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You can be mad at me all you want, but I wouldn’t change my decision in not telling you. I refused to let you, or our son suffer alongside me. I stayed strong as long as I could and knew that when the time was right, I’d fall asleep never to wake again. I know it sounds morbid, but hey that’s me.
Please don’t blame yourself for not finding out what was going on with me. You didn’t need to deal with me and what I was going through on top of everything else. You were trying to win the woman who was meant for you.
Speaking of, it’s why I’m writing this. I want you to know I’m so happy for you. Give Hendrik the brothers and sisters he’s always begged us for. Okay, okay, I won’t push, but seriously, Everleigh is a beautiful woman. I’m sure with you holding her tightly, she’ll be able to face the demons haunting her. Even I can tell she has them. All you have to do is look in her eyes and see they’re tearing her apart.
Anyway, I want you to know that I’m happy for you, and I can rest easy knowing you and our son are in good hands. Cherish what you to have and never let it go.
With all my love,
Lana
I clench the paper in my hand and tilt my head to the sky, closing my eyes as I release an uneasy breath.
“Damn stubborn woman,” I mutter to myself. Of course, she’d do just as she did to keep anyone from suffering alongside her.
Fuck.
Dropping my gaze from the sky, I cock my head side to side, feeling the tension ease away slightly as my neck makes a cracking sound.
I look over my shoulder one last time before straightening and heading for where my brothers await me.
“You good?” Tombstone asks, his attention on me as he sits on the back of his bike leaning on the tank of the massive beast.
“Not hardly, but I will be,” I answer truthfully. Lana made sure to give me answers in the letter, but she also opened my eyes to the fact she’s right about Everleigh and the fact she still has demons haunting her. “Let’s get out of here.” I fold the paper and put it in my back pocket as I make my way to my bike.
As one, my brothers and I ride out, the sounds of our bikes roaring into the sky, giving Lana a final send off. She might not have been an ol’ lady, but regardless she was family.
* * *
I pull into my driveway and notice no one else is there. Reaper must’ve sent a message ahead of time so everyone could clear out and give me the time I need with my family. The only other vehicle there is Trey’s, and as I put the kickstand down, he steps outside, his eyes on me.
“You read the letter?” he asks when I make it to the porch.
“Yeah, I read it.” I laugh darkly. “Still doesn’t help but Lana’s Lana and she wasn’t one for letting others take care of her.”
“Got that right.” He grunts. “Even as a kid, she refused to let anyone help her. Not even the time when she was ten and riding her scooter. She’d been going too damn fast and did a front flip over the bars and ended up with road rash. Lucky for her, no damn cars were coming or she’d been dead.”
I grin and shake my head. “I remember that story.”
“Yeah.” Trey chuckles and moves farther down the stairs. “Well, I’ll let you get in there and take care of your family. You got one hell of a woman in there. Happy for you, and I know Lana was.”
“Appreciate it.” I nod and make my way into the house, hearing Hendrik’s voice come from the back, probably in the kitchen.
I lock the front doors and head in the direction. I lean against the door frame and watch both my son and woman. No surprise that my kid would help in cleaning up what must be the food everyone brought for us over the past couple of days. What does surprise me is they weren’t putting the food in the fridge. Instead, they were throwing it away.
“What’s going on in here?” I ask, getting their attention.
Hendrik’s head whips up quickly and he gives me a sheepish smile. Everleigh brings her gaze a lot slower, and I don’t miss the sadness and weariness she’s trying to keep hidden. It’s the same look she’s had for the past few days.
Again, I’m a dick and need to apologize for keeping her at arm’s length. But still, I’d kept her in sight, not wanting her far from me.
“We’re getting rid of all this food,” Hendrik answers for the both of them. “Evs says we don’t need this stuff. We don’t need six different casseroles and the pies that taste like cardboard.”
“I agree, but still that’s a lot of food being wasted.” I jerk my chin at the dishes scattered on the counter.
“It’s not anything any of us want to eat,” my kid retorts, again speaking for them both. “Evs told me it doesn’t taste right because it was made out of grief.”
“What?” I furrow my brow and look at Everleigh.
