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“They’ve become close in the last several months. With Chris’s constant absence, they were the only guys. They hung together during every sisters’ nights, and even some just because they wanted to watch a football game or some fight on Pay-Per-View. Levi is around a lot too, but not as much as those two were.”
“Levi?” I ask, racking my brain to connect the name with a face.
“He’s Abby’s best friend. They actually live across the hall from each other, but have been best friends since grade school. I’m pretty sure they secretly love each other, but refuse to acknowledge it. He’s an EMT and firefighter here in town and plays guitar in a band.”
“I’m sure I’ll get to meet him soon.”
“Yeah. Probably at the funeral,” she says, choking on the words.
I pull her closer yet, the front of the shirt she’s wearing wet from all of her fallen tears. “I’m sorry you lost him, sweetheart. I’m sorry your entire family has lost someone so loved by each of you.”
“Thank you,” she whispers, her lips grazing against my neck sending ripples of lust straight to my groin.
“Try to get some sleep.”
“I should be with Meghan.”
“Let’s get some sleep and we’ll go be with her tomorrow, okay? Right now, you need some rest.”
“Okay,” she finally concedes, taking a deep breath.
I feel her relax in my arms, the weight of her worries finally starting to lift. She drifts off to sleep, her warm breath tickling my skin. My own exhaustion starts to set in, my lids too heavy to keep open any longer. We’re in for a rough and long few days, that’s for sure, but I plan to be by her side every step of the way.
There’s no other place I’d rather be.
* * *
Three days feel like a lifetime when you’re planning a funeral. I wasn’t able to take the entire week off from work, but was able to move appointments for three of them. It’ll make the end of my week busier than hell, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Being with Payton while she grieves the loss of someone she loved is the most important thing right now.
We made it through the visitation in fairly one piece, but now we have the funeral tomorrow. I, for one, am not looking forward to this in the least. And I didn’t even know the guy.
Tonight was brutal. Meghan was overwhelmed for much of the evening, and that was hard for Payton to witness, which, in turn, made it difficult for me. The five Summer sisters sat back, helpless, while Meghan greeted person after person, heard condolence after condolence. Four hours of putting on a brave face and having dozens of people tell you how sorry they were for your loss.
It fucking sucked.
We’re pulling back into my driveway now. Payton struggles not to fall asleep in the passenger seat, the result of sleepless nights. I wanted her to stay with me so that I could hold her in my arms, but she wouldn’t. Not only did she stay with Meghan one night, but she didn’t want to disrupt my daughter’s routine.
Well, forget that.
Tonight, she sleeps in my bed.
“Come on, honey,” I say as I park my car and get out to help her. She’s wearing a black dress that hugs her curves, with that long brown hair that I love twisted up in some sort of fancy knot on her head.
“I should get going,” she mumbles as she stands beside me, nodding towards her car parked in the street. I watch as she sways a bit, practically dead on her feet, for lack of a better term.
“Not tonight, sweetheart. You’re exhausted. Come inside and you can crash here. After Bri gets off to school, we’ll run to your house and you can get ready.”
“Ready. For the funeral. I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.”
“I know,” I concede, kissing her forehead before steering her towards my front door.
“But Brielle is here.”
“She is.”
“But don’t you think that will confuse her? If she sees me here at night and then again in the morning.”
“I think my daughter is going to be too excited to even realize. She asks about you every night.”
