AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Miss Morgan? You know my brother?”
“I do.”
“Would you say he takes no for an answer?”
“Not when he sets his mind to it.”
“I’m not any different.”
Uh-oh.
“I appreciate your honesty. That said, I am in no position to consult at this time.”
“I’m not looking for a consult. I’m offering to hire you as my brother’s therapist. Correction, I’m not offering. I’m begging. If you’ve met my brother, you know his zeal for life. If you worked with my brother, you know his commitment to performance. What you may not know is that I lost my brother. Or I’m losing my brother… every day that he isn’t well.”
“Go on.”
“Layton is withdrawn. He’s lost a tremendous amount of weight.”Not good.“He’s able to move without a walker when he’s angry or obstinate. Otherwise, I’d add tennis balls to that thing to save Pop’s floors, but that could set him off, and we just got him back.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that the man I’ve known for the last decade and the brother I’ve known for nearly three is not the man who came home from Florida. He’s a shell of himself and has spent months that way.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Ranger.” I truly am. More so for the man I knew than anything. Layton is a rare commodity and didn’t deserve this.
“Call me Braxton, please. My fiancée, Emberleigh, is working with my brother to get some of his affairs in order. She and his agent negotiated his separation from the team.”
“Oh?”
“She is the one answering his emails. She’s the one who cleared his voicemail box. She read his texts.” He lets that hang in the air. “And she recommended that you might be just what the doctor ordered.”
“I see.”
“She was going to make this phone call. But I asked to be the one. I need you to know something. My family is everything to me. Not a part. Not a good chunk. Everything. My soon-to-be wife and my son. I’d lay down in front of a train for them. My Pop, nothing I wouldn’t do for his happiness.”
“I met your dad. The word I’d use for him is formidable. He seemed unflappable in the face of all that was thrown at your brother, not to mention his staunch protection of his family.”
“We come by it honestly, Livy. My sister and my two brothers. We’re a unit. I need you to get this. They cut; I bleed. Layton’s health directly impacts all of us. Layton’s depression is cutting us with a thousand dull slices a day.”
“When you say depression, what do you mean?”
“I mean a dark room with no windows and no human contact. It’s how Pop and my brother found him and why they packed him up and brought him home. I mean he expresses anger, but mostly is a specter of who he once was. No jokes, no humor, no sarcasm. His eyes are hollow with purple stains beneath them. We get glimpses of the old him. Tonight at dinner, I saw the man I used to know. And we desperately need him back. So tell me what that would take?”
“Off the top of my head? Good therapy, physical movement, sunlight, decent nutrition, a great support system, and his own willingness to be well.”
“I’m asking what it would take for you to spearhead that effort.”
“Braxton, my job is here in Florida. My home is here. Kyle is here.”
“Kyle is…?”
“My dog.”
“So if your job were here, your home and your dog were here, at least for a time, could you help us?”
“Braxton, I appreciate your desire to help your brother.”More than you know.
“Name your price.”
