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Knox
I felt shaky as I drove home. I kept flexing my fingers over the wheel. I couldn’t quite believe that any of what just happened was real.
I’d walked away from Sarah and called our relationship a mistake. The words that came out of my mouth were horrifying, but I couldn’t maintain a relationship with her and be there for my family. It just wasn’t possible.
I went home to work on the farm. We were late opening and were suffering the consequences of it now. Everyone was rushed and harried. Sebastian set up a schedule for someone to be always with Mom. She needed to rest, and she wasn’t the best patient.
I was positive she preferred to be in the shop, helping us. But we couldn’t ignore the very real scare that happened last night. We got a second chance with her, and this time, we’d do everything right. She wouldn’t get up from the bed or the couch. Not if I could help it.
Every time I thought about what could have happened, I sucked in a deep breath around the searing pain in my chest. I couldn’t imagine the shop or the farm without Mom. An empty main house was impossible to think about. The house was the center of the farm, and she was the center of the family.
Without her, what would any of this mean? My brothers might leave and do their own thing. The farm would cease to exist. Then Ember wouldn’t grow up with her uncles and grandmother surrounding her.
I hated the idea of a future without Mom in it. Nothing could happen to her. I wouldn’t let it.
“Are you okay?” Heath asked when I lifted the next tree by myself and heaved it onto the sedan.
“Of course,” I said as I wiped the sweat off my brow.
“Have you eaten anything today?”
“I had eggs this morning with my coffee.” Except I couldn’t quite remember eating anything. I’d wanted to talk to Sarah, to end things with her.
“Sure, you did,” Heath said like he didn’t believe me.
“Why would I lie about that?” I asked, irritated with him.
“I don’t know. Why would you lie about something like that?”
I paused, my forehead wrinkled. “Are you mad at me or something?”
“We all want to know where Sarah was last night. I understand she has Addy, but she couldn’t have come for a minute or at least called to check on you?”
I shook my head. It didn’t sit right with me that my brothers were mad at her. “I told her I didn’t need her there.”
“You did what?” He paused, his voice raising.
“I told her we had it handled. It’s a family matter.”
Heath nodded toward Talon, who was helping today, and pulled me by the elbow away from the lot. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
Through gritted teeth, I said, “I didn’t need her there. This was about Mom.”
“You think that Sebastian would turn away a woman who loved and cared for him? You think he wanted to raise Ember by himself?”
“I don’t know what Sebastian’s situation has to do with me.”
Heath shook his head. “You’re an idiot. When you’re with someone, they’re supposed to be there for you. That’s the point of a relationship. It’s not just sex and good times. They’re there for you during the bad times, too.”
“I needed to be there for Mom and you guys. I can’t be distracted.”
“Sarah’s not a distraction. She’s a good person who probably wanted to be there for you.”
“She wanted to be there. But I didn’t answer the phone when you all called because I was at her house last night.”
“You didn’t answer the phone for any number of reasons. It was the middle of the night. Your phone was on vibrate. The same things could have happened if you were at home.”
“You could have gotten to me at home, though. You would have knocked on the door.”
