room where Travis had moved his things shortly after Kylie died, but I came up short when I heard his voice coming from his office.

I stepped into the room to find Travis pacing the floor, his phone to his ear.

“I understand, but when you know for sure, I expect to be your first call. Not my father, not Gage. Me. Do you understand what I’m sayin’?”

That was all it took for me to realize who Travis was talking to. Rather than wait so we could have a knock-down-drag-out, I turned and walked right back out of the room. I went for the stairs, took them two at a time, and headed for my bedroom. I shut the door behind me, knowing Travis wouldn’t come in.