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Gavin’s memory stuttered back a few hours, snagging hard. “She texted me earlier.”
“She did?” Sloane’s lips parted in surprise. Clearly, it was news to her.
“Yeah, but…” He unearthed his phone from his back pocket, tapping the touch screen to life to pull up the message. “It was really vague, see? To be honest, I didn’t think anything of it. I mean, I knew if she really needed anything, she’d ask you.”
Sloane leaned in, reading the message over his shoulder while he re-read the scant line of text from the screen.
Something 2 ask u about.Maybe 2nite at home? Don’t need 2 call, NBD.
“Did you talk to her after this?” Sloane asked, her pretty face shadowed in thought.
“No. We were slammed, and by the time I got it, I was already halfway out the door. Plus, she said it wasn’t a big deal. She didn’t say anything about this to you?” Concern filtered into out-and-out worry, percolating like day-old diner coffee in his gut.
“No, but…” Sloane broke off with a blink. “I did tell her this morning that she could talk to you no matter what, even if it was about the hard stuff like missing your mom. Maybe she’s ready to open up and just doesn’t know how to say it.”
Gavin’s worry became something else entirely, and his breath left him in a rush of surprise. “She talked to you about our mom?”
“A little, but I think she’s still got a lot inside of her.” She brushed her fingers over his forearm, and the gentle squeeze was all he needed to let loose the emotions crowding his brain.
“I’m scared to push her. God, she seems so fragile sometimes, and all I want to do is keep her safe.” The words stuck in his throat like sand on wet skin, but he’d shoved them down long enough. And baring them to Sloane just felt right.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” she said. “She’s been through a lot.”
Gavin let out a shaky breath. “I know. Sometimes talking to her feels like navigating a minefield. If I leave it alone, there’s always the potential for danger later, but if I bug her, she might blow up in my face. I can’t win.”
“Maybe you should just ask her about it. She can’t really blow up at you for being concerned about her.”
He coughed out a humorless laugh. “This is Bree we’re talking about here. I love her, but she’s not exactly a paragon of logical thinking, especially when it comes to anything emotional. I have no idea how to get her to open up without pissing her off, or worse, having her shut me out. Sometimes I wonder how the hell my mother thought I’d be any good at this,” he admitted. “Every time I think I’ve made progress with Bree, something pops up to show me I’m completely full of shit.”
“You’re not full of shit just because you want to protect her, Gavin.” Sloane’s eyes sparked with dark blue conviction, fierce in the low light from the fireplace. “And you’re allowed to grieve, too. It’s okay for her to see that.”
“What if it makes her worse? The nightmares are already pretty horrific. You saw for yourself.” No matter what, he couldn’t put Bree through more of that. No way.
Sloane stepped in, her gaze unrelenting on his. “And what if it gives her permission to start letting it go?”
For a split second, Gavin couldn’t breathe. Oh, hell.Hell.
It made all the sense in the world. He’d tried to protect Bree for all the right reasons, but really, what she needed was to know how he felt, to see that he grieved and felt sad sometimes, and know that finding moments of new happiness didn’t mean trading in the old ones.
And he needed to show her that. Starting with his own feelings.
“I don’t know what to say to her,” he finally managed, but Sloane just shook her head.
“You don’t have to know what to say. Just tell her how you feel. The rest will come.” She leaned in to place a kiss on his lips, soft and quick.
Gavin cupped her cheeks, returning the kiss just as sweetly before taking a step back. “How do you always know what to do?”
Her smile threaded through every last part of him as she said, “Just doing my job, boss. Now go talk to that kid. I’ll see you in the morning.”
* * *
Gavin stoodon the threshold of Bree’s door with one hand on the cool wood panel and his heart in his throat. It was now or never, and really, all the preparation in the world wouldn’t make a damned bit of difference. She’d reached out to him the only way she knew how, and it was up to him to catch her.
“Bree?” He knocked softly and scraped in a deep breath. “You awake?”
A muffled thump sounded off on the other side of the door, and he heard the metallic click of the lock being released. She swung the door open just a crack, barely enough to send a wary peek out into the hallway. “Is Sloane still here?”
“No, she decided to go back to her place tonight.” Damn it, maybe he should’ve asked her to stay, just in case it made Bree feel more comfortable. “She, ah, said you seemed a little upset about something, though. You want to talk about it?”
