Page 79 of View With Your Heart

“We all need you.” His voice cracks. I don’t want to see my brother cry. Not yet. We need to hold ourselves together.

“E,” I groan, stepping up to him, but he holds up his hands.

“If I had a kid, I’d be there for him, one-hundred percent. You need to be here for him, not across the country.”

“A lot is happening at once, man. I need to catch my breath.”

“Don’t run,” Ethan begs.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I say, shaking my head.

“Yet,” Ethan snaps, pausing on the word like a giant question mark.

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do.”

“You’ll leave and never look back, just like before. That’s why she didn’t tell you. You left her, too.” Ethan’s voice rises before he brushes past me, returning inside the hospital. Swiping both hands in my hair, I tip back my head.

“Fuck,” I groan out loud.

This is all about Mum, I tell myself. Ethan’s just afraid, as we all are.

Then I remember Gee’s question from the other day. How long will I live?

His asking almost broke me. More importantly, what will I do with the life I have left? What are my priorities—or, rather, who?

Gee is number one now.

Gee . . . and Britton.

Take 25

Scene: A Cottage Bedroom Again

[Britton]

“What you’re saying is Gavin Scott is Gee’s father?” Jenna stares at me after asking for clarification while Henry leans over the counter, watching me.

“Yes.” Despite being my employees, they are my closest friends, and I needed to tell someone what’s happened. Now that the secret is free, I want to tell everyone just to get it over with. Jenna and Henry are a safe place to start, or so I thought, until Henry glares at me.

“And you never tried to find him again?” he asks.

“I had Patrick.”

“Did he not allow you to find Gavin?” Henry’s voice roughens.

“It wasn’t like that. There just wasn’t a need, but Patrick eventually did want me to find Gavin for Gee’s sake.” I wouldn’t say it was a deathbed wish of his, but Patrick was reasonable, and he believed Gee needed to know the truth eventually.

“So you’ve told Gavin now because you need him?”

“Henry,” Jenna softly warns. “Britton doesn’t need Gavin like that. She’s very independent.” I appreciate Jenna’s vote of confidence. I don’t need Gavin, but I do want him. The other night proved that I’m not ready to let him go, as I let him take me against his childhood bedroom door like we were teenagers again. He’s hurting, and I want to take his pain, especially because I’ve caused it.

“What about Gavin’s need to know?” Henry defends, drilling the painful screw deeper. I recognize I’ve done wrong. I hurt Gavin, and I’ve kept someone important from Gee. However, none of what happened was done maliciously.

“I’ve apologized to Gavin. We’ve discussed our original misunderstanding and my lack of ability to find him. Now, we need time to heal and move forward.”

“That real estate lady has been here again, upping her offer,” Henry says as if he didn’t hear me. His tone is filled with anger. “If you need money, you should sell.”

Rebecca Sterling made another production of showing up this morning. It just so happens she appeared hours after I’d opened the tax bill, balanced my finances, and wondered what the hell I’m doing thinking I can pull this off—be a single mother, work full-time running a business, and own property I can hardly afford to live on.